U.N. Committees Rebuked for Power Grab

According to an article from the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), United Nations “Treaty Bodies” such as the Committee on the Rights of the Child were recently rebuked by U.N. delegates. During a briefing on treaty body reform in January, delegates pushed back against “un-mandated activities” of treaty committees, including the publication of General Comments which effectively re-write existing treaties and direct governments of the world to change their laws.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child has so far published 12 General Comments, which they claim add substantive meaning to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) already adopted by 193 nations worldwide. As an example, General Comment No. 8 (2006) on “The right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment,” asserts that compliance with the CRC demands that a nation outlaw physical discipline of any kind in any sphere (including the home), though no such mandate exists in the original CRC document to which those nations acceded.

Delegates from Egypt, Switzerland, and Russia responding at the January briefing asserted that these activities are beyond the scope of the committees’ mandate under the treaties which created them.

Bring the Power Grab to a Halt

The same has been our assertion all along, and one reason among many that we oppose adoption of the CRC in the United States. Last year, we worked with Sen. Jim DeMint to champion SR 519, a resolution declaring that the U.S. Senate would not ratify the CRC even if the President sent it to them for that purpose. You may recall that we secured 32 total sponsors, plus a commitment from other Senators who agreed with our position. Since only 34 Senators are needed to block a treaty’s ratification, we essentially killed any chance of seeing the CRC ratified in the last Congress.

We are excited to announce that Sen. DeMint has agreed to sponsor a similar measure in the current Senate, and we are confident that at least 34 Senators agree that adopting the CRC is not in America’s best interests. We will let you know as soon as we have a bill number so that you can call your own Senators and urge them to support it. In the meantime, though, be encouraged. We are not alone in telling the United Nations committees that enough is enough!

Your Chance to Make a Difference

Please help us continue our efforts to halt this treaty’s ratification both now (through this resolution) and forever (with adoption of the Parental Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution). Won’t you donate today to support our ongoing efforts?

Please stay alert to updates on this Senate resolution. And speaking of resolutions, state resolutions favoring the Parental Rights Amendment passed both the Idaho House and the Montana Senate last week, while others were introduced in Texas and Florida. Thank you to all of our volunteers getting the job done in these states!

Thank you for continuing to stand with us to protect our children by protecting their parents’ rights!

Sincerely,

Michael Ramey
Director of Communications and Research

For more information about our organizations, please visit:

www.parentalrights.org

www.minnesotamajority.org