Wednesday February 11, 2004 12:31pm
Washington (AP) - D.C. voting rights advocates have won a victory
in the court of world opinion. The Organization of American States has ruled
that the United States is violating international law by denying residents of
the nation's capital full voting rights in Congress.
D.C. residents can vote in presidential elections, but have only a
non-voting House member - and no seats in the Senate.
Human rights activist Tim Cooper brought the case to the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ten years ago, after a federal
lawsuit and appeals to Congress failed. The commission made the ruling on
December 29th, after years of hearings and testimony from hundreds of witnesses.
It's not binding and has no weight of law, but Cooper hopes it will bring some international pressure against the federal government - and possibly shame officials into action.