Last night the graphic above was forward to me by my friend and fellow activist, Timothy Cooper of World Rights, an NGO that works to promote and protect human rights under principles of international law.
I have worked with Timothy on many different human rights demonstrations in the past involving the OSCE. He was quoted in David Montgomery’s article about me as saying “Nikolas looks better in a Colonial outfit and a tricorner hat than practically anyone I know.” Timothy Cooper is also one heck of a piano player, but what I respect him for most is his ongoing work on behalf of the disenfranchised residents of America’s capital city.
As one of the few activists who have succeeded in placing the international spotlight on Washington, DC’s lack of voting representation, this press release below shows that he’s been continuing the fight. In the Needs Assessment Mission Report[pdf] published by Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights there is a specific paragraph that I don’t think would have been included without his diligence. It references the 2006 OSCE Declaration that we helped lobby for; both on land and water.
W O R L D R I G H T S
Human Rights Advocacy WorldwideFor Immediate Release
Date: August 4, 2008
Contact: Timothy Cooper
Tel: 202.361.0989ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE (OSCE) PRESSES UNITED STATES ON GRANTING D.C. RESIDENTS FULL CONGRESSIONAL VOTING RIGHTS
Washington, DC—In a “Needs Assessment Mission Report [pdf]” issued by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on July 28, 2008, the OSCE concluded that “[w]hile the United States of America has a long-standing tradition of democratic elections, several issues raised in previous OSCE/ODIHR reports, and those highlighted by OSCE/ODIHR NAM interlocutors, merit further attention.” Among those issues raised in previous OSCE reports is the continuing denial of full congressional representation to the nearly 600,000 residents of Washington, D.C. In its last election observation report issued in 2006, the OSCE called on the U.S. government to grant D.C. residents full congressional voting rights. The United States is obligated to guarantee full representation in Congress to the residents of the District of Columbia under the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document, to which it is party.
The new report’s Executive Summary notes that “only citizens of states are entitled to vote for congressional representation with full voting rights, leaving approximately 600,000 US citizens in Washington DC alone without full representation in Congress….”
The latest report’s findings also state that “[a]ccording to the Constitution, United States citizens who are not citizens of one of the 50 states are not able to vote for members of Congress who have full voting rights in Congress. It is estimated that up to 600,000 citizens in Washington DC alone, without including citizens in US territories, are subject to US laws including taxation and permitted to vote in the presidential election, but cannot fully exercise their voting rights for Congressional representation.”
Worldrights lobbied the OSCE/ODIHR for many years to draw its attention to the willful disenfranchisement of D.C. residents by Congress and the Executive Branch.
The report may be found at: http://www.osce.org/odihr/ or by clicking here[pdf]
The current Democratic Party leadership mentioned in the graphic above have been advocating 1/3 representation for the residents of Washington, DC for far too long. What is funny about the graphic to me is it uses the 1/3 meme that I’ve been pressing for the last few years:
First with the license plate:
Which received mention in the Washington Times
Then the D.C. Flag
….and now the graphic above employs the concept of being begging to the 1/3 meme. I wonder what meme will be next? I can only hope the Democratic Party leadership changes their direction in favor of what Washington, DC residents voted for: statehood or at least full representation in Congress (not one token vote in the House of Representatives and no Senators).
Related OSCE Entries: (more…)
3 Comments Rendered || || Posted One Year Ago: upcoming: Lenz Quilt Animation
3/27/2007 || 4:21 pm
OSCE Finds US Government Violates Human Rights
Posted on Sunday to theMail by my friend Timothy Cooper:
On March 9, the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Europe’s Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) issued a major report on the 2006 mid-term US congressional elections(PDF), and concluded that the US government violates DC citizens’ basic political rights, as well as those of US citizens living in the territories, by denying them full representation in Congress. The OSCE report states, among other things, that “US citizens who are not citizens of one of the fifty states are not able to vote for members of Congress who have the right to vote on the floor. . . . These restrictions exist even though such US citizens are subject to US federal law and pay federal taxes. . . . It is . . . estimated that in Washington, DC, alone, without including US citizens of US territories, up to half a million US citizens are not permitted to vote in federal elections for full congressional representation. As these citizens are subject to US laws, including taxation, the denial of full representation, as underscored by the Constitution and Supreme Court decisions, would appear to be a limitation of voting rights.” The OSCE recommends that “US authorities should consider all possibilities to provide full representation rights for all US citizens.”
The OSCE is Europe’s largest human rights monitoring body. It is composed of 56 countries, spans the globe from Russia to Canada, and is the world’s preeminent democratic election monitoring body, which regularly observes elections in all OSCE countries. The US is a founding member of the organization, and is bound by all of its human rights commitment. The right to participate equally in one’s own national legislature is a key OSCE democratic election standard under the 1990 Copenhagen Act. In 2002, Worldrights launched a campaign to win the OSCE’s endorsement of full Congressional voting rights for DC residents. Since then, Worldrights has appeared at the OSCE’s annual Human Dimension Implementation meetings in Warsaw, Poland, pressing for the OSCE to address the DC issue and make recommendations. The complete report may be found at: http://www.world-rights.org.
