Human Rights Speech

Delivered by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter

I GREW UP ON A FARM. . . . SAW DEVASTATING EFFECT OF RACIAL SEGREGATION ON BLACKS AND WHITES.

AS PRESIDENT I SAID THAT AMERICA DID NOT INVENT HUMAN RIGHTS; HUMAN RIGHTS INVENTED AMERICA. I ALSO ANNOUNCED THAT HUMAN RIGHTS WOULD BE THE FOUNDATION OF U.S. FOREIGN POLICY. EVERY U.S. EMBASSY WOULD BE A HAVEN FOR THOSE WHO WERE PERSECUTED BY THEIR OWN LEADERS.

MOST AMERICANS, NOT EXCLUDING ME WHEN I WAS IN PUBLIC OFFICE, WOULD ASSUME THAT THESE BASIC RIGHTS ENCOMPASS FREEDOM OF SPEECH, RELIGION, ASSEMBLY, TRIAL BY JURY, AND THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE OUR OWN LEADERS. ALTHOUGH THESE POLITICAL RIGHTS ARE IMPORTANT TO EVERYONE, WE HAVE SEEN THAT THEY FADE INTO SECONDARY IMPORTANCE WHEN A FAMILY DOES NOT HAVE FOOD, SHELTER, CLOTHING, OR ANY PROSPECT FOR EDUCATION, MEDICAL CARE, OR TO LIVE IN PEACE. THE EASY RESOLUTION OF THIS APPARENT DILEMMA IS FOR "HUMAN RIGHTS" TO INCLUDE PEOPLE'S NEEDS FOR POLITICAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC RIGHTS.

NEXT YEAR WILL BE THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS. IT WAS THE ATROCITIES OF WORLD WAR II, ESPECIALLY THE NAZI HOLOCAUST, THAT MADE THIS NECESSARY AND ACCEPTABLE. IT IS SOBERING TO REALIZE THAT IT WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE NOW TO GET INTERNATIONAL APPROVAL FOR THESE SAME COMMITMENTS.

THE DEFAULTS BY GOVERNMENTS IN HONORING THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OVER THE YEARS LED TO THE FORMATION OF PRIVATE HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, AMERICA WATCH, HELSINKI WATCH, INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS, LAWYERS COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, AND, IN THE HOLY LAND, B'TSELEM, AND AL HAQ.

ALTHOUGH ADMIRABLE, THERE WERE SERIOUS PROBLEMS:

1. THESE ORGANIZATIONS OFTEN CONCENTRATED ON A GEOGRAPHICAL REGION, ON THE TORTURE OR MISTREATMENT OF PRISONERS, OR THE ABUSE OF JOURNALISTS, DOCTORS, OR MEMBERS OF OTHER PROFESSIONS (BUT RARELY ON THE ABUSE OF WOMEN);
2. THE PREEMINENT GROUPS NEEDED TO COORDINATE THEIR EFFORTS TO ENSURE THAT NO ASPECT OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE WAS OVERLOOKED
3. THERE WAS A NEED TO PREEMPT OR AVOID ABUSES, AND NOT JUST REACT AFTER THEY OCCURRED;
4. WE RECOGNIZED THAT THE MOST TERRIBLE HUMAN RIGHTS CRIMES WERE PERPETRATED WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF A CIVIL WAR, OR BY DESPOTIC LEADERS AGAINST AN ENTIRE PEOPLE;
5. THE OTHER GENERIC PROBLEM WAS THAT THERE WAS NO INTERNATIONALLY ACCEPTED LEADER OR ORGANIZATION THAT COULD SPEAK OR ACT FOR THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY;
6. THERE NEEDED TO BE MORE PUBLICITY ABOUT VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS. ONE OF THE GREATEST UNMET NEEDS IN MANY NATIONS WAS THE RECOGNITION AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS HEROES;

WE BROUGHT TOGETHER AT THE CARTER CENTER ABOUT TWO DOZEN LEADERS OF THE KEY ORGANIZATIONS, TO DETERMINE HOW WE COULD ADDRESS THE MOST IMPORTANT NEEDS COLLECTIVELY. IN ADDITION TO THE NEEDS ALREADY MENTIONED, WE SUPPORTED TWO MAJOR POLITICAL GOALS: THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND AN INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT. EVENTUALLY, WE WERE SUCCESSFUL, DESPITE OPPOSITION FROM THE U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL TO A HIGH COMMISSIONER, AND HOSTILITY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND A HANDFUL OF OTHERS TO THE ICC.

