[…] Today the United Nations General Assembly elected the United States to a three-year term on the UN Human Rights Council. The promotion and protection of human rights is a fundamental value for our own society and, as such, an integral element of the Obama Administration’s foreign policy. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.S. Permanent Representative to the U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice are pleased with the outcome of the election and eager to take up the important work of the Council.

[…] Speaking with reporters at the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, Rice said, “While we recognize that the Human Rights Council has been a flawed body that has not lived up to its potential, we are looking forward to working from within with a broad cross section of member states to strengthen and reform the Human Rights Council and enable it to live up to the vision that was crafted when it was created.”

[…] This week marks the 15th commemoration of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. It is a somber occasion that causes us to reflect upon the deaths of the more than 800,000 men, women, and children who were killed simply because of their ethnicity or their political beliefs.
The memory of these events also deepens our commitment to act when faced with genocide and to work with partners around the world to prevent future atrocities.

[…] U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.S. Permanent Representative to the U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice announce that the United States will seek a seat this year on the United Nations Human Rights Council with the goal of working to make it a more effective body to promote and protect human rights. The decision is in keeping with the Obama Administration's "new era of engagement" with other nations to advance American security interests.

[…] The United States believes that working within the U.N. Human Rights Council is the best way to improve the council’s goal of thwarting global human rights abuses, says the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice announced March 31 that the United States will seek a seat on the council this year.

[…] After Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir was charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) with war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur region of Sudan, he ordered 13 international aid groups expelled from the country in retaliation. The nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), which are not involved with the ICC’s actions, were providing about 4.7 million people with foreign assistance for food, shelter and protection from an ongoing insurgency.

[…] “A disturbing number of countries imposed burdensome, restrictive or repressive laws and regulations against NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] and the media, including the Internet,” the report says.

“Many courageous human rights defenders who peacefully pressed for their own rights and those of their fellow countrymen and women were harassed, threatened, arrested and imprisoned, killed or subjected to violent extrajudicial means of reprisal.”

[…] Ogni mese di febbraio, il Black History Month rende omaggio alle lotte e ai trionfi sugli ostacoli più devastanti – la schiavitù, i pregiudizi e la povertà – di milioni di cittadini americani e al loro contributo alla vita politica e culturale del paese. Nel 2009, l’insediamento di Barack Obama, il primo presidente afro-americano degli Stati Uniti, aggiunge al Black History Month un significato particolare. Obama ha prestato giuramento il 20 Gennaio, un giorno dopo la festa federale e nazionale che commemora Martin Luther King Jr.,. Il 15 gennaio l’ultimo leader del movimento per i diritti civili avrebbe compiuto 80 anni.

[…] Each February, Black History Month tells of the struggles of millions of American citizens over the most devastating obstacles -- slavery, prejudice, poverty -- and looks at their contributions to the nation’s cultural and political life. 2007 marks the 81st annual celebration since Carter G. Woodson, a noted scholar and historian, instituted Negro History Week in 1926. He chose the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of President Abraham Lincoln and the black 19th century abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

[…] Extraordinary results are possible when ordinary people work with dedicated volunteers to promote human dignity and freedom. The fellowship program at the University of Minnesota’s Human Rights Center allows Americans from every walk of life to spend 10 weeks working with nongovernmental organizations to promote human rights. Four of 27 participants in the center’s 2008 Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellowship Program recently shared some of their experiences with America.gov.

[…] The three-day-old administration of Barack Obama has spoken out on a broad range of human rights concerns in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia. Kyle Scott, charge d’affairs at the U.S. mission to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), made five statements January 22 on human rights issues in several OSCE-participating states. U.S. officials say the number of statements reflects the backup of business following the winter break and do not necessarily reflect a change in policy or emphasis on the part of the Obama administration.

[…] King was among those champions of justice whose influence transcended national boundaries. A student of the philosophy and principles of nonviolence enunciated by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948), King in 1959 traveled to India, where he studied further the legacy of the man his widow, Coretta Scott King, later would call his “political mentor.” Nelson Mandela, accepting the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, similarly credited King as his predecessor in the effort to resolve justly the issues of racism and human dignity.

[…] It took some courage for Clara Van Gerven to become a volunteer with the Advocates for Survivors of Torture and Trauma (ASTT). The Baltimore-based nonprofit organization is dedicated to providing counseling, social welfare and referral services to torture survivors, who, once they reach the United States, may need help with restoring normal, productive lives. “I was terrified to begin,” Van Gerven told America.gov. “It’s really kind of scary to interact with people who have been through so much.”

[…] The United States condemns the closing of the Center for the Defense of Human Rights and urges Iranian authorities to allow this and similar civil society organizations to operate free of oppression. On December 21, Iranian authorities closed down the civil society organization of Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi just prior to a ceremony celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

[…] The United States welcomes UN General Assembly Resolution 63/191 adopted on December 18 calling upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to fully respect its human rights obligations, and to abolish, in particular, torture, arbitrary imprisonment, and juvenile and public executions, including stonings, carried out in disregard of due process and other safeguards.

[…] "For too long, the people of Darfur have suffered at the hands of a government that is complicit in the bombing, murder, and rape of innocent civilians. My Administration has called these actions by their rightful name: genocide. The world has a responsibility to help put an end to it. ... I promise this to the people of Darfur: the United States will not avert our eyes from a crisis that challenges the conscience of the world."

[…] In observance of the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Bert Lockwood — a professor of law at the University of Cincinnati and director of the university's Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights — answered questions in a December 11 Ask America webchat on creating effective mechanisms for insuring the implementation of human rights.

[…] In observing International Human Rights Day and Week, we recognize the noble work of human rights defenders around the world who risk harassment, beatings, arrest and even death for seeking to secure the rights of their fellow citizens.

We applaud the hard-won gains for human rights and democratic government that have been made in recent decades.

[…] The “Every Human Has Rights” media awards were inspired by The Elders, a group of respected leaders convened by Nelson Mandela, a Nobel Peace Prize winner known the world over for his fight against apartheid in South Africa, and Graça Machel, an international advocate for women’s and children’s rights. Their partner is Internews, an international media development organization which has trained more than 70,000 people in media skills in more than 70 countries.

[…] A focus on advancing human rights, a hallmark of many contemporary religious groups, is nothing new for the Quakers.
That sect, formally called the Religious Society of Friends, has championed equal rights for women and for religious and racial minorities virtually since its founding in 1640s England.
Quakers were among the earliest and most insistent voices opposing slavery and the slave trade in both England and the United States, and they led the 19th century abolitionist movement that preceded the U.S. Civil War.

[…] Boniadi acknowledged during an interview with America.gov that studies show more people can name cartoon characters from the television series The Simpsons than can name just three of their human rights as described in the 30 articles of the UDHR. But that does not stop her from using every opportunity to raise public awareness of a U.N. document that sets a “framework for civilized and respectful interaction between people and countries around the world, putting aside their political, religious or cultural beliefs,” she said.