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Uptown Progressives is a member organization in the Coalition of Democratic and Progressive Organizations.
Human rights -- the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, free from violence and coercion -- are essential to all the world's people. As one of the world's superpowers and as a nation historically rooted in this classic democratic ideal, the United States is morally obligated to use its power and leadership to advance human rights as a fundamental value, to encourage and uphold free and self-sustaining societies, and to place the highest priority on the pursuit of diplomatic solutions to international problems.
Background
In December 1948, the United Nations unanimously ratified the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, which, similar to the U.S. Declaration of Independence and U.S.
Constitution, lays out rights intrinsic to all people. The United States, however, in
pursuing military and foreign policy strategies at the expense of other peoples and
nations, has not authenticated its acceptance of the Universal Declaration. Even beyond the
end of the Cold War, there has been a continual U.S. military involvement throughout the world,
combined with the curtailment of the rights of American citizens and their elected
representatives to deliberate over military and foreign policy. In the most recent example,
the current administration has waged a full scale war in Iraq without a mandate from the
American people, our allies, or the United Nations. As a result of U.S. policies, there has been
increasing distrust of the U.S. And in the past four years, U.S. immigration restrictions in
the name of foreign policy, have barred entrance to thousands of visitors, students, and trained workers.
Recommendations
We urge elected officials to renew their commitment to human rights, and to prioritize the pursuit of diplomatic solutions to the world's problems.
Sources: Background of UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and text of Universal Declaration of Human Rights.