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Summary: A compilation of extracts featuring child-rights issues from the reports submitted to the first Universal Periodic Review. There are extracts from the 'National Report', the 'Compilation of UN Information' and the 'Summary of Stakeholder's Information'. Also included is the final report and the list of accepted and rejected recommendations.
United States - 9th Session - 2010
5th November, 9am to 12pm
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National Report
Compilation of UN information
Summary of Stakeholder information
Accepted and rejected recommendations
37. As one of President Obama’s first official acts, he signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which helps women who face wage discrimination recover their lost wages. Shortly thereafter, the President created the White House Council on Women and Girls to seek to ensure that American women and girls are treated fairly and equally in all matters of public policy. Thus, for instance, the Administration supports the Paycheck Fairness Act, which will help ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work. Our recent health care reform bill also lowers costs and offers greater choices for women, and ends insurance company discrimination against them. Moreover, the Administration established the first White House Advisor on Violence Against Women, appointed two women to the U.S. Supreme Court, and created an unprecedented position of Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues to mobilize support for women around the world. The Obama Administration strongly supports U.S. ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women and is working with our Senate toward this end.
40. Addressing crimes involving violence against women and children on tribal lands is a priority. After extensive consultations with tribal leaders, Attorney General Eric Holder announced significant reform to increase prosecution of crimes committed on tribal lands. He hired more Assistant U.S. Attorneys and more victim-witness specialists. He created a new position, the National Indian Country Training Coordinator, who will work with prosecutors and law enforcement officers in tribal communities. The Attorney General is establishing a Tribal Nations Leadership Council to provide ongoing advice on issues critical to tribal communities.
41. On July 29, 2010, President Obama signed the Tribal Law and Order Act, requiring the Justice Department to disclose data on cases in Indian Country that it declines to prosecute and granting tribes greater authority to prosecute and punish criminals. The Act also expands support for Bureau of Indian Affairs and Tribal officers. It includes new provisions to prevent counterfeiting of Indian-produced crafts and new guidelines and training for domestic violence and sex crimes, and it strengthens tribal courts and police departments and enhances programs to combat drug and alcohol abuse and help at-risk youth. These are significant measures that will empower tribal governments and make a difference in people's lives.
47. The United States is committed to providing equal educational opportunities to all children, regardless of their individual circumstances, race, national origin, ethnicity, gender, or disability. Consistent with this commitment, the federal government uses educational programs to ensure that federal dollars assist underserved students and develop strategies that will help such students succeed. The federal government has also taken steps to ensure that students with disabilities have access to technology, and to provide low-income students and students of color with increased access to early learning and college. In addition, the Department of Education administers and promotes programs that seek to provide financial aid to all students in need; promotes educational equity for women and students of color; assists school districts in offering educational opportunities to Native Hawaiians, American Indians, and Alaska Natives; and provides grants to strengthen historically Black colleges and universities and other institutions serving previously underserved populations.
48. Additionally, the Departments of Justice and Education enforce numerous laws, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act of 1972 (Title IX), and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, and age with regard to education. In this capacity, the Justice Department is a party to more than 200 court cases addressing equal opportunities for students, and is involved in numerous out-of-court investigations, many of which have led to settlement agreements. The Department of Education investigates and resolves civil rights complaints filed by individuals, resolving 6,150 such complaints in the most recent fiscal year, and initiates compliance reviews where information suggests widespread discrimination. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires public schools to make available to all eligible children with disabilities a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment appropriate to their individual needs.
49. The federal government is working closely with civil society groups–the representatives of which frequently raised the issue of education in our UPR consultations—and with state and local education authorities in our fifty states to address the factors that contribute to the education “achievement gap,” and to ensure equality and excellence for all children in public schools, and particularly African-American and Hispanic children and children for whom English is a second language, who, like others, find linguistic discrimination a barrier to full participation.
64. In 1974, Congress enacted the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), to ensure that youth were not treated merely as “little adults,” and that they received necessary and appropriate rehabilitative services in the least restrictive environment consistent with public safety. The JJDPA created an office within the Justice Department dedicated to supporting federal, state, and local efforts to prevent juvenile crime, improving the juvenile justice system, and addressing the needs of juvenile crime victims. This office provides funding to states for system improvement, as well as funding for research to identify optimal prevention and intervention strategies for youth in the juvenile justice system or at risk of entering it. Our UPR consultations included direct testimony from juvenile offenders who underscored the importance of intervention strategies and programs to help juvenile offenders find education and employment so that they can become self-sufficient.
