Opening Statement Mary E. McLeod
Head of U.S. Delegation
Principal Deputy Legal Adviser
Department of State
U.N. Human Rights Committee
As Prepared for Delivery
March 13, 2014 – Geneva, Switzerland
Distinguished Chair, Members of the Committee, my name is Mary McLeod, and I am the
Principal Deputy Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State. On behalf of the United
States and Secretary of State John Kerry, it is my honor and privilege to address the Human
Rights Committee and to have this chance to present the Fourth Periodic Report of the U.S.
on implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). As
our detailed reports and presentation testify, the United States takes its human rights
obligations and dialogue with this Committee extremely seriously and we are proud of our
tradition of having an open dialogue and debate about human rights issues.
We have found the process of review and reflection with respect to the ICCPR very helpful
as we continually strive to improve our efforts to protect civil and political rights in the
United States. We appreciate this opportunity for dialogue with the Committee.
The broad and comprehensive legal framework within the United States to implement the
ICCPR, described in the Second and Third Periodic Report presented seven years ago,
remains firmly in place. Indeed, these laws form part of the bedrock of our democratic
system of governance.
The Fourth Periodic Report updated our prior Reports on major
relevant developments, including new laws, judicial decisions, policies, and programs that
expand protections in various areas and provide remedies for violations of protected rights.
Of course, many of the rights and freedoms protected under the ICCPR have parallels in the
U.S. Constitution, including freedom of religion, speech, and peaceful assembly, the right to
trial by jury, the prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures, and the prohibition of
cruel and unusual punishments, also find expression and protection in the ICCPR. Beyond
these fundamental constitutional guarantees, we take pride in the numerous other civil and
political rights protections available under U.S. laws and policies.
From our previous appearances before the Committee, we know that as we proceed over
the next two days, there may be matters regarding the interpretation or application of the
Covenant on which my government and members of the Committee may not be in full
agreement. We hope the Committee will appreciate that our views on the interpretation of
the treaty are informed by our principled interpretation of international treaty law and our
abiding commitment to the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. We look
forward to this wide-ranging discussion and to hearing the perspectives of the Committee.
As in our last appearance before the Committee, we also know that our discussions may at
times lead us to topics for which the law of armed conflict is the relevant governing law. We
recognize your interest in this area and, in the spirit of cooperation with the Committee, we
will provide as much information on these matters as possible, while identifying the relevant
legal and policy considerations that guide U.S. actions in these areas.
We hope that our Fourth Periodic Report, along with our previous reports, has explained in
detail the way in which the United States implements its obligations under the ICCPR,
comprehensively and at all levels of government. As reflected in our report, a set of
principles protecting civil and political rights, embedded structurally throughout our
Constitution and laws, animates U.S. government action. While we enforce these
fundamental protections through law, we view protection of civil and political rights as
something that is more than a set of legal requirements, but as fundamental to our cultural
identity, developed throughout our nation’s history. While we are not perfect, our network
of federal, state, and local institutions provides checks on the government and provides
avenues for redress of rights violations. In the United States, there is a culture and history
of civil society challenging the political branches of government through judicial processes,
which is reflected by the fact that many of the authorities referred to in our reports stem
from litigation and from decisions of the United States Supreme Court and other courts.
Finally, it is because we do have such strong protections for freedoms of expression,
association, and peaceful assembly, that we have an active and vibrant civil society, as
evidenced by the number of NGO reports submitted to the Committee, that provides an
additional check to ensure the government is living up to its commitments to protect civil
and political rights and continually striving to improve.
We look forward to a productive and constructive conversation. For this purpose, the United
States has brought a distinguished and wide-ranging delegation to Geneva. I am joined on
this podium by the following representatives from the federal government: Roy Austin,
Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Justice Department, who in his
opening remarks will briefly address the active measures taken by the Department of
Justice to zealously protect civil and political rights in the United States and ensure equal
protection for all, Bruce Swartz, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division
of the Justice Department and the Department’s Counselor for International Affairs, and
Megan Mack, Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at the Department of Homeland
Security.
Also on our delegation are three state and local representatives– the Mayor of Salt Lake
City, Utah, the Honorable Ralph Becker, and Ms. Yolanda Francisco-Nez, the Coordinator for
the Mayor’s Office for Diversity and Human Rights, and the Attorney General of Mississippi,
the Honorable Jim Hood. We are fortunate to have with us additional officials of a variety
of federal agencies:
Riah Ramlogan, Deputy Principal Legal Advisor, U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement; the Honorable Kevin Washburn, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs
at the Department of the Interior; Dr. Wanda Jones, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary
for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services; Brigadier General Richard A.
Gross, Legal Counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Department of
Defense; and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the
Department of State, Scott Busby. Other members of our delegation represent the
Departments of State, Defense, and Homeland Security.
I will now turn to Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Roy Austin, to make
introductory remarks on behalf of the Department of Justice. Thank you.