Worldrights has also requested that the US Helsinki Commission, under the new leadership of Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) and Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), hold hearings on US noncompliance. The Helsinki Commission regularly monitors the human rights compliance of other OSCE countries.
On July 1st, 2005 I greeted the OSCE parliamentarians when they met in Washington, DC for the first time. Alongside Tim, Statehood Green Party members, and DC Vote, we organized a street meet & greet, where I said hello to the parliamentarians dressed in my colonial costume as they entered the hotel for the day’s meetings.
That afternoon we had a press conference in Freedom Plaza (you can watch the video here, scroll down to OSCE) next to a ballot box enclosed in a barbed wire fence. The following day, we conducted the first even naval lobbying effort in the history of D.C.! As the OSCE parliamentarians took a yatch ride to the historic home of George Washington, we followed them on D.C. Shadow Senator’s Paul Strauss’ boat with a banner that read “OSCE Equal Voting Rights for D.C.”
Seeing this continued postition of the OSCE is great news and shows that our efforts have had a lasting impact. Alas, we still are denied representation in both chambers of Congress….
Read my OSCE related blog entries…
Text of the OSCE Report(PDF) after the fold.
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Comments Off || || Posted One Year Ago: Nashville Quilt #3
7/7/2005 || 3:46 pm
I am mentioned in the Northwest Current
This is probably one of my favorite articles regarding the OSCE festivities.
best line:
“The last landlocked colony,” 
I had to throw that geographic reference in there!
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7/6/2005 || 8:55 am
International Body Backs Vote for D.C.
This is probably the final installment from the Washington Post concerning the OSCE for a little while, or until Congress decides to do something about it’s democratic hypocrisy….you can’t bring democracy to the world when you deny democracy at home….
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7/5/2005 || 9:55 pm
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly adopts Washington Declaration
via the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly:
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7/3/2005 || 10:05 pm
Examiner Coverage of our OSCE Maritime Lobbying Effort
After meeting the reporter on Friday, he didn’t seem too informed about the DC voting rights issue and his article for the Examiner shows this. However, the Examiner is the only media outlet who covered our DC Democracy Naval lobbying effort.
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7/2/2005 || 9:59 pm
The first DC Democracy Naval Battle
I participated in the first naval battle for DC Democracy, and I believe we won! No bullets, bombs, or carnage, just a couple of boats, a few signs, and a whole lot of dedication.
Through the OSCE’s draft itinerary, we knew that the Parliamentarians were going to be taking a cruise to Mount Vernon, and a few weeks ago I brought up the idea of setting up some sort of “DC Democracy Regatta.” Shadow Senator Paul Strauss volunteered to use his powerboat for the festivities he retitled “DC Democracy Castaways.”
After finding out that we had another boater come on-line on Thursday evening, I sent out an E-mail to the Team DC Democracy listserv requesting RSVPs for the cruise. In the end we had room for about 18 sailors on the two boats.
Around 1:30pm, I showed up at the Washington Marina and helped setup the ships. We placed the banners from yesterday’s rally on to the bow of the the ship- on the port side we placed the English version and on the starboard side we place the spanish translation of “Equal Voting Rights for DC.”
After having to kick off a few sailors (to make sure that if the Coast Guard decided to board our ships we had enough life jackets to be legal), we set off from the marina and picked up Tim Cooper, who had just finished briefing the Parliamentarians.
Senator Strauss CB radioed the “Spirit of the Potomac” telling the captain our intentions of following the ship and then contacted the Coast Guard to tell them as well. And at around 3:45pm we were sailing right next to the ship full of the OSCE Parliamentarians.
The parliamentarians on board were waving, throwing us the thumbs up sign, miming they were signing our resolution in the air…. We charmed the entire boatload! It was absolutely amazing.
I’m unaware of anyone taking the issue of equal voting rights for DC resident to the water, moreso to 317 parliamentarians from 55 countries captive on a boat! A first I am proud to have been a part of such a noble lobbying effort!
We followed them all the way to Mount Vernon, and when we turned back, all the Parliamentarians waved us goodbye! This was my first time on the Potomac, and I must say this is one of my favorite events I’ve ever taken part in, so I doubt I can replicate this experience. There was a camera man with the Examiner on board and I can’t wait to see what pictures he chooses to use and what they decided to write about!
Related OSCE Entries:
- The Organization For Security And Cooperation In Europe Continues To Press The US Goverment on Full Congressional Representation for D.C. Residents
- OSCE Finds US Government Violates Human Rights
- I am mentioned in the Northwest Current
- International Body Backs Vote for D.C.
- OSCE Parliamentary Assembly adopts Washington Declaration
- Examiner Coverage of our OSCE Maritime Lobbying Effort
- The first DC Democracy Naval Battle
- Out of Committee
- Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité
- Sway with me
- pre-press
- OSCE Rally Friday!
- www.osceindc.com
- DC City Council Passes OSCE Resolution
Related Statehood Entries:
- What D.C. Statehood Would Mean To Black America - Ebony, October, 1990
- One Third Representation Flyer Posted Outside of Busboys & Poets
- The Organization For Security And Cooperation In Europe Continues To Press The US Goverment on Full Congressional Representation for D.C. Residents
- Quart Bag: A Community Art Show at the Civilian Art Projects
- The Dr. Bill Show!
- DC Residents say they want full democracy, like New Delhi.
- Experimenting with Facebook's advertisement system [part 3 - Twenty Phantom Women]
- ABSOLUT STATEHOOD
- The maps on Google Analytics suffer from Washington, DC's exclusion
- Google Charts API now includes small maps, but leaves out Washington, DC.
- Roll Call's Photo of the Week features the DC Colonist
- Voting Rights March Recap
- D.C. Voting Rights March...
- Fun with MyGoogleMaps...
- OSCE Finds US Government Violates Human Rights
- The U.S. Capitol is Off-Limits to the Public: An Exploration of Censorship's Perimeter
- Tom Davis Supports Statehood?
- THE GEOCOLONIAL SLOTS - Match 3 for Statehood!
- Interactive Inequality #3
- Interactive Inequality #2
- Interactive Inequality
- Lost in America's Last Colony
- Censored today in theMail...
- The New DC Flag...if HR 328 passes...
- Take 1/3 of a day off work for 1/3 Representation
- Third of representation a start, but not enough
- The New DC License Plate.. if H.R. 5388 passes
- Dennis Hastert's Office 3 Years ago... yesterday
- Netscape Celebrity?
- Salt Lake Tribune covers the D.C. Colonist
- ABC 7 Covers the D.C. Colonist...
- The DC Colonist is in a Scripts Howard wire report
- Taxation Without Representation Google Map
- I am featured in the Green Party's "Green Pages"
- I am mentioned in the Northwest Current
- International Body Backs Vote for D.C.
- OSCE Parliamentary Assembly adopts Washington Declaration
- Censorship on the 4th of July
- Examiner Coverage of our OSCE Maritime Lobbying Effort
- We've got the support-
- The first DC Democracy Naval Battle
- Out of Committee
- Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité
- Sway with me
- pre-press
- OSCE Rally Friday!
- www.osceindc.com
- DC City Council Passes OSCE Resolution
- DC Colonists video clip
- The D.C. Colonist makes his baseball debut!
- DCist Covers the Colonist
- DC Colonists - Flyer & Press Release
- The D.C. Colonist in the Washington Post
- The Colonist in the Post
- Congress Passes District's Budget
- It's Official....
- a Great B.A.D. Day
- B.A.D. Day Schedule
- B.A.D. Day is tomorrow
- B.A.D. Day Call to Action!
- its starting to get B.A.D.
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|| 7:16 pm
Out of Committee
We have a second AP report concerning our amendment!
Foreign Legislators Back D.C. Voting Rights
Saturday July 02, 2005 5:23pmWashington (AP) - D.C. voting rights advocates have won some international support.
A group of foreign legislators meeting in Washington has approved a measure urging Congress to pass legislation granting D.C. residents full congressional representation.
Today’s vote means the measure likely will be in Tuesday’s final international declaration by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe - a pro-democracy group.
The measure doesn’t have the force of law, but will be included in the document distributed to the 55 member nations of OSCE, including the U.S..
The vote comes one day after more than 100 supporters of D.C. voting rights held at rally at Freedom Plaza to educate the foreign officials, who are meeting nearby.
The measure was introduced by D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton.
Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press.
Again, not very informative, so I hope some news outlets pick up this news bit.
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|| 10:13 am
Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité
Video footage from the OSCE Demonstration at Freedom Plaza.
My account of the day:
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7/1/2005 || 2:42 pm
Sway with me
We got an AP report out- excellent
D.C. Voting Rights Advocates Hope To Sway International Group
Friday July 01, 2005 2:40pmWashington (AP) - Supporters of D.C. voting rights are hoping to gain some key international support.
More than 100 people rallied at Freedom Plaza to educate members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which promotes democracy around the world.
The group is holding meetings at a nearby hotel.
D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is among those who spoke at the rally. Norton, who can vote in committee but not on the House floor, says D.C. residents are tired of being “outsiders” in their own country.
Norton plans to meet with the international group.
Four voting machines have been set up on Freedom Plaza, surrounded by a chain link fence and yellow signs that read “D.C. Residents Keep Out! By Order of Congress.”
Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press.
Not very interesting or very informative, but I am glad it was written. Too bad few outlets picked up this news bit.
Related OSCE Entries:
- The Organization For Security And Cooperation In Europe Continues To Press The US Goverment on Full Congressional Representation for D.C. Residents
- OSCE Finds US Government Violates Human Rights
- I am mentioned in the Northwest Current
- International Body Backs Vote for D.C.
- OSCE Parliamentary Assembly adopts Washington Declaration
- Examiner Coverage of our OSCE Maritime Lobbying Effort
- The first DC Democracy Naval Battle
- Out of Committee
- Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité
- Sway with me
- pre-press
- OSCE Rally Friday!
- www.osceindc.com
- DC City Council Passes OSCE Resolution
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6/30/2005 || 3:25 pm
pre-press
You gotta love when the Washington Post gives us free promotion. Let the media to do your bidding! I am quite happy with this story, and I hope it helps bring some people out to Freedom Plaza tomorrow!
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Comments Off || || Posted One Year Ago: Two new "projects"
6/28/2005 || 7:52 am
OSCE Rally Friday!
Come out if you can make it:
On Friday, July 1, 2005, rally for DC voting rights as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly holds their annual session in Washington, DC.
A series of events are planned and designed to encourage the more than 300 international diplomats to pass a resolution supporting full congressional voting rights for DC.
1. From 7:30 AM to 9:30 AM, we need volunteers to rally outside of the host hotel, the JW Marriott on 14th Street at Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, to greet the parliamentarians as they arrive for the beginning of their weekend long meeting.
2. At 12:00 noon on the western side of Freedom Plaza, Mayor Williams and Team DC Democracy will unveil an artistic installation created to visually represent DC’s denial of democracy.
3. Immediately following the unveiling of the installation, there will be a rally outside of the JW Marriott on 14th Street at Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, to greet Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert as they arrive to address the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
Don’t forget to wear blue!
for more info visit: www.osceindc.com
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6/15/2005 || 11:51 am
www.osceindc.com
Today a certain someone got a call from an irate parliamentarian because I spoofed the www.oscepa.org website. My rationale for the spoof was to draw media attention to the website, but instead of saying that I can do what I damn well please, I opted to “work well with other’s” and spent the entire night reworking the website. check www.osceindc.com
also…
I found a great article by one of my DC democracy colleagues, Bill Mosley for the DC based, independent newspaper, the Common Denominator:
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6/7/2005 || 5:04 pm
DC City Council Passes OSCE Resolution
The Parliamentarians of the OSCE are coming to DC for the first time next month, and we are going make sure they pass a resolution condeming the U.S. government for it’s denial of voting rights to the 572,000 Washington, DC residents. This 4th of July might be more fun than last year!
A RESOLUTION
_______________IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
_______________To declare, on an emergency basis, the sense of the Council on welcoming the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly to the District of Columbia and calling on them to adopt a resolution at their assembly in support of full voting rights for citizens of the District of Columbia.
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this resolution may be cited as the “Sense of the Council in Support of Full and Equal Voting Rights for Citizens of the District of Columbia Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Emergency Resolution of 2005”.
Sec. 2. The Council finds that:
(1) The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is made up of 55 states, including the United States, from Europe, Central Asia, and North America, and forms the largest regional security organization in the world.
(2) OSCE institutions include negotiating, decision-making, and operational bodies, which deal with a wide range of issues including human rights issues.
(3) The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly will hold its first Annual Session meeting in the United States July 1 through 5, in Washington, D.C.
(4) Approximately 572,000 residents of the District of Columbia, in violation of established international human rights standards, are denied full voting rights in their national legislature.
(5) Ensuring equal voting rights for citizens of member states is a fundamental OSCE commitment.Sec. 3. It is the sense of the Council that:
(1) The Council of the District of Columbia welcomes the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to Washington, D.C., and to the United States.
(2) The Council calls on the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to adopt a resolution at its Annual Session observing that the approximately 572,000 residents of Washington, D.C., continue to be denied equal and full voting rights in the United State House of Representatives and the United States Senate, and insisting that the government of the United States adopt such legislation as may be necessary to grant the residents of its capital city equal and full voting rights in their own national legislature.Sec. 4. The Secretary of the Council of the District of Columbia shall transmit copies of this resolution upon its adoption to the President of the United States, the Mayor of the District of Columbia, the District of Columbia Delegate to the United States Congress, the chairpersons of the committees of the United States Congress with oversight and budgetary jurisdiction over the District of Columbia, the presiding officer of the OSCE and to the presiding officer of the OSCE’s Parliamentary Assembly.
Sec. 5. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon the first date of publication in the District of Columbia Registar.
Now I really need to work on the website www.osceindc.com
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