65. The Department of Justice also has a robust program to protect the rights of juveniles in juvenile justice facilities. For example, in July 2010, the Department entered an agreement with the State of New York regarding unconstitutional conditions in four upstate facilities. The agreement, in addition to limiting the kinds of restraints that can be used, mandates adequate mental health and substance abuse services.
66. In May 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for juveniles who commit non-homicide offenses violate the Constitution’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
68. Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the current Administration has made an unprecedented financial commitment of almost $100 billion to education. In November 2009, the Administration announced the Race to the Top program, a $4.35 billion fund that is the largest competitive education grant program in U.S. history. It is designed to provide incentives to states to implement large-scale, system-changing reforms that improve student achievement, narrow achievement gaps, and increase graduation and college enrollment rates. Additionally, Recovery Act funds are being used to promote high-quality early childhood education, provide an increase in available financial aid and loans for postsecondary school, and provide $12 billion for community colleges to give access to workers who need more education and training.
UN Compilation
1. In 2008, the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) recommended that the United States of America proceed to become party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Working Group of experts on people of African descent noted that the United States has not ratified the Convention or the ILO Convention No. 111 concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation.
3. CRC recommended that the State consider ratifying Additional Protocols I and II to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949.
6. In 2006, the Human Rights Committee (HR Committee) encouraged the State to withdraw its reservation to article 6, paragraph 5, of ICCPR, which forbids imposition of the death penalty on offenders who were under the age of 18 when their crimes were committed. Other committees recommended that reservations and understandings to relevant human rights treaties be withdrawn.
9. CRC recommended that the State define and prohibit child prostitution both at federal and state levels.
10. CRC encouraged the State to raise the minimum age for recruitment into the armed forces to 18 years, and recommended that the State ensure that violations of OP-CRC-AC regarding the recruitment and involvement of children in hostilities be explicitly criminalized in its legislation; and that it consider establishing extraterritorial jurisdiction for these crimes.
11. As of 12 July 2010, the United States does not have a national human rights institution accredited by the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. CERD recommended that the State consider the establishment of a national human rights institution in accordance with the Paris Principles. CRC and the Working Group of experts on people of African descent made similar recommendations.
12. CERD recommended that the State ensure a coordinated approach towards the implementation of the Convention at the federal, state and local levels. CAT noted that the State had a federal structure, but recalled that it had the obligation to implement the Convention against Torture in full at the domestic level. Likewise, CRC recommended strengthening coordination in the areas covered by OP-CRC-SC, both at federal and state levels.
24. CRC recommended that the State ensure that recruitment in the armed forces does not occur in a manner which specifically targets minorities and children of low-income families, and that any reported irregularity or misconduct by recruiters be investigated.
27. The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism sent, in March 2006, a joint allegation letter regarding incidents of air strikes by United States unmanned aircrafts that had resulted in the death of 31 civilians near the Afghan border. The former also sent an allegation letter regarding a raid conducted by the multinational force in Iraq, in which American troops allegedly executed 10 civilians, including 6 children.
42. CRC was concerned at the number of children in United States-administered detention facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan, detained over extended periods of time and who may have been subject to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, without access to legal advisory services or recovery measures. CRC recommended, inter alia, that the State ensure that children be detained only as a measure of last resort and that a periodic review of their detention be guaranteed.
43. CRC was concerned, inter alia, that efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect did not cover sufficiently large groups of vulnerable children and recommended adopting measures to prevent exploitation of children, and assisting victims.
44. In 2010, the ILO Committee of Experts urged the United States to take immediate and effective measures to comply with article 1 of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No. 182), read with article 3 (d), to prohibit children under 18 years of age from engaging in dangerous work in agriculture.
67. The Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants recommended that immigration detainees placed in removal proceedings have the right to appointed counsel. Migrant women who are suffering the effects of persecution or abuse, or who are pregnant, should not be detained. Children should be placed in home-like facilities.
1. Amnesty International (AI) recommended embarking upon a programme of ratification, and ensure implementation into domestic law, of human rights and other instruments, including CEDAW, CRC, ICESCR, OPCAT, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the Rome Statute of the International court, the American Convention on Human Rights, and the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. The Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) informed that the United States (US) has not yet ratified any of the regional human rights instruments.
