Human Rights Watch mourns the loss of Jimmy Carter, who made trailblazing contributions to the human rights movement during his US presidency and long afterward.
Carter created a foreign policy agenda that centered on universal human rights principles, then built a post-presidential legacy promoting democracy, upholding housing as a human right, advancing public health, and engaging millions of people in community service. He died on December 29 at the age of 100.
"Jimmy Carter brought the human rights movement into the halls of power and worked to create a government guided by human dignity," said Tirana Hassan, executive director at Human Rights Watch.
Carter was sworn in as the 39th president of the United States in 1977 and immediately stood out with a foreign policy agenda that prioritized international human rights. He championed principles drawn from the United Nations 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which for the first time established an internationally recognized foundation for "freedom, justice and peace in the world."
Taking office while the recent US war in Vietnam still cast a dark shadow over the United States at home and abroad, Carter sought to infuse morality and values into US foreign policy. He is perhaps best known for brokering the Camp David Accords, which resulted in a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. But his foreign policy efforts included the first visit by a US president to sub-Saharan Africa, the end of longstanding support for the abusive Somoza government in Nicaragua, and prompting Congress to mandate annual State Department human rights country reports. His administration created formal procedures to focus policymaking attention on human rights.
Carter established the Department of Education, which elevated programs to support students in poverty and with disabilities to the cabinet level while providing the executive branch with a vehicle for civil rights work. He also appointed more women and people of color as federal judges than all previous US administrations combined.
Carter's human rights records had its shortcomings. At times he failed to condemn abuses of longtime allies-such as Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines and Suharto in Indonesia-in favor of other US interests. His domestic policies failed to confront structural racism in meaningful ways, and he opposed federal funding for abortion, which would have made the procedure safe and affordable for all women.
After leaving office, Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, who died in November 2023, founded The Carter Center in 1982. They worked to address issues they did not adequately address in the White House, focusing primarily on promoting peace, supporting democracy, and improving health around the world.
Carter's 1994 trip to North Korea led to an agreement with Kim Il Sung to put his nuclear program on hold, which may have headed off a developing crisis. Following the 1991 coup against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti, Carter brokered eleventh-hour negotiations with opposition leaders that averted US military intervention and restored Aristide to power.
Through The Carter Center, the former president also secured the release of political prisoners in North Korea and the Gambia, monitored over 100 elections in 39 countries plus the United States, and helped to nearly wipe out Guinea worm disease, which during the 1980s afflicted millions of people in poor and remote areas.
He and Rosalynn demonstrated their commitment to providing housing to those in need by establishing a decades-long partnership with Habitat for Humanity. They worked alongside thousands of volunteers to build affordable housing in 14 countries.
In 2002, Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the first US president to receive the award for contributions made after leaving the Oval Office. The Nobel committee cited "his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."
Throughout his post-presidency, Carter used his platform to speak up on some of the most pressing human rights issues of the era, promoting racial justice, the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, the rights of women, and more. In 2007, he published Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, courageously recognizing Israel's apartheid against Palestinians and calling for an end to Israeli human rights abuses.
"Jimmy Carter's commitment to human rights has left an indelible mark on the global human rights landscape," Hassan said. "He set a powerful example for world leaders to make human rights a priority in their policies at home and abroad."
Human Rights Watch sends our deepest condolences to the Carter family.
