GE.20-10695(E)
Human Rights Council
Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review Thirty-sixth session
4–15 May 2020
National report submitted in accordance with paragraph 5 of the annex to Human Rights Council resolution 16/21*
United States of America
* The present document has been reproduced as received. Its content does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations.
General Assembly Distr.: General 13 August 2020 Original: English
Contents
Page
I. Introduction ... 3
II. Methodology and consultation process ... 4
III. The human rights situation in the United States ... 4
A. Treaties, international mechanisms, and domestic implementation ... 4
B. Civil rights and non-discrimination ... 5
C. Criminal justice, violence against women, and human trafficking ... 7
D. Economic, social and cultural rights and measures; indigenous issues; and the environment . 12 E. National security and other matters ... 15
IV. Conclusion ... 18
I. Introduction
1. The United States of America is a “compound” federal republic, in which the power entrusted to government by our people “is first divided between two distinct governments [federal and state], and then the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments.”1 The rights of persons in the United States are thus doubly protected: first, by the constitutions of their respective states, and also by the Constitution of the United States. The state constitutions – and the many state and local laws and judicial decisions protecting the rights of individuals and associations – are thus an integral component of American constitutionalism.2
2. The United States Constitution was ratified by the States on June 21, 1788 and came into force on March 4, 1789. Amended twenty-seven times since ratification, it establishes the structure of the federal government and defines the nature and extent of federal authority. It also imposes significant limitations on the powers of the states, thus protecting all persons from the arbitrary exercise of state power. State constitutions establish the structure of the state governments and define the nature and extent of state and local authority. Because every state includes a declaration or bill of rights in its constitution, the states are also important guarantors of the rights of the people.
3. The power and legitimacy of American government rests on the consent of our people. The United States Constitution limits the powers of government first, by dividing it between the federal and state governments. The federal government has only the powers granted by the Constitution. All remaining powers of self-government are explicitly reserved to the States or to the People, respectively.3 A second level of protection is provided by dividing the powers of the federal and state governments among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. “Hence a double security arises to the rights of the people.
The different governments will control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself.”4 Read together in light of what our Founders called the “self-evident truths” that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” the structural principles on which our constitutions rest are the foundation of a government of the people, by the people, and for the people throughout U.S. history and a model for people the world over.
4. In addition to the protections for individual rights inherent in the structure of American government, our state and federal constitutions also guarantee that all persons are equal before the law and are equally entitled to protection of their rights and freedoms, including the freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. In addition to the rights recognized by international instruments like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, individuals within the United States have effective legal means at the local, state, and federal levels to seek policy, administrative, and judicial remedies for human rights violations and abuses, and all levels of government pursue civil and criminal enforcement actions to punish illegal behavior and to redress both individual and systemic grievances.
We are proud that our nation has long served as a beacon of human rights for people everywhere.
5. The United States Government is an active participant in the Universal Periodic Review process because we are committed to the principle that leadership in the field of human rights is by example. The United States’ commitment to human rights rests on a firm political and moral commitment to individual and corporate accountability and transparency. Our elections are open and genuinely free and fair; our legislators and elected officials are held accountable in regular election cycles by a free press and a robust civil society; and our state and federal judiciaries are independent of political control.
Notwithstanding our political differences with the Human Rights Council and with the views and human rights records of some of its members, we welcome the opportunity to share the story of how our nation’s ongoing commitment to the protection of human rights works in practice.
II. Methodology and consultation process
6. As noted in the Addendum of the United States of America to the Report of the Working Group on its most recent Universal Periodic Review (“Addendum”), the United States supported in whole or in part 260 of 343 recommendations submitted during its 2015 UPR. We have divided these recommendations into thematic areas and have structured Section III of this report based on those areas. In the preparation of this report, the United States consulted with many different departments and agencies across the U.S.
Government, as well as with civil society organizations. Based on their comments and feedback, this report and our response to the recommendations of the 2015 UPR were drafted with intergovernmental concurrence.5 The below responses do not indicate that the United States necessarily regards the matters addressed as subject to U.S. international human rights obligations.
