Beyond Civil Rights: Considering "Third Generation" International Human Rights Law in the United States

A fundamental principle of international law, articulated by the decisions of the Nuremberg Tribunals, is that there are universal human rights which every person and every government must respect. … Incorporating international human rights principles could provide common ground among minority groups within the United States, among poor and working peoples generally, and those who struggle for similar rights in the United States and in other countries. … The United States has ratified the ICCPR, but not the ICESCR. … Article 1, Section 1 of both the ICCPR and the ICESCR read as follows: "All peoples have the right of self-determination. … Carter signed both the ICCPR and the ICESCR in 1977, as well as the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) and the CERD. … The ICCPR was not ratified by the U.S. Senate until 1992 and the CERD was only ratified in 1994. The ICESCR and ACHR have yet to be ratified. … Even though the United States has not ratified many of the human rights conventions, and has extensive reservations with respect to those it has ratified, much of the core of international human rights law is applicable to the United States as part of customary international law. … Less frequently have there been assertions of the collective rights of minority groups, at least racial or ethnic minorities, to some form of self-determination