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[Editor’s note: This article is cross-posted from Human Rights Now, the blog of Amnesty International USA.] A dramatic disconnect between principles and policies has hampered current US health care reform efforts. This became obvious when candidate Obama declared health care to be a right and then proceeded to treat it as a commodity when negotiating with insurance companies a requirement for individuals to buy a commercial health insurance product. Similarly,…

Continue reading “Beyond the Market: Health Care as a Civil or Human Right?”

A comment on OpenForum’s August 10th post on the US ratification of the Convention of the Rights of the Child raised several common misconceptions about US policy on such issues. This presented a good opportunity to speak to these perhaps broadly-held concerns. First, the US has long used both international agreements and domestic law to govern its citizens — the US has been and continues to be a party to…

Continue reading “Self-governance and international treaties”

[Editor’s note: This is a guest post written by Ms. Katherine Moloney.] Sexual violence against civilian populations during armed conflict is recognized as a deliberate tactic of war, the gravity of which determines whether it is considered a war crime, a crime against humanity, or an element of genocide [see Statute of the International Criminal Court art 7.1(g) and art 8.2(b)(xxii); Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security (SCR…

Continue reading “Sexual Violence in the Congo”

Whiteclay, Nebraska, population 14 (more or less) has been called the “skid row of the plains” for its four liquor stores, which all do brisk business — approximately 12,000 cans of beer a day. The visitors buying the beer are from South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation — less than 200 feet from the town line — where alcohol is illegal and alcoholism has ravaged the community. In a New…

Continue reading “Righting a Century of Wrongs: Whiteclay, Nebraska”

[Editor’s note: For further discussions of participation and the right to health, see , now available with full text online.] Participation is a right situated at the very heart of the human rights vision. Participation holds this central place because it requires and activates the full range of other human rights. People can only fully exercise their right to participation if they are correctly informed and free to express their…

Continue reading “Participation as a development tool for the health sector: The Rwandan experience”