D. Information and Publicity

In the United States, information about human rights is readily available. As a general matter, people are well-informed about their civil and political rights, including the rights of equal protection, due process, and non-discrimination. The scope, meaning and enforcement of individual rights are openly and vigorously discussed in the media, freely debated within the various political parties and representative institutions, and litigated before the courts at all levels.

Information about human rights treaties is freely and readily available to any interested person in the United States. The constitutional requirement that the U.S. Senate give its advice and consent to ratification of a treaty ensures that there is a public record of its consideration, typically on the basis of a formal transmittal by the President, a record of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's hearing and report to the full Senate, and the action of the Senate itself. Moreover, the text of any treaty, whether or not the United States is a party, can be readily obtained from any number of sources, including the Library of Congress, public libraries, educational institutions and non-governmental organizations.

Increasingly, over the last few years information about human rights, civil rights and related subjects has become available on the Internet. For example, the Department of Justice web site <http://www.usdoj.gov> includes information about the Civil Rights Division, links to all sections of the Division that include information about settlements, high profile cases, the laws enforced by each section, contact information for each section, information on special topics, selected judicial decisions, and legal briefs filed by the Division. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights web site <http://www.usccr.gov> includes a description of the Commission's duties, function and composition as well as information on how to file complaints and contact the Commission. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission web site <http://www.eeoc.gov> includes guidance directed to employers and employees, information about the EEOC, enforcement statistics, and selected civil rights laws, regulations and guidance. Individuals can also find helpful information at the fair housing section of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development web site <http://www.hud.gov/fairhsg1 .html> where individuals can file housing discrimination complaints on-line. The Department of Interior Diversity web site <http://www.ios.doi.diversity.gov> includes information on all Department of Interior civil rights policies and programs, special employment programs, complaint processing procedures for employees and applicants and for individuals filing complaints against federally-assisted state agency programs. The Department of Interior's Office of Insular Affairs operates a web site <http://www.doi.gov/oia> that includes fact sheets detailing the federal government's responsibilities to and protection of the indigenous peoples of the U.S. insular areas of the United States. A comprehensive listing of federal government web sites providing information about the civil rights enforcement efforts of agencies providing federal financial assistance can be found at the Internet site of the Justice Department Civil Rights Division's Coordination and Review Section, <http://www.usdoj.gov/ctr/cor>. Numerous other web sites, operated by U.S. government agencies as well as by NGOs, include helpful information on civil rights, racial discrimination and legal remedies in the United States.

In the case of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the record of its consideration is set forth in several official documents, including, inter alia, the Initial Message from the President transmitting the Convention to the Senate on February 23, 1978 (Sen. Exec. Doc. 95-C); the printed record of the public hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on May 11, 1994 (S. Hrg. 103-659); the Report and Recommendation of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, dated June 2, 1994 (Sen. Exec. Rep. 103-29), and the record of consideration on the floor of the Senate (Cong. Rec. S6601, daily ed. June 8, 1994).

At the May 1994 hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, representatives of

various non-governmental organizations involved in human rights, as well as concerned academics and legal practitioners, testified in person or submitted written comments for consideration by the committee and for inclusion in its formal records. The Administration was represented by the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, and the Legal Adviser of the Department of State.

As part of the United States' program to increase public awareness of human rights obligations, this Report will be published and made available to the public through the Government Printing Office and the depositary library system, as was done with the U.S. reports on compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Copies of the Report and the Convention will also be widely distributed within the executive branch of the U.S. Government and to federal judicial authorities, as well as to relevant state officials, state and local bar associations, and non-governmental human rights organizations. The Report and Convention will also be available on the Department of State web site at <http://www.state.gov>.