ACLU-CT Calls On State To Honor Human Rights Anniversary By Restoring William Coleman’s Human Rights

Wednesday, Dec. 10 marked the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), widely considered to be the founding document of the modern human rights movement. While the United States was one of the original 48 countries to vote in favor of the U.N. adopting the Declaration, here in Connecticut the state has shown a failure to live up to its ideals. Recently, the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut made an urgent appeal to the United Nations Commissioner on Human Rights about the Connecticut Department of Correction's treatment of William Coleman. Coleman, who is on a hunger strike as a means of political protest, has been force-fed repeatedly; twice involving an especially brutal procedure in which a tube was forcibly inserted through his nose without any anesthetic.

“It is essential that we realize the promise of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights not only for improving our standing in the world, but more importantly to ensure justice at home,” said Andrew Schneider Executive Director of the ACLU-CT. “We can start fulfilling the UDHR’s promise, by restoring William Coleman’s human rights here in Connecticut.”

Following the horrors of the Second World War, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, devoted itself exclusively to drafting the UDHR. The document, which was influenced by the Bill of Rights, contains thirty articles that detail specific rights that belong to all human beings everywhere, including civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights.

Coleman is protesting what he believes is Connecticut’s corrupt judicial system and has executed a living will which explicitly states he is not to be resuscitated or force-fed. The ACLU-CT expects the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture to respond to the ACLU’s appeal before a Jan. 29, 2009, trial to decide if the state of Connecticut can continue to force-feed Coleman.

The ACLU’s letter to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture.

William Murray of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP is acting as cooperating counsel for the ACLU of Connecticut.