III. The human rights situation in the United States
A. Treaties, international mechanisms, and domestic implementation
Treaties ratified
Recommendations 1–8, 12, 14, 16–42, 45–50, 52–58, 60–62, 70, 72, 88, 105, 106, 110 7. These recommendations suggest that the United States should ratify several additional human rights treaties to which it is not yet a party. The power to bind the People of the United States to the obligations of a treaty is divided between the President, who has the sole power to negotiate and sign treaties, and the United States Senate, which must give its advice and consent before U.S. ratification of them. U.S. ratification of a treaty proposed by the President requires the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senators present when the vote is taken.6
8. The United States is a party to five (5) of the nine (9) human rights treaties described by the Office of the High Commissioner as “Core International Human Rights Instruments.”7 The United States has also ratified other important human rights instruments, including the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; and the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.8
9. Among the treaties signed and submitted to the Senate by the President, but not ratified, are: the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (submitted May 17, 2012; Convention No. 111 concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation, 1958 (International Labour Organisation) (submitted May 18, 1998); and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (submitted November 12, 1980). The United States has signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, but the President has not transmitted them to the U.S. Senate for its advice and consent.9 Domestic implementation of treaty obligations
Recommendations 80–84, 91–95, 107, 108, 111, 237–238
10. The legal obligations of the United States under any treaty arise from its consent through ratification pursuant to the constitutionally-prescribed procedure and are limited by the terms of ratification. As the United States has previously stated, it is for each nation state to decide as an exercise of its sovereignty to assume treaty obligations which, once entered into, it has a legal obligation to fulfill. No state, organization, or tribunal, including the committees that monitor implementation of treaties, has any authority to impose, change, or expand through interpretation any treaty obligation to which the United States is a party.
11. The United States is a federal republic in which its international and domestic human rights obligations are implemented through a comprehensive system of laws,
administrative regulations and enforcement actions.10 Judicial proceedings at all levels of government also provide invaluable interpretive guidance legal precedent.
12. Federal, state and local laws provide for enforcement of human rights obligations in a variety of settings (e.g., workplace, housing, public accommodation, education, and law enforcement) through formal and informal dispute resolution procedures. These laws also permit individuals and groups to file complaints with federal, state, tribal, and local human rights agencies and commissions. These administrative agencies use their investigatory and enforcement powers to enforce the rule of law. State and federal laws also provide access to the courts, where independent judiciaries at the state and federal levels are authorized to award monetary damages, equitable relief and attorneys’ fees. Statistics are readily available and widely reported.11
13. On July 8, 2019, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo announced the formation of a Commission on Unalienable Rights. The Commission, composed of academics, philosophers, and activists, provides advice and recommendations on human rights to the Secretary of State, grounded in U.S. founding principles and the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Commission’s charge is not to discover new principles, but to furnish advice to the Secretary for the promotion of individual liberty, human equality, and democracy through U.S. foreign policy.12
B. Civil rights and non-discrimination
Racial profiling and excessive use of force by police, and establishing improved police- community relations
Recommendations: 127–129, 137, 139, 141, 143. 144–146, 148–149, 151, 152, 154, 155, 156, 214, 215, 220, 221, 223, 225, 227, 228, 276, 287
14. Each of these recommendations assumes – wrongly in our view – that the United States and federal, state and local governments engage in “systemic” racial discrimination, racial profiling, and that federal, state and local law enforcement officers are regularly engaged in excessive uses of force. We reject the notion that law enforcement in the United States is “systemically” racist. Every day in the United States, tens of thousands of police officers respect, protect, and uphold the rule of law and the civil rights of individuals and communities across the country, while carrying out the difficult and dangerous work of keeping our communities safe.
15. That is not to deny that more must be done to ensure fairness to all citizens, particularly members of the African American community, for whom it is understandable given our nation’s history and recent events that there is some ambivalence and often distrust of the police. In recognition of this fact, on June 16, 2020, President Trump signed an executive order on “Safe Policing for Safe Communities”13 to develop and incentivize critical policing reforms. The order directs the Attorney General to create a credentialing process on which police departments’ eligibility for federal grants will depend.
Credentialing will depend on having policies and training regarding use-of-force and de- escalation techniques; performance management tools, such as early warning systems that help to identify officers who may require intervention; and best practices regarding community engagement. The order also directs the Attorney General to create an information sharing database to track information related to use of excessive force, including such information as the termination or decertification of law enforcement officers, criminal convictions of law enforcement officers, and instances in which an officer under investigation related to the use of force resigns or retires. Finally, the Attorney General is directed to consult with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop strategies for law enforcement encounters with persons who suffer from mental health issues, including strategies to incorporate social workers or mental health professionals when responding to such situations.
16. Where there is misconduct by police officers or law enforcement agencies, state and federal laws provide effective remedies.14 For example, from FY 2016-FY 2019, DOJ charged 256 defendants with willfully violating constitutionally protected rights (or
conspiring to do so) while acting “under color of law” and obtained convictions of 172 defendants for these charges. In FY 2019, alone, DOJ charged 83 defendants with color-of- law offenses, obtaining convictions (by trial or plea) of 46 defendants. As of January 2020, DOJ had opened 70 civil investigations since 1994 into police departments that might be engaging in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives persons of their rights, such as use of excessive force, improper searches, or improper stopping of persons for questioning.
