US May Soon Stand Alone Opposing Children’s Treaty
Published on Friday, January 23, 2015
by Inter Press Service
US May Soon Stand Alone Opposing Children’s Treaty
'With the current composition of the U.S. Congress, there is no chance for its ratification.'
by Thalif Deen, IPS News
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 23 2015 (IPS) - When the East African nation of Somalia, once described as a “lawless state”, ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) early this week, it left two countries in splendid isolation from the rest of the world: South Sudan and the United States.
South Sudan?
Understandable, say human rights experts, because it was created and joined the United Nations only in July 2011 – and has since taken steps to start the domestic process in ratifying the treaty, probably later this year.
But the United States?
Kul Gautam of Nepal, a former U.N. assistant secretary-general and deputy executive director of the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF, told IPS the United States did sign the CRC back in February 1995 when Ambassador Madeline Albright was the U.S. envoy to the United Nations.
But the U.S. government has never submitted the treaty for ratification by the U.S. Senate, he added (where it needs a two-thirds vote for approval).
Asked if there is ever a chance the United States will ratify the treaty, bearing in mind that a conservative, right-wing Republican Party now wields power on Capitol Hill, Gautam said: “With the current composition of the U.S. Congress, there is no chance for its ratification.”
But still held out hope, adding, “Future ratification is not to be ruled out.”
Somalia became the 195th State Party to the CRC, described as “the most ratified international human rights treaty in history.”
More:
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/01/23/us-may-soon-stand-alone-opposing-childrens-treaty
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The rights for children in the CRC mirror both the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, at the insistence of the two former administrations – under President Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush Administrations – that worked on this treaty.
Sadly, those documents have fallen out of favor with the folks in Washington. It's beyond embarrassing that we haven't ratified this treaty.
