. 2020 Oct;110(10):1512–1518. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2020.305814

TABLE 2—

Human Rights Violations by the US Government Against Puerto Rico

Principle	United Nations Treaty	Violations
Right to equal dignity and rights	UDHR Art. 1	US Constitution allowing for “rational basis” of differential treatment of US territories and US states
Right to freedom from discrimination based on race, language, jurisdiction, or other status	UDHR Art. 2	US Constitution allowing for “rational basis” of differential treatment of US territories and US states
	ICERD^a Art. 2
Right to equal protection before the law	UDHR Art. 7	US Constitution allowing for “rational basis” of differential treatment of US territories and US states
Right to equal protection before the law	ICCPR^a Art. 26
Right to equal protection before the law	UDHR Art. 21	Lack of full representation in US Congress and inability to vote for US president
	ICCPR^a Art. 25
	ICERD^a Art. 5
	ICESCR Art. 1
Right to self-determination	ICCPR^a Art. 1	US denial of Puerto Rican citizens the right to vote on statehood status and realize full economic, cultural, and social development
Right to adequate standard of living and improvement of living conditions	ICESCR Art. 11	Inadequate support before the storm and inadequate recovery efforts after the storm
Right to highest attainable standard of physical and mental health	ICESCR Art. 12	Inadequate support before the storm and inadequate recovery efforts after the storm
Right to seek remedies for discriminatory justice	ICERD^a Art. 6	Discriminatory practices in the allocation of federal disaster aid
Right to benefit from scientific progress	UDHR Art. 27	Lack of resources to rebuild infrastructure to the highest standard using modern technology available
Right to benefit from scientific progress	ICESCR Art. 15

Note. ICCPR = International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; ICERD = International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; ICESCR = International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights; UDHR = Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

^{^a}

Indicates that the United States has signed and ratified the covenant and is therefore legally accountable to respect, protect, and fulfill obligations of the covenant.