Human Rights

The Obama administration is fighting for women's rights in the Middle East because that's what they want, the State Department's top public outreach official said Thursday.

Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Tara Sonenshine's remarks were sparked by criticism that the United States is acting imperiously as it seeks to promote values that some conservative Muslims deem offensive to Islam. The issue is particularly salient in Egypt, where the ruling Muslim Brotherhood has denounced a proposed U.N. declaration condemning violence against women while failing to protect women protesting President Mohammed Morsi.

“They want our help. They seek our help. They need our help,” Sonenshine said at a Brookings Institution event on U.S. policy and women in the Middle East.

The tweet, linking to a U.S. comedy show that mocked the Egyptian government's recent crackdown, sparked outrage from Egyptian officials.

The federal government's failure to coordinate its message on international religious freedom is creating tensions around the world, the government's watchdog said Tuesday.

The report from the Government Accountability Office found that the State Department and its Office of International Religious Freedom often fail to coordinate with the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Both entities were created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 at a time of increased restrictions on religious freedom around the world, but have sometimes worked at cross-purposes.

“The lack of a definition regarding how the two entities are to interact has created foreign policy tensions that State has had to mitigate,” the GAO concluded. “Guidance that would clarify how State and USCIRF are to cooperate would strengthen each entity's unique contribution to promoting international religious freedom. It would also institutionalize their information sharing and help ensure that the U.S. government presents a more consistent foreign policy message with respect to religious freedom.”

The Obama administration is claiming several big wins during the UN Human Rights Council's (HRC) first session since the United States was reappointed to the council in November.

Topping the list: Unanimous support for the creation of a U.S.-backed Commission of Inquiry into human rights abuses in North Korea, a communist country widely believed to hold between 100,000 and 200,000 people in concentration camps. The probe represents a significant shift for regional powers, such as South Korea and Japan, which have long fretted against antagonizing their volatile neighbor, but have joined in the global condemnation of North Korea following its recent nuclear and missile tests.

“U.S. leadership helped to keep the Council at the forefront of international efforts to promote and protect human rights,” the State Department said in a statement. “We continue to engage strategically with the goal of making the HRC a more effective and credible multilateral forum for promoting and protecting human rights.”

The new leader of the Senate Foreign Relations panel on East Asia set the tone for his chairmanship by starting off a series of hearings on President Obama's “pivot to Asia” Thursday with a focus on human rights.

Lawmakers have been probing the strategic and business repercussions of the president's priorities for the past few years, but Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) brings a different perspective. He championed last year's Russia human rights sanctions bill in the Senate and pushed for U.S. foreign aid programs to make gender equity a priority when he chaired the subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance in the last Congress.

“We must remember as we 'rebalance to Asia' that the fundamental respect for the human rights of every person, every woman, man and child, is the underpinning to security and prosperity,” Cardin said in his opening statement Thursday. “Good governance which includes a respect for human rights is key to economic growth.”

Russia's top law-enforcement body ruled whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky died of heart failure while in police custody four years ago. 

President Obama on Tuesday nominated Second Lady Jill Biden's chief of staff to be ambassador at large for global women's issues, a role he created during his first term.

“Cathy is a longtime advocate for justice and fairness and has worked on preventing violence against women here in America and around the world,” Obama said in a statement. “She served as Chief of Staff to Dr. Jill Biden for my entire first term, and has worked tirelessly alongside Michelle and Jill to make sure our military families get the honor and support they’ve earned. I’m certain that Cathy will continue to be a powerful advocate for women and girls in her new role.”

Russel served as staff director of the Senate Judiciary Committee under then-Sen. Biden in 1994 when the Violence Against Women Act passed. If confirmed, Russell will replace Melanne Verveer, who served as Hillary Clinton's chief of staff when she was first lady.

Washington's continued use of armed aerial drones to kill suspected terrorists inside Pakistan's borders is a clear violation of the country's sovereignty, according a United Nations official investigating the legality of those operations. 

Vice President Joe Biden will lead the U.S. delegation to Francis's installation mass, the White House confirmed.

The Obama administration will pursue action against North Korea and Sri Lanka at the United Nations over human rights violations, a top State Department diplomat said.

Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Esther Brimmer presented the administration's priorities at the opening session of the U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday. These include creating a mechanism to document human rights abuses in North Korea and introducing a resolution calling on the Sri Lankan government to reconcile with the country's Tamil minority following the end of the civil war there four years ago.

“The Council’s work remains unfinished so long as millions of North Koreans face untold human rights abuses amidst a daily struggle for survival,” Brimmer told the council. “Principle demands that the countless human rights violations exacted by the Pyongyang government merit international condemnation and accountability.”