Holding Candidates Accountable on Human Rights
Human rights issues have rarely played a significant role in congressional or presidential elections. So far, the 2008 campaign is shaping up to be no different, as a new Center for American Progress Action Fund analysis of debate questions and candidate positions shows.
The candidates have been asked a relatively low number of questions about human rights, and have not been pinned down on many of the key issues, despite the importance of human rights issues--such as genocide in Darfur, revelations regarding U.S. use of torture, and the continued debate over the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba--to U.S. foreign policy.
CAPAF tracked questions about human rights in the presidential debates through the end of 2007 and tried to ascertain each candidate's position on seven key issues. These findings about the candidates' positions are presented below, by issue and by candidate.
Download the detailed chart of candidate positions (pdf).
Click below to see how each candidate would respond to seven important human rights issues:
- What should the United States do to stop the genocide in Darfur?
- When, if ever, should the United States engage in military action to stop genocide or ethnic cleansing?
- Should the United States close the prison camp in Guantanamo? If so, what should be done with the prisoners?
- Are there any circumstances when torture or extreme techniques of interrogation are appropriate?
- Should provisions regarding labor rights be included in future trade agreements?
- How can the U.S. best promote democracy abroad?
- Should the U.S. ratify the International Criminal Court?
Or click on a candidate to see what they would do:
- Joe Biden
- Hillary Clinton
- Chris Dodd
- John Edwards
- Rudy Giuliani
- Mike Gravel
- Mike Huckabee
- Duncan Hunter
- Dennis Kucinich
- John McCain
- Barack Obama
- Ron Paul
- Bill Richardson
- Mitt Romney
- Fred Thompson
Senior Fellow Bill Schulz's comments on the debate questions can be found here.