Author: Aisha Noor
January 3, 2024
HRRC expresses sincere condolences to the Carter family. The work and life accomplishments of former-U.S. President Jimmy Carter have furthered international human rights and inspired countless.
Human Rights Research Center (HRRC) extends its condolences to the American people mourning the passing of former-U.S. President Jimmy Carter on December 29th at the age of 100. Carter continues to earn himself the trophy of being a staunch advocate of human rights within and outside the White House, and his continued fight to promote human rights merits the legacy that the world gives him.
When Jimmy Carter became the 39th president of the United States, he changed the direction of American foreign policy towards human rights as its main foreign policy compass. His innovative initiatives included advancing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, on which the ‘freedom, justice, and peace in the world’ were based. The Camp David Accords, in which Carter played a lead role in bringing Egypt and Israel to a peace deal, is one of the achievements that defined Carter most. He also did much for human rights abroad: stopping America’s support to the repellent Somoza regime in Nicaragua, insisting on human rights reports from the State Department, and visiting sub-Saharan Africa for the first time in any US president’s presidency.
Carter’s presidency, of course, had its problems – he sometimes hesitated to condemn abuses committed by America’s friends and partners, and his domestic policies did not adequately address structural bigotry, inadequate as they were – but, after the White House, Carter remained a model of dogged activism on behalf of the oppressed and suffering people of the world.
After his presidency, which ended in 1981, Carter and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, started The Carter Center in 1982 to promote peace and improve democracy alongside improving human health. Through the Center, Carter played an active role in weeks and months of mediation that resulted in peace, as in his 1994 diplomatic mission to North Korea to help stop the nuclear program and negotiate for the restoration of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the Haitian president. Carter also worked successfully to release political prisoners in countries including North Korea and Gambia, received well over one hundred elections in different countries, and almost eradicated Guinea worm disease. His commitment saved the suffering of millions.
Furthermore, he was committed to providing housing as a fundamental human right through a partnership with Habitat for Humanity, building homes for people in need in many parts of the world using volunteer work.
For his efforts in working for peace and human rights, Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, making him the first president of the United States to be honored with the prize for his work after serving his government. The activities of the disseminating Nobel committee pointed to his full-hearted endeavor to propagate peaceful resolution of international disagreements, the cause of established democracy and human rights, and support for sustainable development of the global economy and improvement of the human condition.
Carter also fought for race relations, women’s rights, and his clear denunciation of Israeli apartheid in Palestine and demand for an end to systematic violation of human rights.
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