Why is the Obama administration refusing to respond to a letter from the UN?

[^_^ 5,021]

WASHINGTON -- Federal officials have yet to respond to two United Nations human rights envoys who formally requested that the U.S. government protect Occupy protesters against excessive force by law enforcement officials.

In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the two envoys called on U.S. officials to "explain the behavior of police departments that violently disbanded some Occupy protests last fall" and expressed concern that excessive use of force "could have been related to [the protesters'] dissenting views, criticisms of economic policies, and their legitimate work in the defense of human rights and fundamental freedoms."

The envoys also reminded the U.S. government of its international obligations to "take all necessary measures to guarantee that the rights and freedoms of all peaceful protesters be respected."

...

The rapporteurs' letter described how groups of peaceful Occupy protesters were forcibly removed from their encampments in various U.S. cities, including New York, Seattle, Denver and Oakland, Calif., last fall.

New York police staged a night raid on the original Occupy Wall Street encampment.

The Oakland Police Department fired tear gas, smoke grenades and beanbag rounds at demonstrators.

Philadelphia and Los Angeles police stormed the encampments in their cities in the middle of the night, evicting and arresting hundreds of protesters.

Police officers pepper-sprayed protesters at the University of California, Davis, and on a New York City sidewalk.

"In the conduct of such operations, law enforcement officials in these cities allegedly used violence as a means to forcibly remove unwilling protesters from the public areas in which they were located," the letter said. "In some instances, police allegedly used force unnecessarily and disproportionately," including "pepper spray and tear gas … used deliberately on protesters at a very close distance."

The letter asked the State Department to respond to several questions about what happened and what sort of follow-up there was. It inquired, "What was the legal basis for these actions that limit the exercise of the legitimate rights of the protesters?"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/18/occupy-protesters-rights-united-nations-letter_n_1606735.html?utm_hp_ref=occupy-wall-street