17. The United States is also dedicated to eliminating racial discrimination and the use of excessive force in policing. The Department of Justice has issued guidance stating unequivocally that racial profiling is wrong, and has prohibited racial profiling in federal law enforcement practices, in many cases imposing more restrictions on the consideration of race and ethnicity than the Constitution requires.15 Many states have done the same.16 Furthermore, The Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) works to promote respect for civil rights and civil liberties in policy creation and implementation by advising Department leadership and personnel, and state and local partners.17
18. At the federal level, the Constitution and federal government policy prohibit profiling and all levels of the U.S. Government have laws against and take active measures to prevent excessive use of force.18 There are more than 18,000 police departments in the United States whose officers’ behavior is governed by the laws of the state, city, county, municipality, or tribal governments they serve. They are also subject to federal law.
19. The United States works to ensure that law enforcement officers are aware of and comply with applicable consular notification rules. The Department of State has published a Manual on Consular Notification and Access setting forth the rules for consular notification and provides a number that can be called for assistance.19
Ending discrimination, including discrimination based on race, sex, and religion; hate crimes
Recommendations 113, 118–124, 125, 126, 130, 131, 133–135, 132, 136, 138, 140, 142, 144, 147, 150, 153, 158–163, 224, 226, 229, 308, 321
20. State and federal laws prohibit all forms of racial discrimination. Discrimination on the basis of sex and religion is forbidden in most employment and education programs, and in all public accommodations and market transactions.20
21. It is a crime to cause or to incite violence or injury to persons or property.21 Government may restrict speech intended to cause, and likely to result in, lawless action, and it can and does forbid “true threats.”22 Speech-related conduct that constitutes harassment or intimidation is also illegal.23
22. The United States federal government and most states have hate crime laws. State hate crime laws vary, but almost all hate crime laws prohibit violence motivated by race, color, religion, and national origin. Federal law, and some state laws, also prohibit violence motivated by gender, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity. The federal government, like many states, has enacted substantive hate crime laws. Other jurisdictions choose to add a penalty enhancement to the sentence a defendant would otherwise receive, if it can be proved that the defendant was motivated by bias. Hate crimes generally cover violent acts like assault, stalking, murder, sexual assault, arson, robbery and other serious offenses.24 Hate crime laws also cover threats to commit violent conduct. DOJ aggressively prosecutes cases involving hate crimes, and its annual reports on hate crimes statistics provide law enforcement authorities with important information that assists in combatting such crimes.25
23. The United States does not, however, criminalize speech, expressive conduct, or publication that others find extremely offensive or harmful. The rights to speak, publish, associate, and petition for a redress of grievances could not be protected if the government could punish individuals because of differences of opinion, or if government could prohibit speech on the basis of its content or the speaker’s viewpoint. Our state and federal courts have consistently held that government bans on speech are inconsistent with robust protections for individual rights, including freedom of expression and religion for all.
24. U.S. constitutional and statutory law and practice provide strong and effective protections against discrimination based on race, sex, religion, national origin and disability by government agencies at all levels and by private actors. Federal, state, and tribal laws authorize individuals and governments to take active measures to counter violence and discrimination.26 Federal non-discrimination laws are enforced by DOJ and other federal agencies and by private parties.27 State antidiscrimination laws are enforced by state attorneys general, by other state and local agencies with law enforcement authorities, and by private parties.
25. Religious freedom is guaranteed by state and federal law, and protecting religious freedom is a high priority. As the President has explained, “Federal law protects the freedom of Americans and their organizations to exercise religion and participate fully in civic life without undue interference by the Federal Government,” and “[t]he executive branch will honor and enforce those protections.”28 In September 2019, the President put religious freedom on center stage at the United Nations and hosted the Global Call to Protect Religious Freedom, calling on the international community, religious, and business leaders to work to protect religious freedom. Consistent with this policy, the federal executive branch has taken several recent actions to protect religious freedom. Pursuant to an Executive Order published on October 6, 2017, the Attorney General released a memorandum on religious-liberty protections in federal law that guides all federal executive departments and agencies as they seek to fulfill their duties in a manner that is consistent with religious-freedom protections.29 DOJ has also filed briefs and statements of interest in numerous cases to support religious-liberty claims – a practice that has expanded during the past three years.30 Its vigorous enforcement of federal hate-crimes laws – including its prosecution of defendants who have planned or carried out attacks on synagogues – has protected religious individuals and houses of worship from private threats and violence. Other executive agencies and departments have also taken action to protect religious freedom. The federal executive branch has protected – and continues to protect – the right of Americans to believe and practice their faith.31 In June 2020, the President signed an Executive Order on Advancing International Religious Freedom, to promote universal respect for this right.32 Further, the United States created the first ever International Religious Freedom Alliance promoting this most fundamental of all rights with over thirty nations to oppose religious persecution around the world.33
C. Criminal justice, violence against women, and human trafficking
The death penalty, life sentences without parole, and juvenile life sentences without parole
Recommendations 51, 180, 194, 195–198, 199, 200, 234, 292
26. There is a robust debate in the United States about the morality of the death penalty and the fairness of the sentencing process. Currently, twenty-eight (28) states and the federal government authorize the death penalty; twenty-two (22) states and the District of Columbia do not authorize the death penalty; and the Governors of three (3) states that authorize the death penalty have placed a moratorium on executions.
27. The death penalty is legal under federal law for specified crimes involving, inter alia, murder; for various other violent crimes (such as terrorism, kidnapping, arson, or carjacking) that both result in death and were committed with the requisite mental state; for treason, which, under the Constitution, “consist[s] only in levying war against the [United States], or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort;” and espionage in time of war or that results in the death of an agent of the United States or the compromise of major weapons or defensive systems.34 In the states, the death penalty is reserved for murder or, in some situations, causing death while committing other serious crimes such as kidnapping. In all cases, the court or jury must find the circumstances of the crime to be particularly heinous, and convictions are subject to multiple levels of appellate court review. After judicial review is complete, both federal and state laws provide for review by the executive branch (President or Governor) prior to the execution of any death sentence.35
28. In July 2019, the Attorney General directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to schedule the executions of five federal death row inmates, each of whom was convicted of murdering children and each of whom had exhausted their appellate and post-conviction remedies. After last-minute legal proceedings were concluded, three were executed in July 2020: Daniel Lewis Lee, a white supremacist, who murdered a family of three, including an eight-year-old girl; Wesley Ira Purkey, who violently raped and murdered a 16-year-old girl, and then dismembered, burned, and dumped her body in a septic pond; and Dustin Lee Honken, who murdered five people – two men who planned to testify against him in a drug trafficking case, and a single, working mother and her ten-year-old and six-year-old daughters. Lezmond Mitchell is scheduled for execution on August 26, 2020, after being sentenced to death for stabbing to death a 63-year-old grandmother and forcing her nine- year-old granddaughter to sit beside her lifeless body for a 30 to 40-mile drive before slitting the girl’s throat, crushing her head with 20-pound rocks and severing and burying both victims’ heads and hands. The execution of Keith Dwayne Nelson, who kidnapped a 10-year-old girl rollerblading in front of her home, and in a forest behind a church, raped and strangled her to death with a wire, is scheduled for execution on August 28, 2020.
29. The federal government and the twenty-eight (28) states that permit the death penalty also permit, subject to significant limitations (such as a unanimous jury verdict), the imposition of a life sentence without parole. Of the twenty-two (22) states that do not permit the death penalty, twenty-one (21) and the District of Columbia permit the imposition of life sentences without parole. Alaska does not permit either the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole.
30. Mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles have been unconstitutional in the United States since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2012 decision in Miller v. Alabama.
31. Because the United States is a federal republic, decisions regarding abolition of the death penalty and life sentences without parole are reserved, in the case of federal crimes, for Congress, and in the case of all other crimes, to the state legislatures or to the People themselves.36 The state and federal courts maintain an active role in assuring that all necessary procedural protections are available to those convicted of capital crimes or sentenced to a life term without parole.37
Investigations, sentencing, and detention
Recommendations 213, 218, 260, 235, 236, 274, 275, 279, 281
32. The United States seeks to ensure that all levels of the state and federal justice systems operate fairly and effectively for all. In December 2018, President Trump signed into law the First Step Act,38 the most significant federal criminal justice reform measure in several decades.39 The President noted in 2019: “This legislation reformed sentencing laws that have wrongly and disproportionately harmed the African-American community. The First Step Act gives non-violent offenders the chance to reenter society as productive, law- abiding citizens. Now states across the country are following our lead.”40
33. The Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA) gives DOJ tools to investigate and correct prison conditions and conditions in other public institutions where there is reason to believe that a pattern or practice of deprivation of constitutional rights of individuals may exist. For example, in April 2019, DOJ announced it had found reasonable cause to believe that conditions in Alabama’s prisons for men violated the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution because they did not provide safe conditions and failed to protect prisoners from prisoner-on-prisoner violence and prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse. DOJ provided Alabama written notice of the supporting facts for these alleged conditions and the minimum remedial measures necessary to address them.41 In July 2020, DOJ made similar findings with regard to the use of excessive force in Alabama prisons.42
Gun violence
Recommendations 230–233
34. The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States protects the individual right to keep and bear arms, subject to certain long-standing prohibitions such as those forbidding the possession of firearms by felons or restrictions on the carrying of particularly dangerous and unusual weapons.43 Federal, state, and local governments are all therefore limited in how they may regulate firearms. In addition, the right to keep and bear arms is embodied in forty-four (44) state constitutions, which may further limit official action on a state-by-state basis. At the same time that the United States supports the right of individuals to bear arms lawfully, it is engaged in a variety of efforts to ensure that criminals, especially those who use firearms in the commission of their crimes, are pursued and appropriately punished.