8. USHRN noted the failure of the US to signal intent to ratify the CRC and CEDAW. While commending the signature of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, USHRN noted that it lingers without ratification.
36. AI also noted that most US states have no laws to restrict the use of restraints on pregnant women inmates, including during labour, a practice which can endanger the health of the woman and her baby. AI indicated that the US has not implemented the Human Rights Committee recommendation in July 2006 to prohibit the shackling of detained women during childbirth.
39. Human Rights Watch (HRW) recommended ensuring access protective and rehabilitative services by victims of domestic violence. AHR recommended passing laws and developing guidelines for child custody determinations taking domestic violence concerns into account.
40. EPOCH reported that parents are legally permitted to use physical punishment on children in all states, and that 223 children were subjected to corporal punishment in schools in 2006-2007, with many requiring medical treatment. Thirty states have banned corporal punishment in schools.
43. HRW referred to the treatment of child farmworkers and recommended passing the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment.
48. International Human Rights Law Society (IHRLS) noted that there is no uniform minimum age for criminal prosecution in state criminal codes and the sentence is set by each states’ own laws. Two states prohibit sentencing juveniles to life without the possibility of parole (JLWOP) and five permit such sentences but make offenders eligible for parole. The remaining 43 states have some form of mandatory or discretionary JLWOP. AI recommended to end the use of life imprisonment without parole for offenders under 18 years old at the time of the crime, and to review all existing sentences in order to ensure that any such convicted offender has the possibility of parole.
54. Conscience and Peace Tax International reported on compulsory registration for military services, recruitment of persons under 18, difficulties encountered by serving members who develop a conscientious objection and the use of taxes of persons with a conscientious objection for military expenditures.
59. USHRN noted that around 30% of the population lacks an adequate income to meet basic needs, with 24.7% of African Americans and 14.5% of women living below the federal poverty level. CESR noted that one in five children live in poverty. JS-11 indicated that most Indigenous communities suffer grave economic and social deprivation. AI indicated that there is an unequal access in the US to basic amenities such as adequate food, shelter, work, healthcare, and education. There is also a lack of affordable housing, job shortages and income insecurity, particularly among minorities and women.
67. USHRN indicated that the education system is highly segregated. Lack of adequate funding and zero-tolerance discipline policies push young people out of school. USHRN called on the US to implement the recommendations of CERD regarding school segregation and discrimination in educational opportunities. CESR referred to gaps in educational achievements among ethnic groups.
Accepted and Rejected Recommendations
The following recommendations were accepted:
92.1. Ratify (without reservations – rejected) the following conventions and protocols: CEDAW; the ICESCR; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families; the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; the Statute of the International Criminal Court; those of the ILO; the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Peoples, and all those from the Inter-American Human Rights System (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela).
92.2.Continue the process to ratify CEDAW and adhere to the other human rights fundamental instruments, such as the Statute of Rome of the International Criminal Court, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons against Enforced Disappearance (France).
92.3. Ratify, until the next universal periodic review, ICESCR, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Protocols I and II of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, ILO Conventions no. 87 (on freedom of association) and no. 98 (on the right to collective bargaining) as well as withdraw the reservation made to article 4 of the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (Russian Federation).
92.4. Ratify ICESCR and its Optional Protocol; the first Optional Protocol to the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, CEDAW, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (Spain).
92.5. Continue its efforts to realise universal human rights by a) ratifying CEDAW; b) becoming a party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child; c) acceding to ICESCR; d) ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Canada).
92.6. Ratify the core human rights treaties, particularly the CRC, ICESCR, CEDAW and its Optional Protocol, the OP-CAT and the CMW and the CRPD with its Optional Protocol (Sudan).
92.7. Ratify the ICESCR, CEDAW and the Convention of the Rights of the Child at an early stage together with other important human rights conventions (Japan).
92.8. Ratify CEDAW, ICESCR, and CRC in token of its commitment to their implementation worldwide, as well as become party to other international human rights conventions as referred to in the OHCHR report (Indonesia).
92.9. Ratify all core international instruments on human rights, in particular ICESCR, CEDAW, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Viet Nam).
92.10. Consider ratifying ICESCR, CEDAW and CRC at the earliest (India).
92.11. Consider undertaking necessary steps leading to ratification of the parent/umbrella United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and CEDAW respectively (Malaysia).
