In order for the United States to retain its reputation as the world’s leading democracy, the country must ensure that freedoms at home are protected, a state department official said during the kick-off event of Human Rights Week on Monday.
William Lucas, a 1973 UNC graduate and career State Department foreign service officer, spoke at the Campus Y-sponsored event on how the United States works with the international community to promote human rights.
“Let me begin by saying that every citizen deserves to know what its government is doing to promote human rights,” he said. “Injustices perpetrated in the United States or by Americans abroad undermine our credibility and influence in the international community.”
Mejs Hasan, co-chairwoman for the Campus Y’s Advocates for Human Rights, said the topic is one that is important to all students.
“I look forward to learning things and having good conversations with people,” she said.
Lucas added that the United States also needs to encourage other countries to focus on improving human rights issues. “Promoting human rights abroad is not just right, it’s smart.”
He expressed the importance of communicating openly with other nations to ensure that human rights issues are handled appropriately.
“The human rights situation in a country is an important element of our bilateral relationship with that country,” Lucas said. “It is an important factor in determining what kind of relationship we will have with that country.”
He explained how the United States works to instill human rights in other nations through international organizations, notably the United Nations’ Third Committee of the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights.
