The US Human Rights Network (USHRN) is a national network composed of over 200 self-identified

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

organizations and over 700 individuals working to strengthen what they regard as the protection of human rights in the United States. The organization seeks "to challenge the pernicious belief that the United States is inherently superior to other countries of the world, and that neither the U.S. government nor the U.S. rights movements have anything to gain from the domestic application of human rights." Members include organizers, lawyers, policy groups, educators, researchers, and scholars. The US Human Rights Network is currently headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

History

The network was founded in 2003 by over 50 organizations and individuals as a consequence of the US Human Rights Leadership Summit "Ending Exceptionalism: Strengthening Human Rights in the United States," held in July 2002 at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

's Law School. Summit participants discussed six issue areas (

Poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse < ...

, discrimination,

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

incarceration Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is " false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessar ...

, death penalty, and

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

), and six sectors of work (education, documentation, organizing, legal, policy, and scholarship). The Network was officially launched on

Human Rights Day Human Rights Day is celebrated annually around the world on 10 December every year. The date was chosen to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Right ...

(December 10) 2003.

Issues

The US Human Rights Network and its member organizations focus on the following issues: *

Affordable Housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on af ...

Criminal Punishment Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

* Death penalty * Discrimination *Right to Healthcare *

Immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

*Economic and Social Rights *

Workers' Rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, these rights in ...

References

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External links

US Human Rights Network website
Non-profit organizations based in the United States Human rights organizations based in the United States 2003 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Organizations based in Atlanta