Make Human Rights a Priority at Confirmation Hearings

Thank you for taking the time to make a call to your Senator's office and leave a message to ask your Senator to ask specific questions of Senator Clinton during confirmation.

Alaska: Murkowski
(202)224-6665
California: Boxer
(202) 224-3553
Connecticut: Senator Dodd
(202) 224-2823
Florida: Nelson
(202) 224-5274
Georgia: Isakson
(202) 224-3643
Indiana: Lugar
(202) 224-4814
Louisiana: Vitter
(202) 224-4623
Maryland: Cardin
(202) 224-4524
Massachusetts: Kerry
(202) 224-2742
New Jersey: Menendez
(202) 224-4744
Ohio: Voinovich
(202) 224-3353
Pennsylvania: Casey
(202) 224-6324
South Carolina: DeMint
(202) 224-6121
Tennessee: Corker
(202) 224-3344
Virgina: Webb
(202) 224-4024
Wisconsin: Feingold
(202) 224-5323

Or reach your Senator’s office by dialing the Capitol Switchboard 202 224-3121

TALKING POINTS:

(Use the first talking point and one or more of the other talking points below.)

As your constituent, I would like you to ask prospective Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, about how she would support human rights if she is confirmed.

So often women and girls are an afterthought in US foreign assistance. How is Senator Clinton going to integrate the needs of women and girls in US foreign assistance?

I’ve heard of outbreaks of mass rape in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. What practical steps is Senator Clinton willing to take to bring peace and security and to protect women and girls in Congo and other areas?

How would Senator Clinton make sure that there is accountability for sexual exploitation or abuse by members of the U.S military, private military contractors, police, or humanitarian workers?

Will Senator Clinton call for a humanitarian truce in the Gaza conflict so that adequate humanitarian supplies can reach the people of Gaza?

Despite its promises the Bush administration has failed to consistently take meaningful steps to close Guantanamo, and has created a diplomatic disaster in the process. Will the new administration and State Department help set a date by which time the US will close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to restore US credibility around the world?

Will Senator Clinton abide by the Obama campaign’s promise that those who are currently detained in Guantanamo --some for six years-- will finally be released or prosecuted in US federal courts?

Will Senator Clinton repudiate the policy of secret detention and CIA black site prisons around the world, which have damaged the US reputation and undermined our national security?

Will the US government repudiate torture in all its forms including waterboarding?

To restore the US image abroad, rule of law, and confidence in the US abiding by its international treaties and obligations, will Senator Clinton support an independent bipartisan commission to investigate abuses committed as part of the war on terror?

The Leahy Law is a US law that establishes that no United States assistance shall be furnished to any unit of the security forces of a foreign country if the Secretary of State has credible evidence that such unit has committed gross violations of human rights. This law is one of the most important US laws with the capacity of ensuring that the US is not aiding abusive foreign security forces yet many human rights organizations have documented that we are in fact providing US assistance to human rights violators and recently Amnesty International issued a report detailing this. What will Senator Clinton do as the Secretary of State to ensure that the Leahy Law is being implemented appropriately?

Thanks for taking action, and for helping on this important issue.