Confirm Keith Harper as U.S. Ambassador to the UNHRC

Recipient: Committee on Foreign Relations

View the PDF of this letter here.

Dear Chairman Menendez and Ranking Member Corker:

On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 210 national organizations to promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States, we write to urge you to swiftly confirm Keith Harper as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). 

Mr. Harper is a member of the Cherokee Nation and is slated to be the first Native American to serve as an Ambassador for the United States.  He has spent decades fighting for the civil and human rights of Native Americans and indigenous people here and around the world.  His experience as a litigator, a judge on tribal courts, and advocate and negotiator before the Organization of American States and the United Nations on behalf of the National Congress of American Indians, makes him exceptionally well-qualified for this position.

We have worked closely with Mr. Harper for nearly 15 years on international human rights, and have witnessed firsthand his deep understanding of the law and his effective advocacy for civil and human rights across the globe.  Mr. Harper has worked tirelessly in global fora to ensure that the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has been a prominent topic within the various United Nations human rights bodies.  The U.N. General Assembly will be holding a World Conference on Indigenous Peoples in September 2014.  Mr. Harper’s presence there on behalf of the United States will send a strong message about the United States’ commitment to the rights of indigenous peoples.

Keith Harper is deeply committed to civil and human rights and will be an effective and highly principled champion and leader for the United States on the Human Rights Council.  We are confident he will serve as an Ambassador with distinction and unquestioned integrity and urge his confirmation without delay.  For further information, please contact June Zeitlin, Director of Human Rights Policy, at 202-263-2852 or [email protected].

Sincerely,

Wade Henderson
President & CEO

Nancy Zirkin
Executive Vice President