Mike Pompeo has sought to redefine the American approach to human rights by prioritizing private property and religious freedom as the primary “inalienable rights” established by the Founding Fathers of the United States.
Pompeo, presenting a draft report of an Inalienable Rights Commission that he established a year ago, also affirmed that the proliferation of human rights affirmed by different American and international institutions had the effect of diluting those rights that he considered the most important.
“It is worth defending many in light of our foundation; others are not, “Pompeo said at a launch ceremony in Philadelphia. He did not specify which rights he considered superfluous, but the state department during his tenure has been aggressive in opposing references to reproductive and gender rights at the UN and other documents. multilateral.
In the report released Thursday, the authors, a mix of academics and activists, said they could not agree on the application of human rights standards to issues like “abortion, affirmative action and capital punishment, to name a few.”
Human rights activists quickly criticized the state department’s presentation for trying to establish a hierarchy of human rights, in which some were more important than others, and for presenting the defense of human rights as distinctively American.
The Trump administration’s own human rights record has come under scrutiny for its policy of separating immigrant children from their parents and keeping them in cages. and his response to nationwide protests fueled by anger over the police treatment of black Americans. Donald Trump has also tried to intimidate journalists, often referring to the press as “the enemy of the people.”
Pompeo did not mention press freedom in his comments, but repeatedly attacked the New York Times, accusing him of discrediting Marxist ideology. The secretary of state has been chastised by human rights groups for his selectivity in applying the rules.
For example, he has been a staunch supporter of the Saudi monarchy, in the face of atrocity evidence of his war in Yemen, his use of torture, and the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. The commission’s report refers to Saudi Arabia as a “blatant abuser of human rights.”
Pompeo, who is believed to harbor ambitions to run as a religious conservative candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, infused Thursday’s launch event with a very religious tone, beginning with an invocation by Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York.
“The United States is fundamentally good and has a lot to offer the world, because our founders recognized the existence of inalienable rights granted by God and designed a lasting system to protect them,” Pompeo said in his own comments.
“As the report emphasizes, the first of these rights is property rights and religious freedom. No one can enjoy ‘the pursuit of happiness’ if you cannot own the fruits of your labor! And no society can retain its legitimacy, or a virtuous character, without religious freedom. Our founders knew that faith was also essential to nurture the private virtue of our citizens. “
Pompeo recognized the historical failings of the United States, including slavery and the dispossession of Native Americans, but argued that those errors had been remedied and despised those who argued that they represented enduring flaws.
“Protesters who demolish statues see nothing wrong with desecrating monuments to those who fought for inalienable rights, from our founding to the present day,” he said, referring to a series of incidents related to the destruction and demolition of monuments. The attacks have focused on leaders and symbols of the Confederacy, but have sometimes been directed at statues of other historical figures.
Human rights groups criticized the attempt to give preference to some rights at the expense of others, noting that the Founding Fathers of the United States emphasized property rights at a time when that included owning other human beings, through the slavery and the legal interpretations of marriage in the eighteenth century. .
“There is an idea that there is a proliferation of rights that undermines all rights, and that is simply not the case,” said Amanda Klasing, acting director of women’s rights at Human Rights Watch. “You are not seeing a proliferation of rights; You are seeing more complete protection of all rights for all people. And I think that says something, which is seen as a threat to Pompeo and the state department.
“In Pompeo’s speech, he actually named, reviewed a press release threateningly multiple times,” added Klasing. “I do not recall freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press in any way having an important role in its articulation of the most important human rights … and I find it worrying and somewhat anachronistic.”
Tarah Demant, director of Amnesty International’s gender, sexuality and identity program in the United States, said: “The United States government cannot unilaterally redefine which human rights will be respected and which will be ignored.
“The effort of the US State Department to choose rights to deny some of their human rights is a dangerous political trick that could trigger a race to the bottom by governments that abuse human rights in all the world”.
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