This originally aired on The Final Straw radio show.

The American public school system devoted twelve years to convincing us that the United States is the land of the free and the home of the brave, that this country is exceptional in guaranteeing freedom. The U.S. commitment to human rights makes it the greatest country in the world, according to the story it projects to every corner of the globe.

So lets talk about human rights in the Americas. The Organization of American States (OAS) is a treaty organization, founded in 1948, under the United Nations Charter, and 36 nation­ states in the Americas are member­ states of the OAS, including the United States. The principles of the OAS are related in the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, a petty radical declaration as far as hierarch state worshipers go. Besides the criminal justice rights normally understood, and the right to freedom of belief and speech, the American Declaration lists freedoms like the right to residence and movement; right to asylum; right to health; right to culture, education and fair pay… all rights that go even beyond the U.S. Constitution guarantees.

The OAS has generated a number of human rights conventions that its 36 member states can sign, ratify and then recognize the international courts authority to enforce. You’ve got The American Convention on Human Rights and the Additional Protocol to the American Convention – both designed to “codify” the lofty ideas presented in the American Declaration. Then you’ve got the Protocol to Abolish the Death Penalty, the Convention on Forced Disappearances, The Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities. Of The 36 member states of the OAS, only three of them have signed on to all seven documents, ratified them and recognized the inter – American court’s authority to enforce them. Three other member states have refused to so much as sign away any of them. The remaining thirty states have signed some, but not all, a mixed bag.

Now, the United States, the exceptional nation for its unwavering commitment to human rights, where would you expect the U.S. to fall in the spectrum of things? It would make sense for the U.S. to be one of three nations to ratify all seven human rights conventions, wouldn’t it? I mean, most of those commitments are no-brainers. Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture… or Forced Disappearances… Violence Against Women… Discrimination Against the Disabled … Certainly, The U.S. is opposed to all of that, right?

No.

Of the three nations that are exemplary for their commitment to human rights, ratifying all seven conventions, the U.S. is not one of them. The three nations are Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Uruguay. Those are the three countries that have put their money where the United States mouth is.

So what makes the U.S. exceptional in the realm of human rights? Well, sadly, the U.S. is one of three nation states that refuse to sign any of the conventions. That’s right. The U.S. will not abolish the death penalty. Further, it won’t promise to prevent or punish torture. Right. The U.S. reserves recourse to torture. The U.S. won’t pledge to refrain from forced disappearances. It reserves the right to drag away its critics to government blacksites. The U.S. won’t so much as oppose violence against women or discrimination against the disabled. And to be clear, we’re not even talking necessarily about submitting to international courts here – we’re just talking about signing documents to condemn torture, disappearances, violence against women, discrimination against the disabled. That means 33 other countries, of the Americas, including Venezuela, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Honduras – not exactly countries you associate with stellar human rights records – have demonstrated greater commitment to human rights than the United States.

I think that makes the United States pretty exceptional in the realm of human rights. It’s competing with Antigua and Barbuda to see who can demonstrate the most contempt for international standards embraced by Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Uruguay.

Land of the free? Home of the brave? Don’t buy that hype. The U.S. reserves the right to black site and torture you, smack your mom, kick over that kid’s wheelchair and lethally inject all of you. Makes you wonder how to get asylum in Uruguay, huh?

This is anarchist prisoner Sean Swain from Ohio’s supermax. If you’re listening, you are the resistance.