12-08-31 Barcelona for Human Rights... Why not Los Angeles, or Jerusalem???

In Los Angeles, an "Overseer for Civil Rights" was appoitned in 2001, to protect the People of Los Angeles against abuse by the government.  That distinction was shared during the W Bush administration by Los Angeles, Guantanamo Bay, and the California Prisons.  The office of "Overseer" existed in Los Angeles from 2001 to 2009.  In retrospect, the "Overseer" was only a fig leaf.
The text below is from the official web site of the city of Barcelona. jz
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Barcelona for Human Rights

Barcelona + Rights, Barcelona + Citizenry

We define Barcelona as a city of rights. This is the image that we want to project, both among the citizenry and with respect to other cities and institutions; that it is a city that is recognised for its defence of fundamental rights for all, because the daily exercise of human rights is also part of civic responsibility, and for the development of the kinds of relationships that create a framework for living that is appropriate for a globalised city.
The policies of peace and human rights reaffirm local governments as democratising agents. The city has been, and often is, the instrument of liberation, a real machine for the reduction of poverty, and the space in which people's rights have been created and have taken on form.
We work to develop the principles and values of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the city, from the perspective and the reality of everyday life and from the specific jurisdiction of a city council.
In Barcelona we are building a model city where human rights provide quality public services and promote social cohesion. The protection of fundamental rights must be understood in its entirety because this protection is a key investment for the development of all societies. To invest in human rights is to invest in the city.
We are developing programmes and activities that show our political commitment to human rights and to a culture of peace with equality and anti-discrimination, cohesion and fairness, that is to say, the values of democratic culture.
The issue of human rights concerns everyone, and the city has an important civic and social movement that has been working for human rights for many years-from legal entities in general, to other highly specialised ones in favour of a right or a collective and has demanded that it must be respected. There is also a significant number of organisations that focus their efforts on building peace.
This network of associations, organised in the form of federations, is one of the great features and differences of Barcelona, and its existence is essential in a city of coexistence based on respect.
The defence and promotion of human rights is an exciting challenge, but sometimes a little too abstract, and so we have to work to make it a reality within the environment of the city and in everyday life.
The values of equality and solidarity, justice, democracy at local level, participation, transparency and good governance inspire the implementation of human rights in the city environment, and enable cities everywhere to join in the defence of the same concept of human dignity.
Human rights are public heritage, universal and timeless. They are a set of civic values that ensures the basis of human development in dignity, and the appropriate framework for the coexistence of an increasingly complex society.
Human rights and peace form axes that are establishing themselves in Barcelona and are issues that should become ever more central on the municipal agenda and in city life.

© Barcelona City Council
SOURCE:
http://w3.bcn.cat/dretscivils/0,4022,259064949_760112595_3,00.html