92.13. Proceed with ratifying the CRPD and CRC (Qatar).
92.14. Ratify, and ensure implementation into domestic law of CEDAW and CRC (Turkey).
92.15. Ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (Haiti).
92.16. Endeavour to ratify international instruments that USA is not party, in particular among others the CRC, OP-CAT; CEDAW; and Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Costa Rica).
92.17. Ratify ICESCR, CEDAW, the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and other core human rights treaties as soon as possible (China).
92.18. Ratify additional human rights treaties such as the ICESCR; the Convention of the Rights of the Child; the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances and the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities in order to further strengthen their support to the United Nations Human Rights mechanisms (Netherlands).
92.19. Ratify the pending core international human rights instruments, in particular CRC, ICESCR, and its OP, CEDAW and its OP as well as CRPD, and others, and ensure their due translation into the domestic legislation and review existing ratifications with a view to withdraw all reservations and declarations (Slovakia).
92.20. Consider ratifying the treaties to which it is not a party, including the CEDAW, CRC, ICESCR, and CRPD (Republic of Korea).
92.21. Consider ratifying CEDAW, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Austria).
92.22. Consider prioritizing acquiescence to the Convention of the Rights of the Child, CEDAW, the ILO Convention No. 111 on Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation so as to further strengthen its national framework for human rights, but also to assist in achieving their universality (Trinidad and Tobago).
92.23. Proceed with the ratification of Additional Protocols I and II of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, of CEDAW as well as the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (Cyprus).
92.24. Ratify at its earliest opportunity other core human rights instruments, particularly, those to which it is already a signatory, namely CEDAW, Convention on the Rights of the Child, ICESCR, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Thailand).
92.25. Ratify the ICESCR, CEDAW, CRC the CRPD, the Additional Protocol I and II (1977), to the Geneva Conventions, the ICC Statute, as well as the 1st and 2nd Protocol to the Hague Convention 1954 (Hungary).
92.27. Accede to ICESCR, the CRC and ILO convention No. 111 (Islamic Republic of Iran).
92.34. Ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Democratic People's Republic of Korea, New Zealand); Become a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Australia).
92.43. Consider the signing, ratification or accession, as corresponds, of the main international and Inter-American human rights instruments, especially the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Uruguay).
92.48. Take the necessary measures to consider lifting the United States reservation to article 5, paragraph 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that bans the imposition of the death penalty for crimes committed by persons under 18 (France).
92.49. Consider the withdrawal of all reservations and declarations that undermine the objective and spirit of the human rights instruments, in particular reservation to article 6 paragraph 5 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that bans the imposition of the death penalty to those who committed a crime when they were minors (Uruguay).
92.50. Withdraw the reservation to article 6, paragraph 5 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights and consider further to abolish the death penalty in all cases (Austria).
92.134. End the (prosecution – rejected) and execution of mentally-ill persons and minors; (Cuba).
92.165. Further foster its measures in relation to migrant women and foreign adopted children that are exposed to domestic violence (Republic of Moldova).
92.167. Take effective steps to put an end to child prostitution, and effectively combat violence against women and gun violence (Islamic Republic of Iran).
92.168. Define, prohibit and punish the trafficking of persons and child prostitution (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela).
92.193. Prevent slavery of agriculture workers, in particular children and women (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela).
The following recommendations were rejected:
92.71. Consider raising to 18 years the minimum age for the voluntary recruitment to the armed forces, and explicitly define as a crime the violation of the provisions of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (Uruguay).
92.141. Halt immediately the unjustified arms race and bring to justice those responsible for all war crimes and massacres against unarmed civilians, women, children as well as acts of torture carried-out in prisons such as Abu Ghraib, Bagram and Guantanamo (Nicaragua).
92.180. Incorporate in its legal system the possibility of granting parole to offenders under 18 sentenced to life imprisonment for murder (Switzerland); Renounce to life in prison without parole sentences for minors at the moment of the actions for which they were charged and introduce for those who have already been sentenced in these circumstances the possibility of a remission (Belgium); Prohibit sentencing of juvenile offenders under the age of 18 without the possibility of parole at the federal and state level (Austria); Cease application of life imprisonment without parole for juvenile offenders and to review all existing sentences to provide for a possibility of parole (Slovakia).
92.181. Enact legislation to ensure that imprisonment is only used as a last resort when sentencing all juvenile offenders and provide systematic resocialisation support (Austria).
No recommendations were left pending.