WITH THESE TWO ACHIEVEMENTS, SOME PROGRESS WAS BEING MADE -- UNTIL THE TERRORIST ATTACK OF 9/11/01. SINCE THEN, THE U.S. GOVERNMENT HAS ABANDONED ITS ROLE AS A CHAMPION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND HAS CONDONED OR PERPETRATED TERRIBLE AND ILLEGAL ABUSES IN PRISONS ABU GHRAIB AND GUANTANAMO PRISONS, SENT PRISONERS SECRETLY TO OTHER NATIONS TO BE TORTURED, DENIED THE APPLICABILITY OF GENEVA COMMISSION RESTRAINTS IN DEALING WITH PRISONERS, AND SEVERELY RESTRICTED TIME-HONORED CIVIL LIBERTIES WITHIN OUR OWN COUNTRY.

OTHER POLITICAL LEADERS WHO WERE INCLINED TO PERPETRATE HUMAN RIGHTS OPPRESSION TO QUIET DISSENTING VOICES WERE PREVIOUSLY RESTRAINED BY POSITIVE INFLUENCE FROM WASHINGTON; THEY NOW FEEL FREE TO EMULATE OR EXCEED THE ABUSES APPROVED BY AMERICAN LEADERS.

IN NOVEMBER 2003, NOT LONG AFTER THE IRAQ WAR BEGAN, WE CONVENED OUR FIRST HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS CONFERENCE. THE ACTIVISTS WHO ATTENDED WERE REELING FROM THE CONSEQUENCES OF THIS CHANGE. AT OUR CONFERENCE, WE HEARD DEVASTATING STORIES FROM PARTICIPANTS FROM FORTY-ONE COUNTRIES, AND LEARNED THAT LAWYERS WERE BEING ACCUSED OF ABETTING TREASON IN NEPAL AND TUNISIA SIMPLY FOR DOING THEIR JOBS, EGYPT WAS DETAINING AND TORTURING CRITICS OF GOVERNMENT POLICY, AND ACTIVISTS IN INDIA WERE ALLEGED TO BE TERRORISTS SIMPLY FOR DISTRIBUTING A PAMPHLET ABOUT THE RIGHTS OF DETAINEES.

THESE PARTICIPANTS SAID THAT ALL THE GAINS THEY HAD MADE TO ADVANCE HUMAN RIGHTS IN THEIR COUNTRIES OVER DECADES OF SACRIFICE AND RISK WERE BEING LOST AS THEIR GOVERNMENTS ADOPTED OR RENEWED ABUSIVE POLICIES AND FELT THAT THEY WOULD NO LONGER HAVE TO BOW TO INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION FOR THE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS.

TO ADDRESS THIS CONTINUING CHALLENGE, THE CARTER CENTER NOW CONVENES AN ANNUAL MEETING DESIGNED TO PROTECT AND STRENGTHEN THE EFFECTIVENESS OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS. MY CO-CHAIR IS ALWAYS THE U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, AND WE INCLUDE THE KEY ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE ACTIVE ON AN INTERNATIONAL SCALE. THE IRISH GOVERNMENT IS ONE OF OUR MAJOR ALLIES, AND HAS BECOME THE PREEMINENT VOICE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION. ALTHOUGH SOME OF THE DEFENDERS ARE IN PRISON OR OTHERWISE PREVENTED FROM COMING TO ATLANTA, WE ATTEMPT TO GIVE MAXIMUM PUBLICITY TO THEIR PLIGHT.

