September 18, 2002

                      Warsaw, Poland

 

Regarding the Matter of the Continuing Denial of

Universal and Equal Suffrage

to the People of Washington, DC

 

 

Mr. Moderator, distinguished ambassadors and delegates:

 

I am compelled to return to the troubling question of the denial of equal suffrage to the nearly 600,000 people living in the capital city of the United States of America, who, by right of international law, by right of universal norms, and by right of OSCE human dimension election standards, should be guaranteed the right to equal representation in their own national legislature.

 

But, incredibly, they are not. 

 

They cannot vote in the U.S. Senate.  They cannot vote in the U.S. House of Representatives. They cannot even stand for election, let alone be elected, as a voting member of the U.S. Congress.

 

Equal rights for equal responsibilities: This is all the people of Washington, D.C. seek. Surely this is not too much to ask of a nation which has inscribed above the doors of its United States Supreme Court, “Equal Rights Under Law.”

 

Mr. Moderator, distinguished ambassadors and delegates, the hard fact is that the United States has fallen hopelessly behind the rest of the world with regard to the constitutional guarantee of equal democratic rights for the people of federal capitals.

 

Canberra, New Delhi, Brasilia, Caracas, Mexico City— all federal capitals modeled after the US capital—and all once disenfranchised their citizens— all now guarantee those citizens equal suffrage, equal representation in their national legislature, and equality before the law.

 

There can be no legitimate justification whatsoever for denying US taxpaying citizens these same fundamental democratic rights.

 

Under OSCE election standards, the right to participate in the national legislature through duly elected representatives, the right to universal and equal suffrage for adult citizens,  and the right to equality before the law, may not be limited or restricted in an arbitrary manner. Any limitations must be “strictly proportionate” to the objective of the law, which, of course, necessitates a narrow interpretation of that law. Furthermore, any limitation must be weighed “against the great value of such fundamental freedoms to a free and open democratic society.”

 

Likewise, the UN Human Rights Committee has defined the criteria for justifiable denial of voting rights. In Comment 25, with regard to Article 25 of the ICCPR, which guarantees the same rights as are guaranteed under OSCE election standards, the Committee concluded that any conditions that apply to voting rights should be based on objective and reasonable criteria. It notes, “[f]or example, established mental incapacity may be a ground for denying a person the right to vote or to hold office.”

 

The European Court has declared “that the principle of equality of treatment is violated…. if the means employed do not stand in reasonable proportion to the end pursued,” and that “a legitimate distinction can turn into a wrongful discrimination having survived the achievement of its initial aim.”

 

There can be no question but that an arguably 200 year-old legitimate distinction has now turned into a seriously wrongful and arbitrary discrimination—to among others-- a majority African-American population, who comprise 63% of Washington’s population.

 

The United States has often quoted the Founding Fathers when justifying this questionable policy toward Washingtonians, implying, rather incredibly—as if seeking any justification, no matter how implausible-- that the people of Washington might actually pose a physical threat to the federal capitol, if they were possessed of democratic rights equal to the people of the states. This argument is based on a 200 year-old, post-Revolutionary War incident that some historians now say never took place. To deny full democratic rights to the people of the nation’s capital is shocking enough, but to imply that this policy remains justified because of a 200-year-old incident that may not have even taken place, is simply preposterous.

 

Lastly, the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties prohibits rules of domestic law from being used as grounds to justify noncompliance with an international obligation. Moreover, the Permanent Court of International Justice and the International Court of Justice have applied these rules even in cases involving Constitutional provisions.

 

In other words, there is no objective rationale or legal basis-- not under OSCE standards and not under international law-- for the US government to deny the people of Washington, DC the right to equality. Nor will there ever be.

In a statement made before the plenary session last week, Ambassador Gerard Stoudman said that the subject of the “lack of democracy” in OSCE countries is one of this body’s cardinal concerns.  There can be no better test of this statement than the issue of the disenfranchisement of the people of Washington, DC.

 

A vote by OSCE States in favor of our recommendation would prove to the world that no matter how powerful any single nation might be, it will not be permitted by this body to deny democracy to any citizen with impunity. 

 

Mr. Moderator, distinguished ambassadors and delegates, if the United States of America can summon its military will to transport vast armies halfway around the world to make Bosnia and Herzegovina safe for democracy, than the least it can do is summon its political will to amend its Constitution to grant the people living in its own capital city democracy, too. If nothing else, the OSCE must stand for the simple proposition that a denial of democracy to anyone is a denial of democracy to everyone.

 

The citizens of Washington, D.C. therefore invite all OSCE participating States to adopt the following recommendation:

 

“Regarding the disenfranchisement of the people of Washington, DC, the OSCE hereby recommends to the United States of America that it amend its constitution or adopt such legislation as may be necessary to bring its domestic law into conformity with its OSCE human dimension commitments under articles 5.9, 6 and 7.3 of the 1990 Copenhagen Document.”

 

 

Thank you.