35. Since 2001, DOJ has implemented Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), bringing together law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer.44 DOJ reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of its renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, including those committing gun violence, directing all U.S.
Attorneys’ Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.
36. The Attorney General announced in November 2019 the launch of Project Guardian, a new initiative designed to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws across the country. Project Guardian’s implementation is based on five principles: (1) coordinated prosecution, (2) enforcing the background check system, (3) improved information sharing, (4) coordinated response to mental health denials, and (5) crime gun intelligence coordination.45
Violence against women
Recommendation: 255
37. The United States seeks to safeguard and protect women and girls and strongly supports eliminating violence against them. The United States introduced its Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS Strategy) in June of 2019.46 The WPS Strategy responds to the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017, which President Trump signed into law on October 6, 2017.47 The Act is the first legislation of its kind globally, which makes the United States the first country in the world with a comprehensive law to prevent, mitigate, and resolve violence against women internationally. The United States remains a strong defender of women, men, and their children, and is a major funder of programs, both at home and abroad, to improve the health, life, dignity, and well-being of women, their children, and their families.
38. DOJ’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) provides federal leadership in developing the national capacity to reduce violence against women and administer justice for and strengthen services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. In 1994, Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in recognition of the severity of crimes associated with domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Created in 1995, OVW administers financial and technical assistance to communities across the country that are developing programs, policies, and practices aimed at ending domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. OVW administers both formula-based and discretionary grant programs, established under VAWA and subsequent legislation, that support efforts to provide services to victims and hold perpetrators accountable through promoting a coordinated community response.
Funding is awarded to local, state, and tribal governments, courts, non-profit organizations, community-based organizations, secondary schools, institutions of higher education, and state and tribal coalitions. Grants are used to develop effective responses to violence against women through activities that include direct services, crisis intervention, transitional housing, legal assistance to victims, court improvement, and training for law enforcement and courts. Since its inception, OVW has awarded over $8.1 billion in grants and
cooperative agreements and has launched a multifaceted approach to implementing VAWA. By forging state, local, and tribal partnerships among police, prosecutors, judges, victim advocates, health care providers, faith leaders, and others, OVW grant programs help provide victims with the protection and services they need to pursue safe and healthy lives, while simultaneously enabling communities to hold offenders accountable for their violence.
39. OVW administers the Grants to Reduce Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence and Stalking on Campus Program, which supports institutions of higher education in implementing comprehensive, coordinated responses to violent crimes on campuses.48 This federal grant program supports the development and strengthening of effective security and investigation strategies to combat domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking on campuses, development and strengthening of victim services in cases involving such crimes on campuses, which include partnerships with local criminal justice authorities and community-based victim services agencies, and the development and strengthening of prevention education and awareness programs.
40. In 2013, DHS established an agency-wide Council on Combating Violence against Women to coordinate DHS’s efforts to stop crimes against women and ensure the effective administration of laws aimed at preventing violence against women. In 2016, the Department approved a grant of $9.2 million from DOJ and the Department of Housing and Urban (HUD) for stable housing to victims of domestic violence living with HIV/AIDS, and the 2016 launch of a research and evaluation initiative to develop a peer support group model.
41. In 2016, HUD issued guidance on local nuisance ordinances that may lead to discrimination under the Fair Housing Act against survivors of domestic violence and other persons in need of emergency services. HUD also published final rules under VAWA 2013, enhancing housing protections for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.49
Human trafficking
Recommendations 262, 264–266, 268–273, 328
42. The U. S. Government is actively engaged in activities to combat human trafficking in all its forms, including sex and labor trafficking through the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. President Trump has signed nine pieces of anti-trafficking legislation into law, including the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2017, the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2018, the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 and the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017.