ANOTHER PROBLEM THAT BECAME INCREASINGLY OBVIOUS TO US WAS THE ALMOST UNIVERSAL DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN. THE FOUNDATION FOR THIS UNEQUAL TREATMENT IS WITHIN THE MAJOR RELIGIONS, WHICH ARE ALMOST IMPERVIOUS EITHER TO CRITICISM OR TO CHANGE. THIS ABUSE OF FEMALES IS OVERT AND OFFICIAL IN MANY ARAB NATIONS, WHERE WOMEN MUST REMAIN VEILED, CANNOT OPERATE AN AUTOMOBILE OR COMPETE WITH MEN FOR A JOB, AND OFTEN RECEIVE INFERIOR IF ANY EDUCATION.

WOMEN ARE PROHIBITED FROM SERVING AS PRIESTS IN CATHOLIC AND MOST ORTHODOX CHURCHES, AND SOME PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS ARE EVEN MORE DISCRIMINATORY. QUOTING SELECTIVE BIBLE VERSES, FOR INSTANCE, THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION MANDATES THAT WIVES MUST BE "SUBMISSIVE" TO THEIR HUSBANDS, THAT WOMEN CANNOT SERVE AS MILITARY CHAPLAINS, PASTORS, OR EVEN DEACONS IN A LOCAL CONGREGATION, AND THAT IT IS IMPROPER FOR WOMEN TO INSTRUCT MEN.

IN MANY PARTS OF AFRICA, MANDATORY CIRCUMCISIONS ARE STILL PERVASIVE AS RELIGIOUS RITES, AND IT IS TABOO FOR ANY WOMAN TO URINATE OR DEFECATE WHERE THEY MIGHT BE SEEN, EVEN THOUGH NO PRIVATE PLACES EXIST. IN ETHIOPIA, WE CAPITALIZED ON THIS ABUSE TO PROMOTE OUR CONTROL OVER TRACHOMA, BY TEACHING CONSTRUCTION OF SIMPLE LATRINES. OUR TARGET WAS 10,000/YEAR, BUT IT BECAME A "WOMEN'S LIBERATION" PROJECT AND 306,000 WERE BUILT IN THE FIRST THREE YEARS. I HAVE BECOME KNOWN AS THE "FATHER OF LATRINES."

I HAVE JUST RETURNED FROM NEPAL WHERE, AS WITH WORLD WAR II, A COMMITMENT TO HUMAN RIGHTS HAS BEEN DERIVED FROM INTENSE MILITARY CONFLICT. ONE PROVISION OF A NEW ELECTION LAW PASSED UNANIMOUSLY WHILE I WAS IN KATMANDU INCLUDES THIS MANDATE: SUCCESSFUL POLITICAL PARTIES SELECTING THEIR MEMBERS NEXT NOVEMBER TO WRITE A NEW CONSTITUTION, MUST INCLUDE 31% MADHESI (FORMER SERFS IN THE SOUTH), 13% DALITS (UNTOUCHABLES), AND 38% JANAJATI (INDIGENOUS PEOPLE). OF ALL THOSE CHOSEN, 50% MUST BE WOMEN. THE HIGH PERCENTAGE TOTAL IS BECAUSE AN INDIVIDUAL MAY BE IN MORE THAN ONE CATEGORY.

DESPITE A FEW EXAMPLES OF PROGRESS LIKE THIS, I WOULD SAY THAT THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS HAS REACHED AN ALL TIME LOW. FEW GOVERNMENTS ARE EMULATING THE FINE EXAMPLE BEING PROVIDED HERE IN IRELAND. ALL OF US NEED TO RENEW OUR EFFORTS TO ENSURE THAT, IN DECEMBER 2008, WE WILL BE ABLE TO CELEBRATE AND NOT APOLOGIZE ON ITS SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY.

NOW I'LL ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS.