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Carter Center Hosts Human Rights Leaders to Propose New U.S. Human Rights Agenda
 
Nov. 11, 2008

ATLANTA…Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay will host human rights leaders from around the world on Dec. 2-3 to develop recommendations for President-elect Barack Obama's human rights agenda for the United States.

The group will examine issues such as banning torture, closing Guantanamo, recommitting to the Geneva Conventions, as well as how the United States can best support human rights and democracy movements throughout the world. This gathering of human rights leaders will take place on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
 
The conference will be Dec. 2-3 at The Carter Center in Atlanta and will produce a final report addressed to the next administration. A panel discussion among President Carter, Pakistani human rights lawyer Hina Jilani, and Egyptian human rights activist Saad Ibrahim on Dec. 3 from 7-8:30 p.m. will conclude the conference and be webcast live at www.cartercenter.org. 
 
Confirmed conference participants also include Kenyan activist Betty Murungi, Afghanistan women's rights defender Sima Simar, and leadership from human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Center for Victims of Torture, and the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.