43. The President honored the 20th Anniversary of the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) at a White House Summit on Human Trafficking on January 31, 2020. During the Summit, the President signed the Executive Order on Combating Human Trafficking and Online Child Exploitation in the United States Strengthening Federal Responsiveness to Human Trafficking.50
44. In FY2019, DOJ brought 220 human trafficking prosecutions, charged 343 defendants, and secured federal convictions against 475 traffickers. In FY 2019, OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance made awards of more than $100 million for human trafficking programs, including programs that provide a comprehensive range of direct services for victims of human trafficking. In FY 2019, Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) programs served 8,375 victims and trained over 82,000 professionals to better identify and serve victims of trafficking. In FY 2019, OVC, in partnership with Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), funded a total of 15 Enhanced Collaborative Model Human Trafficking Task Forces. In FY 2019, DOJ continued investing in research to develop new knowledge and tools to combat human trafficking more effectively.51
45. DHS Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE/HSI) identified and assisted 428 human trafficking victims and initiated 1,024 human trafficking criminal cases in FY 2019 and reported 2,197 criminal arrests, 1,113 criminal
counts charged in indictments, and 691 criminal counts in federal, state, and local convictions.52 HHS continued to fund an NGO to operate the national human trafficking hotline. In FY 2019, the hotline received 136,990 calls, texts, chats, online tips, and emails, identified 11, 852 potential human trafficking cases, and provided resources and referrals to 3,828 potential victims.53
46. DOT and DHS/CBP lead the Blue Lightning Initiative (BLI), an element of DHS’s Blue Campaign that trains airline personnel to identify potential traffickers and human trafficking victims, and to report their suspicions to federal law enforcement. To date, more than 100,000 personnel in the aviation industry have been trained through the BLI, and actionable tips continue to be reported to law enforcement.54
47. In FY 2019, DHS/U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approved 500 applications for nonimmigrant status for victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons, and approved 491 applications for their eligible family members.
48. In FY 2018 and 2019, the DHS/Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC)55 trained over 5,500 federal law enforcement officers through its basic training programs on indicators of human trafficking. FLETC has developed a one-day Introductory Human Trafficking Awareness Training Program for federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies, designed to instill awareness of indicators of human trafficking for the broader law enforcement community.56
49. The Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) provided victim services to 13 tribes for detection of and response to human trafficking in Indian Country.
The Department of Labor (DOL) funded several projects to combat forced labor, including a $2 million, four-year project to combat forced labor and human trafficking in the cocoa supply chain and other sectors in Ghana, and a new $5 million four-year project to combat forced labor and human trafficking on fishing vessels in Indonesia and the Philippines.
DOL also released the mobile and web application Comply Chain: Business Tools for Labor Compliance in Global Supply Chains, which provides companies and industry groups practical guidance on how to identify risks of forced labor in their supply chains and mitigate or mediate abuses.57 Companies that implement compliance systems are less likely to risk importing goods made by forced labor and run afoul of U.S. law.
50. The Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP) issued its most recent Trafficking in Persons Report in June 2020, where the United States comprehensively assesses what governments around the world are doing to combat this crime.58 The TIP Report is an invaluable tool the United States uses to arm ourselves with the latest information and guides our actions both domestically and abroad.
Human rights education, training, and community engagement
Recommendations 73, 74
51. Respect for human rights is reflected in the Constitution, laws, regulations, and policies. Many schools feature human rights education, and some of them have centers focused on the study of human rights. Professional organizations and others have educational programs. Law enforcement and immigration screening personnel receive training on prohibitions against unlawful discrimination and racial and ethnic profiling. In 2019, DOJ/CRD and the U.S. Attorney’s Office hosted a roundtable on sexual harassment in housing, while the DOJ Community Relations Service works with communities to address conflict related to discrimination and similar matters.
D. Economic, social and cultural rights and measures; indigenous issues;
and the environment
Indigenous issues and violence against indigenous women
Recommendations 322, 323, 324, 326, 256, 257
52. Members of indigenous communities who are born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States and residents of the state in which they live. Those who are also members of tribes or villages recognized by federal or state law59 have additional rights defined by those laws, and by the laws of their respective communities.
53. The U.S. Government has primary responsibility for administering the social programs that provide a variety of education, health care, and social services.60
54. Federal and state laws and policy call for consultation with tribes on many issues, and multiple consultations with tribal leaders are held each year on activities and policies affecting tribes or tribal lands.
55. The U.S. Government works aggressively to end violence disproportionately affecting American Indian and Alaska Native communities. On May 3, 2019, President Trump issued a proclamation establishing May 3 as Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives Awareness Day and announcing that federal agencies are increasing their efforts to address violent crimes in Indian country.61 This work includes improving public safety, expanding funding and training opportunities for law enforcement in Indian country, and better equipping law enforcement with needed tools, such as access to databases.
