The United States of America and the Human Rights

Schedule

Tuesday, July 5th, 2011 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon
3744, Jean-Brillant street
Room: DRI

Speaker

Guillaume Lavoie Guillaume Lavoie specializes in government relations and public policy analysis, particularly in the context of federal systems. He has consulted with the public, private and voluntary sectors in Canada and abroad, and have been member of many international exploratory missions of electoral observation, on behalf of governments, major NGOs and international organizations. He founded Mission Leadership Quebec in 2005, an initiative for youth leaders in Quebec to develop new networks and opportunities in countries and regions of strategic interest for Quebec and Canada. He is the first French-speaking Canadian to become a Foundation Jeanne-Sauvé Fellow (2007), and is a Fellow of the UN Alliance of Civilizations International Fellowship Program (2010), Leadership Program on Public Policy Action Canada (2005), as well as the international program leadership Forum of Federations (2002). Member of the Observatory of the United States of Raoul-Dandurand Chair, UQAM, he is since 2003, regularly invited by various media like radio and television analyst on international affairs and U.S. politics.

Summary (under translation)

Les États-Unis sont indissociables à l’existence, la promotion et l’hégémonie des droits de l’Homme dans le monde... tout comme aux récentes controverses sur le sujet. Portait d’un pays que l’on retrouve tant parmi les plus grands promoteurs qu’au banc des accusés !
La conférence sera l’occasion d’offrir une perspective historique sur la naissance, l’évolution et les batailles sur les droits de l’Homme dans l’histoire américaine. Pour ce faire, la conférence tracera un survol des principaux thèmes et visions qui ont soutenu la notion de droits de l’Homme et l’évolution dans la compréhension de leurs définitions et de leurs portées, tant sous l’angle de la politique intérieure que sous celui des États-Unis comme membre incontournable de la communauté internationale. Elle abordera aussi les récents éléments dans la suite des attentats du 11 septembre 2001, le débat qui s’en est suivi au plan politique et la réponse de l’administration Obama.

Mandatory readings

 Documents relating to the last universal periodic review of the United States -2010-2011
 US Declaration of Independance – 1776
 US Bill of Rights – 1789 (1791)
 US Constitution – 1787 (1788)
 President Franklin D. Roosevelt SOTU Address (Four Freedom Speech) – 1941 (Text and Audio)
 President John F. Kennedy Inaugural Address – 1961 (Text and Audio)
 RFK Day of Affirmation Speech – 1966 (Text and Audio)
 President Lyndon B. Johnson Special Message to the Congress (Voting Rights) – 1965 (Text)
 President Lyndon B. Johnson Special Message to the Congress (Voting Rights) – 1965 (Extracts, Video)
 President Barack Obama Inaugural Address – 2009 (Text and Video)
 U.N. Convention Against Torture: Overview and Application to Interrogation Technique Congress Research Service
 Fact Sheet: New Actions on Guantanamo and Detainee Policy, The White House - Office of the Press Secretary