This week, the US State Department raised concerns regarding a series of recent Thai court cases that have resulted in the convictions of several individuals of offenses to the Thai Monarchy. In its statement, the US State Department stated that “the United States strongly supports freedom of expression around the world and considers it a fundamental human right.”
But even as the US expresses its own concern for Thailand’s internal politics and Thailand laws, is America doing enough to protect freedom of expression within its own backyard? The recent Occupy Wall Street protests have served as a chilling demonstration of state-sponsored repression of the Freedom of Speech. From the pepper spraying of a line of peaceful protesters at University of California-Davis, to the beating of a line of linked-arm protesters at UC Berkeley, to the charges of misconduct laid against the LAPD during their break-up of the Occupy LA campaign, to the disturbing photo of an Occupy Wall Street protester in Portland, Oregon being pepper sprayed directly in the eyes, America is fairly awash with images and stories of state-let offences against freedom of expression.
America’s police force doesn’t simply focus on repressing the freedom of expression of angry students, either. Several documented cases exist where the US police force has turned on its own, firing police men and women for expressing dissident political views. A former Washington State police sergeant sued and received an $815,000 settlement from Snohomish County, WA in 2009, after been dismissed from the local police force in 2005 for supporting the decriminalization of marijuana. In January of this year, a U.S. Border Patrol agent filed a lawsuit against his employer with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), after he was allegedly fired for expressing a personal opinion that America’s war on drugs had failed.
Given that it now appears that the US military and police forces are both actively repressing the rights to nonviolent protests, peaceful gatherings, and the right to have an opinion, perhaps Secretary of State Clinton will consent to tour her own country once she’s left Southeast Asia. There’s plenty to condemn right at home.
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