56. On November 26, 2019 the President signed an executive order establishing the Task Force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives.62 This order is the culmination of numerous discussions where federal officials heard directly from Indian Country. Attorney General Barr and Interior Secretary Bernhardt serve as co-chairs of the Task Force and members include the FBI Director, DOI Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, Director of DOJ’s Office on Violence Against Women, DOI Director of the Office of Justice Services, Chair of the Native American Issues Subcommittee of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, and Commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans (ANA) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
57. In all of this work, the federal government consults with tribes multiple times each year on actions and policies affecting tribes or tribal lands.
Homelessness
Recommendation 310
58. The American economic system of free people and free markets has lifted millions of people out of poverty and been a model for other nations. Those who struggle with poverty and other mental, behavioral, and health problems that lead to homelessness have access to a wide variety of social programs sponsored by families, communities, businesses, nonprofit organizations, including faith-based organizations, and federal, state and local government. HUD, HHS, Department of Education (ED), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and other members of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) have worked closely with state and local governments to alleviate the personal and social problems that lead to homelessness. In April of 2020, USICH and partner agencies launched a process to develop an updated comprehensive federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness using extensive stakeholder and direct provider input.
59. Through its 2019 Continuum of Care Program Competitions,63 HUD increased local flexibilities and enhanced provider ability to better help our vulnerable homeless populations. In order to increase self-sufficiency among homeless populations, HUD provided new flexibilities for grantees to implement service participation requirements such as employment training, mental health care, substance abuse treatment after a person has been stably housed.64
60. HUD estimates homelessness across the United States has declined by 11% since 2010. Homelessness among veterans is half of what was reported in 2010.65
61. The Federal Interagency Council on Crime Prevention and Reentry, led by DOJ, has supported efforts to reduce recidivism and prepare individuals for successful reentry into society.66 USICH also released guidance to reentry service providers, corrections agencies, and state and local governments on removing barriers to housing and services for individuals with criminal records who are experiencing homelessness.67
Health care and education
Recommendations 124, 265, 309, 311–317, 319, 327
62. There is considerable debate in the United States about the best ways to make quality, affordable health care available to all. HHS’ Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant Program seeks to improve maternal health outcomes, including rates of severe morbidity and maternal mortality.68 National and state level performance measure data is publicly accessible on the Title V Information System website. In 2019, HHS awarded $351 million to support families through the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, which serves families living in almost one-third of U.S.
counties.69 States and territories can tailor the program to serve the specific needs of their communities, targeting services to communities with concentrations of risk, such as premature birth, low-birth-weight infants, and infant mortality. A multi-pronged evaluation of the program found home visiting services result in positive effects for families.
Additionally, results suggest that home visiting may improve maternal health. HHS also supports Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program development grants.70 Evaluations are in progress and a release date will be forthcoming.
63. The Preventing Maternal Deaths Act of 201871 authorizes, amends, and expands the Safe Motherhood Initiative within the HHS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including authorizing support for state and tribal Maternal Mortality Review Committees, and directs HHS to make grants available to states to better track and examine the problem of maternal deaths; to establish maternal mortality review committees; and to ensure that state health departments have plans to educate healthcare providers about the findings of the review committees. CDC is now funding 25 states to conduct Maternal Mortality Review in the United States.72
64. The United States remains committed to equal opportunity in education and, working with states and communities, helping students succeed in school and careers. In 2015, Congress enacted the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which revised and reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.73 Its support for states and communities includes investing in evidence-based and innovative local programs;
providing intervention and support for schools and students that need the most help; and preserving protections for economically disadvantaged students, children with disabilities, English learners, and other vulnerable students.74 Consistent with the commitment to equal access, it is unlawful to deny elementary and secondary-level school children in the United States an education on the basis of actual or perceived immigration status.75
65. Corporal punishment is governed by state law. In 2019, as a broader tool to help parents and educators create and maintain safe and positive learning environments in school, ED produced a guide on school climate resources for parents and educators.76 ED also has two centers that offer free assistance and resources related to school climate for states, school districts, schools, institutions of higher learning, and communities: (1) the National Center of Safe and Supportive Learning Environments, and (2) the Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.
Women and health
Recommendations 100, 164
66. As the world’s largest bilateral donor to global health programs, the U.S.
Government is committed to supporting health programs around the world, including life-
saving services and helping women and children thrive, particularly in countries where the need is greatest. The United States remains resolute in its commitment to preventing conflict-related sexual violence and providing resources and support for survivors to address the trauma and stigma they experience as a step toward healing those afflicted, as well as mending their communities. As the United States has noted on many occasions, there is no international human right to abortion, whether under that name or under other terms like “sexual and reproductive health.” Rather, as President Trump has stated, “our Nation proudly and strongly reaffirms our commitment to protect the precious gift of life at every stage, from conception until natural death.”77 The United States believes in the sovereign right of nations to make their own laws to protect the unborn, and rejects any interpretation of international human rights to require any State to provide access to abortion.78 As President Trump has stated, “Every person – the born and the unborn, the poor, the downcast, the disabled, the infirm, and the elderly – has inherent value.”79
Gender equality in the workplace
Recommendations 112, 114, 115, 116, 117
67. The United States promotes a non-discriminatory, inclusive, and integrated approach to work that ensures that all women and men are treated with human dignity. It is the policy of the United States to support and promote efforts that reinforce respect for the inherent dignity of both women and men, advance women’s equality and promote and protect these rights.
