Introduction to Statement by David Kaye
The signatories to the statement below are among the Americans who have served on United Nations human rights bodies for decades, helping develop a system that U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan called the United Nations’ “crown jewel.” They have been members of human rights working groups, served as independent experts and special rapporteurs monitoring key areas of state and corporate impact on human rights, and led coordinating committees of what is known as the U.N.’s “special procedures.” The U.N. human rights system has, as a whole, helped develop key areas of international human rights law, including in key areas of U.S. concern, such as the protection of women and girls against violence and discrimination; the rights to freedom of speech, protest and cultural expression; the independence of the judiciary; the right to a healthy environment; fundamental rights to due process; and the elimination of extreme poverty. U.N. experts have drawn critical attention to violations by such states as Iran, Russia, China, and Saudi Arabia, while at the same time pushing democratic states to meet their obligations in such contexts as terrorism, economic justice, religious freedom, and non-discrimination.
Sixteen such experts issue the statement below.
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The Trump Administration’s Attacks on International Law and Institutions: Public Statement of American Human Rights Experts, Current and Former Members of UN Bodies
Since the 20th of January, we have watched with increasing alarm as the administration of U.S. President Donald J. Trump has sought to repudiate the commitments of the United States to international law and institutions. He and his administration have withdrawn the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization, ended funding for ongoing humanitarian and rule of law projects, eliminated the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), initiated sanctions against officials of the International Criminal Court, ended funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), and withdrawn U.S. participation in the UN Human Rights Council. All of this will have a catastrophic impact on human rights in the United States and around the world.
The administration has also launched a comprehensive assault on U.S. civil rights commitments, wielding racism in its attacks on longtime efforts to promote non-discrimination in government contracts and the workforce and discriminating against individuals based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. The president has struck terror among immigrant communities, regardless of their legal status in the United States, and called for the ethnic cleansing of occupied Palestinian territory. The global shutdown of USAID assistance is already having immediate effects on patients in U.S.-funded facilities and on dissidents seeking protection from authoritarian regimes. His administration has brought down government websites, denying the public access to information, made patently false statements, and issued threats to those who exercise their First Amendment rights to report, criticize or protest against his actions. It has freed those who tried to overthrow the peaceful transition of power on January 6, 2021, and fired those who prosecuted them.
In short, the Trump administration has engaged in the most extensive assault on human rights and accountability by any U.S. administration in modern history, a betrayal of commitments made by preceding Republican and Democratic administrations over the last eighty years. In the case of USAID and broader assistance programs, and the acts of discrimination, the assault violates existing domestic and international legal obligations. Many of the actions, such as the claim to end birthright citizenship, are obviously unconstitutional.
We have each served as independent human rights experts within the United Nations system. We act now and have always acted independently and yet with respect for the U.S. commitment to engagement with and global protection of human rights. To be sure, that commitment has not been consistent over time or in application, and we have each spoken out where we believe the United States has fallen short. But the United States has historically played a key role in the international systems for human rights protection and the global rule of law, from the very beginning of those systems in the negotiation of the UN Charter and the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights after the end of the Second World War.
The Trump administration betrays that history and those values in ways that promote the interests of authoritarians and demagogues worldwide and will strip Americans and others of fundamental human rights. Its assault on the rule of law fails to advance any conceivable American national interest, which lies in a worldwide system founded on principles of human rights, the non-use of force, collaboration to solve global problems, and the sovereign equality of states. The administration’s actions betray each of these well-established international principles.
We urge the Trump administration to reverse course.
We urge all lawmakers, Republican and Democratic, to counter the administration’s betrayal of these values and stand up for Congress’ historic commitment to international engagement, human rights protection, and humanitarian support. We urge them to speak out publicly and take action within their chambers to avoid the demolition of the U.S. commitment to human rights and international law.
We urge leaders at state and local levels to strengthen their own commitments to human rights, to ensure that their residents have protection against the ongoing and threatened abuses of the administration.
We stand with the victims of these policies, at home and around the world, and with all those in civil society who are resisting the assault on human rights and seeking ways to monitor human rights compliance.
Signed in individual capacity by:
Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights (2014 – 2020); UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions (2004 – 2010)
James Anaya, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2018 – 2014)
Karima Bennoune, UN Special Rapporteur in the Field of Cultural Rights (2015 – 2021)
Dominique Day, Member, UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (2018 – 2024)
Ariel Dulitzky, Member, UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (2010 – 2017)
Claudia Flores, Vice-Chair, UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls (2023 – present)
David A. Kaye, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression (2014 – 2020)
John H. Knox, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment (2012 – 2018)
Gay J. McDougall, Vice Chair, UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (2021-2025, 2015-2019, 1997-2001); UN Special Rapporteur on Minorities (2005-2011)
Juan Mendez, Member, UN Independent Expert Mechanism on Law Enforcement and Racism (2021 – 2024); UN Special Rapporteur on Torture (2010 – 2016)
Marcos A. Orellana, UN Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights (2020 – present)
Diane Orentlicher, UN Independent Expert on Combatting Impunity (2004 – 2005)
Balakrishnan Rajagopal, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing (2020 – present)
Gabor Rona, Chair, UN Working Group on Mercenaries (2011 – 2019)
Margaret Satterthwaite, UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers (2022 – present)
Baskut Tuncak, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Hazardous Wastes (2014 – 2020)