O R L D R I G H T S

 

Human Rights Advocacy Worldwide

 

 

March 16, 2004

 

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the OSCE

Erzherzog Karl Str. 182,

1220 Vienna

Austria

 

Dear OSCE Ambassador:

 

I am enclosing herewith for your information a copy and summary of the recent historic decision by the Organization of American States (OAS) Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, finding the United States government in violation of the human rights of the 570,000 residents of its capital city of Washington, DC.   

 

This landmark decision, resulting from nearly 11 years of careful deliberation, finds the US government in direct violation of Articles II & XX of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, the governing charter of the OAS and its 35 member states.   These articles, which are identical to those recognized by OSCE states under their human dimension commitments and as enunciated under Articles 5.9 and 6 of the 1990 Copenhagen Document,[1] guarantee all citizens: 1) equality before the law and 2) the right to participation in their own national legislature through duly elected representatives.   Therefore a violation of human rights by the United States under the OAS Charter constitutes a violation by the United States of its OSCE human dimension commitments.

 

In the case of the District of Columbia, its residents have been denied equal voting rights in the US Congress since 1801.  It is a tragic irony that the residents of the capital city of the most powerful democratic nation in the world do not enjoy the basic right to representative democracy—the right to vote in the US House of Representatives and the US Senate-- like all other American citizens.

As a result of its findings, the OAS Commission made the following recommendations to the United States:  “Provide the Petitioners [residents of Washington, DC] with an effective remedy, which includes adopting the legislative or other measures necessary to guarantee to the Petitioners the effective right to participate, directly or through freely chosen representatives and in general conditions of equality, in their national legislature.”

 

Since the publication of the OAS decision in February, the US government -- including the White House, the US Congress and the US State Department-- far from taking steps to remedy the violations, has failed to even acknowledge them—a symptom of its continuing inability to deal in any productive way with its own 200-year old “frozen conflict” over this issue of fundamental rights. In its decision, the OAS also determined that all “national” remedies had been exhausted.

 

Consequently, we respectfully request that all OSCE States intervene on our behalf to hold the US accountable for violations of its human dimension commitments.

 

Individual OSCE participating States have ample authority to intervene under the 1989 Vienna Concluding Document, which commits each participating State (1) to respond to requests for information and to representations from any other participating State on specific cases or broad situations relating to commitments in the human dimension; (2) to meet bilaterally with participating States requesting such a meeting to examine these cases or situations; (3) to bring these cases and situations to the attention of the other participating States; and (4) to provide, if it deems necessary, information on what has transpired under the first two points at OSCE meetings.

 

Further, the 1991 Moscow Concluding Document establishes OSCE commitments as the basis for bilateral and multilateral dialogue, stating: "The participating States emphasize that issues relating to human rights, fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law are of international concern, as respect for these rights and freedoms constitutes one of the foundations of international order. They categorically and irrevocably declare that the commitments undertaken in the field of the human dimension of the CSCE are matters of direct and legitimate concern to all participating States and do not belong exclusively to the internal affairs of the State concerned."

 

In addition, all OSCE States—including the United States— under the1989 Vienna Concluding Document, have confirmed that “they will ensure that their laws, regulations, practices and policies conform with their obligations under international law and are brought into harmony with the provisions of the Declaration on Principles and other CSCE commitments."

 

We therefore request that your government:

 

1. Engage the United States government in bilateral and multi-lateral dialogues on its policy regarding the denial of representative democracy for the residents of the District of Columbia under international law and OSCE human dimension commitments;

2. Implement the Moscow Mechanism, if required, to further investigate the non-compliance of the United States under articles 5.9 and 6 of the 1990 Copenhagen Document;

 

3. Raise the matter of the OAS decision and its recommendations at (a) the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Rhodes, Greece in September, at (b) the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw, Poland in October, and (c) at the Twelfth Ministerial Council in Sophia, Bulgaria in December, 2004, and at all such other similarly appropriate OSCE proceedings in the future until the matter is remedied;

 

4. Call on the United States to remedy the human rights violations found by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in accordance with the recommendations made by the OAS Commission;

 

5. Request that the United States comply with articles 5.9 and 6 of the 1990 Copenhagen Document by granting the residents of the District of Columbia equal representation, consisting of no less than two US Senators and one Representative in the US House of Representatives, in their own national legislature through duly elected representatives.

 

For your information, I will be making a presentation at the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw in October, 2004 on the findings and recommendations of the OAS as well as how they relate to US human dimension commitments under the 1990 Copenhagen Document.  Additionally, I have sent a letter to the Helsinki Commission in Washington, DC requesting that it monitor US compliance with its OSCE obligations with regard to the non-voting status of District of Columbia residents. I will inform you of any response I may receive from the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe in this matter.

 

It is our hope that you will support our right to enjoy political equality in our own national legislature as a matter of international law and OSCE human dimension obligations. The full text of the OAS decision may also be found at: http://www.cidh.oas.org/annualrep/2003eng/USA.11204.htm

 

 

Respectfully,

 

 

 

Timothy Cooper

Executive Director

 

ENC: OAS Decision

Excerpt of OAS Decision

DC Council Letter

New York Times article

Washington Post article