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Draft Charter of Pompeo's "Commission on Unalienable Rights" Hides Anti-Human Rights Agenda
On May 30, without fanfare, a notice of intent to establish a State Department Commission on Unalienable Rights was published in the Federal Register. According to the Commission’s draft Charter, obtained by Just Security, the stated purpose of the Commission is to provide “fresh thinking about human rights” and propose “reforms of human rights discourse where it has departed from our nation’s founding principles of natural law and natural rights…to which [Dr. Martin Luther] King called us while standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.”
The draft Charter describes the Commission’s duties as including “advice and recommendations, for the secretary’s approval, to guide U.S. diplomatic and foreign policy decisions and actions with respect to human rights in international settings.” This raises concerns that the Commission, which will have the State Department’s Office of Policy Planning “supply all staff and support functions” and offer guidance directly to Secretary Pompeo, is designed to bypass the Office of Legal Adviser and the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.
Initial reporting on the Commission, by Nahal Toosi at Politico, highlighted concerns of human rights activists that the “natural law” language was code for religiously-infused opposition both to reproductive rights and to protections for members of the LGBTQ community. In subsequent days, Roger Pilon at the Cato Institute weighed in, acknowledging concerns that the Commission could be used as a vehicle to advance a particular religious agenda, but ultimately concluding that “this commission, properly staffed and conducted, affords an opportunity to redirect our public debate to America’s first principles.”
...
According to the ABC, the concept note for the Commission was penned by Professor Robert George. On the faculty at Princeton University, Professor George is the recipient of a host of academic accolades. He is also a staunch opponent of same-sex marriage and co-founder of the anti-gay rights group, National Organization for Marriage.
...
https://www.justsecurity.org/64430/exclusive-draft-charter-of-pompeos-commission-on-unalienable-rights-hides-anti-human-rights-agenda/
The draft Charter describes the Commission’s duties as including “advice and recommendations, for the secretary’s approval, to guide U.S. diplomatic and foreign policy decisions and actions with respect to human rights in international settings.” This raises concerns that the Commission, which will have the State Department’s Office of Policy Planning “supply all staff and support functions” and offer guidance directly to Secretary Pompeo, is designed to bypass the Office of Legal Adviser and the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.
Initial reporting on the Commission, by Nahal Toosi at Politico, highlighted concerns of human rights activists that the “natural law” language was code for religiously-infused opposition both to reproductive rights and to protections for members of the LGBTQ community. In subsequent days, Roger Pilon at the Cato Institute weighed in, acknowledging concerns that the Commission could be used as a vehicle to advance a particular religious agenda, but ultimately concluding that “this commission, properly staffed and conducted, affords an opportunity to redirect our public debate to America’s first principles.”
...
According to the ABC, the concept note for the Commission was penned by Professor Robert George. On the faculty at Princeton University, Professor George is the recipient of a host of academic accolades. He is also a staunch opponent of same-sex marriage and co-founder of the anti-gay rights group, National Organization for Marriage.
...
https://www.justsecurity.org/64430/exclusive-draft-charter-of-pompeos-commission-on-unalienable-rights-hides-anti-human-rights-agenda/
It seems the Orwellian "Commission on Unalienable Rights" is intended to alienate some human rights from certain people. This will, no doubt, please Pompeo's and Trump's masters - extremist Christianists and Dominionists, the theocratic Saudis, the homophobic and authoritarian Putin ... - note that this is under the State Dept. It's notable that it's Trump's backers abroad who want this kind of thing - they want the USA to stop criticising their human rights record, as payment for electing him.
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