Reservations:
"(1) That article 20 does not authorize or require legislation or
other action by the United States that would restrict the right of free speech
and association protected by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
"(2) That the
United States reserves the right, subject to its Constitutional constraints, to
impose capital punishment on any person (other than a pregnant woman) duly
convicted under existing or future laws permitting the imposition of capital
punishment, including such punishment for crimes committed by persons below
eighteen years of age.
"(3) That the
United States considers itself bound by article 7 to the extent that ‘cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’ means the cruel and unusual
treatment or punishment prohibited by the Fifth, Eighth, and-or Fourteenth
Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.
"(4) That
because U.S. law generally applies to an offender the penalty in force at the
time the offence was committed, the United States does not adhere to the third
clause of paragraph 1 of article 15.
"(5) That the
policy and practice of the United States are generally in compliance with and
supportive of the Covenant's provisions regarding treatment of juveniles in the
criminal justice system. Nevertheless,
the United States reserves the right, in exceptional circumstances, to treat
juveniles as adults, notwithstanding paragraphs 2 (b) and 3 of article 10 and
paragraph 4 of article 14. The United States further reserves to these provisions with respect
to States with respect to individuals who volunteer for military service prior
to age 18."
Understandings:
"(1) That the Constitution and laws of the United States
guarantee all persons equal protection of the law and provide extensive
protections against discrimination. The
United States understands distinctions based upon race, colour,
sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth or any other status ‑‑ as those terms are used in
article 2, paragraph 1 and article 26 ‑‑ to be permitted when such
distinctions are, at minimum, rationally related to a legitimate governmental
objective. The United States further
understands the prohibition in paragraph 1 of article 4 upon discrimination, in
time of public emergency, based ‘solely’ on the status of race, colour, sex, language, religion or social origin, not to
bar distinctions that may have a disproportionate effect upon persons of a
particular status.
"(2) That the
United States understands the right to compensation referred to in articles 9
(5) and 14 (6) to require the provision of effective and enforceable mechanisms
by which a victim of an unlawful arrest or detention or a miscarriage of
justice may seek and, where justified, obtain compensation from either the
responsible individual or the appropriate governmental entity. Entitlement to compensation may be subject to
the reasonable requirements of domestic law.
"(3) That the
United States understands the reference to ‘exceptional circumstances’ in
paragraph 2 (a) of article 10 to permit the imprisonment of an accused person
with convicted persons where appropriate in light of an individual's overall
dangerousness, and to permit accused persons to waive their right to
segregation from convicted persons. The
United States further understands that paragraph 3 of article 10 does not
diminish the goals of punishment, deterrence, and incapacitation as additional
legitimate purposes for a penitentiary system.
"(4) That the
United States understands that subparagraphs 3 (b) and (d) of article 14 do not
require the provision of a criminal defendant's counsel of choice when the
defendant is provided with court-appointed counsel on grounds of indigence,
when the defendant is financially able to retain alternative counsel, or when
imprisonment is not imposed. The United
States further understands that paragraph 3 (e) does not prohibit a requirement
that the defendant make a showing that any witness whose attendance he seeks to
compel is necessary for his defense. The
United States understands the prohibition upon double jeopardy in paragraph 7
to apply only when the judgment of acquittal has been rendered by a court of
the same governmental unit, whether the Federal Government or a constituent
unit, as is seeking a new trial for the same cause.
"(5)
That the United States understands that this Covenant shall be implemented by
the Federal Government to the extent that it exercises legislative and judicial
jurisdiction over the matters covered therein, and otherwise by the state and
local governments; to the extent that state and local governments exercise
jurisdiction over such matters, the Federal Government shall take measures
appropriate to the Federal system to the end that the competent authorities of
the state or local governments may take appropriate measures for the
fulfillment of the Covenant."
"(1) That the United States declares that the provisions of
articles 1 through 27 of the Covenant are not self-executing.
"(2) That it
is the view of the United States that States Party to the Covenant should
wherever possible refrain from imposing any restrictions or limitations on the
exercise of the rights recognized and protected by the Covenant, even when such
restrictions and limitations are permissible under the terms of the
Covenant. For the United States, article
5, paragraph 2, which provides that fundamental human rights
existing in any State Party may not be diminished on the pretext that the
Covenant recognizes them to a lesser extent, has particular relevance to
article 19, paragraph 3 which would permit certain restrictions on the freedom
of expression. The United States
declares that it will continue to adhere to the requirements and constraints of
its Constitution in respect to all such restrictions and limitations.
"(3) That the
United States declares that the right referred to in article 47 may be
exercised only in accordance with international law."