68. Wage discrimination based on sex is illegal under the Equal Pay Act of 1963, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.80 The National Security Strategy of the United States clearly identifies women’s equality and empowerment worldwide as integral to our national security and a priority for the United States. We believe that investing in women’s economic empowerment has a cascading effect for women, men, families, and communities, and is a key component to our national security approach.81
69. U.S. law allows, but does not require, private employers to offer paid maternity leave. The Family and Medical Leave Act82 entitles eligible employees to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a year for the birth and care of newborn or adopted/foster children.83 On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed into law the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act, which provides up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave for over two million Federal civilian employees.84 The new law will apply to leave taken for births or adoption/foster placements that occur on or after October 1, 2020.
Protections for migrant workers
Recommendations 263, 331–333, 338
70. Alien agricultural workers in the United States are protected by the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act of 1983.85 This Act requires employers to disclose or make available upon request the terms of employment and to comply with those terms, to confirm that Farm Labor Contracts are registered with and licensed by DOL, to pay each worker when wages are due and provide workers with itemized statements of earnings and deductions, and to post worker protection laws at the worksite. The Act also requires that housing and transportation meet federal and/or state standards.86 Since 1966, the minimum wage and record-keeping provisions, but not the overtime pay provisions, of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA) have also applied to most agricultural workers and employers.87
Protection of the environment
Recommendations 341–343
71. The United States and each of the fifty states has strong policies governing the protection of the environment. Federal and state laws create both government and private enforcement mechanisms and significant remedies are available against those who violate
them. The United States advances an approach that balances energy security, economic development, and environmental protection88 and will remain a global leader in reducing traditional pollution, as well as greenhouse gases, while continuing to expand our economy.
E. National security and other matters
Migrants in detention
Recommendations 252–254, 306, 329, 330, 332, 333, 338–340
72. The U.S. Government draws from a wide range of resources to process alien children safely. When alien children are placed in government custody, we ensure they are treated in a safe, dignified, and secure manner. Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA), unaccompanied alien children generally are transferred from the custody of DHS to that of HHS.
73. Recent years have seen a humanitarian and security crisis caused by a dramatic increase in the number of aliens encountered along or near the U.S. border with Mexico, including unaccompanied children. The majority come from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, where poor economic conditions and high levels of generalized violence, while not grounds for asylum or protection under the Convention against Torture or Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment or U.S. laws implementing it, are important “push factors.” At the same time, certain U.S. laws, judicial rulings, and policies – including the TVPRA – contribute to “pull factors.”
74. As a result of the crisis, DHS has since 2012 referred an increasing number of unaccompanied alien children to HHS. Since FY 2012, this number has jumped dramatically, with 13,625 referrals in FY 2012, 24,668 in FY 2013, 57,496 in FY 2014, 33,726 in FY 2015, 59,170 in FY 2016, 40,810 in FY 2017, and 49,100 in FY 2018 and 52,000 in FY 2019.
75. To address this crisis, on July 1, 2019, the United States enacted the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act,89 which provides an additional $4.5 billion in emergency supplemental funding for humanitarian assistance and security at the U.S. southern border. In addition, the U.S.
administration has sought legislative changes to address the pull factors and has sought to exercise existing legal authorities to reduce them.90
Guantanamo Bay
Recommendations 239, 240, 242, 244, 246, 249, 251
76. Executive Order 13823 of January 18, 2018, Protecting America through Lawful Detention of Terrorists, requires detention operations at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to continue to be conducted consistent with all applicable U.S. and international law.
The United States has no plans to close the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay.
77. Currently 40 individuals are detained in U.S. detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay. Since 2015, 68 individuals have been transferred from Guantanamo Bay to other countries, including Cabo Verde, Ghana, Italy, Kuwait, Mauritania, Montenegro, Oman, Senegal, Serbia, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
78. The detainees at Guantanamo are held and treated humanely and in accordance with applicable law. All U.S. military detention operations, including those at Guantanamo Bay, comply with all applicable international and domestic laws, and the United States takes very seriously its responsibility to provide for the safe and humane care of detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
