Support for a Federal Commission to Study Establishing a National Human Rights Institution

Ambassador Susan Rice
Director, Domestic Policy Council The White House
Washington, D.C. 

December 15, 2022

RE: Creating a federal commission to study establishing a national human rights institution

Dear Ambassador Rice,

Last October, President Biden proclaimed that the United States must demonstrate that its “commitment to human rights begins at home.” We, the undersigned, strongly support that sentiment and believe that this principle – that human rights begin at home – should be the basis for a bold approach to ensuring that everyone in the United States enjoys the rights and freedoms guaranteed by international human rights law.

The United States has been a historic leader in the global effort to establish universal standards of human rights protection, beginning with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. At the same time, while state and local authorities have increasingly looked to human rights standards to improve the lives of people, the federal government has not comprehensively integrated the United States’ human rights obligations into domestic law and policy and has resisted efforts to create domestic human rights monitoring, enforcement, and accountability mechanisms. Thus, as we mark the adoption of the Universal Declaration seventy-four years ago this month, we urge the Biden administration to make good on the President’s words by reinvigorating that leadership and starting the process of establishing a National Human Rights Institution (“NHRI”).

In particular, we propose that the Biden Administration establish a national committee of experts to study the creation of an American NHRI, with robust civil society participation, and make recommendations within a year of its establishment.

Our proposal is rooted in a widespread global practice of human rights compliance. Democracies around the world, including most of the United States’ closest allies and partners, have established national institutions that monitor and promote the implementation of their international human rights obligations. Some do so by giving individuals the right to bring claims that may be resolved by the NHRI. Some provide a public forum for the investigation of alleged violations and a platform for recommendations to improve human rights compliance. Still others create mechanisms to advise and inform the legislative, judicial, and executive branches on human rights standards and to provide broad education to their people. And in some cases, NHRIs provide another avenue for victims to seek investigation and adjudication of alleged human rights violations and obtain redress.

Whatever functions or model may be appropriate for the United States, an American NHRI could strengthen our ability to bring human rights home and significantly improve domestic implementation of the United States’ international human rights commitments and obligations including under the Universal Declaration and ratified treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
 

An American effort to establish an NHRI could also reinforce the priorities President Biden has set out for the Summit for Democracy and in the Administration’s National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality, demonstrating that what the United States asks of others is what we also demand of ourselves. We were heartened that the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in its Concluding Observations following the United States review earlier this year, welcomed the U.S. delegation’s indication that it had taken under advisement the recommendations favoring the creation of an NHRI.

In keeping with the U.S. government's stated commitment to evaluate human rights recommendations, we urge the Biden administration to establish a presidential commission to thoroughly explore the creation of an NHRI in the United States. We stand ready to support you in your efforts to launch such a process and take the first steps toward bringing human rights home.

For further questions, please contact Professor David Kaye, UC Irvine School of Law, at dkaye@law.uci.edu, or Mr. Jamil Dakwar, American Civil Liberties Union, at jdakwar@aclu.org.

cc:      

The Honorable Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State

The Honorable Jake Sullivan, National Security Adviser

Organizations:

International Justice Clinic, UC Irvine School of Law American Civil Liberties Union

ACLU of North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming The Advocates for Human Rights

African Diaspora Directorate

Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic, Yale Law School American Association of the International Commission of Jurists

American Civil Liberties Union, Puerto Rico American Humanist Association

American Jewish Committee Amnesty International USA Arab American Institute

Boston University International Human Rights Clinic Center for Constitutional Rights

Center for Gender & Refugee Studies

Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) Center for Reproductive Rights

Center for Victims of Torture
 

Changing Woman Initiative Children’s Rights

Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute

Cornell Law School International Human Rights Clinic Desiree Alliance

Disaster Law Project DRM Action Coalition DynamicChanges LLC

Electronic Frontier Foundation Four Freedoms Forum

Friends of the African Union Global Justice Center

Global Rights Advocacy Haitian Bridge Alliance

Hawaiʻi Institute for Human Rights Human Rights Advocates

Human Rights Clinic, University of Miami School of Law Human Rights First

Human Rights Program, Hunter College Human Rights Watch

Institute for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University International Center for Advocates Against Discrimination (ICAAD)

International Human Rights Law Clinic, American University Washington College of Law International Human Rights Law Institute, DePaul University College of Law International Indian Treaty Council

International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry Impact Fund

Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights Kiva Centers

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights La Colmena

Lambda Legal

Leitner Center for International Law and Justice, Fordham Law School Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations

Louisiana Advocates for Immigrants in Detention Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)

NAACP

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) National Birth Equity Collaborative

National Homelessness Law Center

National Lawyers Guild International Committee National Network to End Domestic Violence National Organization for Women

National Religious Campaign Against Torture Northwest Harvest
 

Partners for Dignity and Rights Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance Project on Government Oversight

Promise Institute for Human Rights, UCLA School of Law Repeal Mental Health Laws

Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights

Santa Clara Law - International Human Rights Clinic Society of the Flora, Fauna and Friend

Sons and Daughters of Africa (SADA) Southern Echo Inc.

Southern Poverty Law Center

Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center, Howard University School of Law T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights

University of Connecticut School of Law: Human Rights Law Association

Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights, University of Cincinnati College of Law

U.S. Human Rights Cities Alliance

USC Gould International Human Rights Clinic Water Protector Legal Collective

Woman’s All Point Bulletin WAPB Woodhull Freedom Foundation World Justice Project

Individuals (institutions noted for identification purposes only):

Richard Abel, UCLA School of Law Gregg Bloche

Peter Brooks, Yale University

Tony Camerino, Burkle Center for International Relations Arturo J. Carillo, George Washington University School of Law

Avidan Y. Cover, Case Western Reserve University School of Law Rhonda Cowden

Ejim Dike, Western States Center

Dr Jackie Dugard, Institute for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University Stephanie Farrior

Laurel Fletcher, Berkeley Law

Karen Greenberg, Center on National Security

Lisa Hajjar, University of California, Santa Barbara Jonathan Hafetz, Professor of Law Seton Hall Law School Paul Hoffman, UC Irvine School of Law

Nancy Hollander

Deena R Hurwitz, Program on Human Rights & the Global Economy, Northeastern University School of Law

Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum, Cardozo Law School

Wade Henderson, Former President, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Jules Lobel, University of Pittsburgh Law School

Jinee Lokaneeta, Drew University

Gay J. McDougall, Fordham University School of Law