Updated: Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2004 - 4:39 PM
WASHINGTON -- Human rights activist Tim Cooper says an
Organization of American States ruling in favor of D.C. voting rights takes the
fight to the global level.
Cooper is one of 23 D.C. residents who asked the OAS to rule on
the issue.
That was back in 1993.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ruled in December
that the United States is violating all District residents' human rights by
denying them full congressional voting rights.
Cooper calls it a landmark decision that will hammer away at what
he calls the "wall of oppression" surrounding District residents. He
predicts that wall will come crashing down like the Berlin Wall.
He also likened the decision to the 1954 Brown vs. Board of
Education case, and predicts it will bring about the same sort of sweeping
social changes that the school rights case did.
Mayor Tony Williams says it's important to note that even 200
years ago, the city had a mayor and a council, and they were debating the
voting rights issue back then.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)