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April 7, 2022 News

US Assistance to Saudi-Led Coalition Risks Complicity in War Crimes

The protracted conflict in Yemen has killed almost a quarter of a million people directly or indirectly due to inadequate food, health care, and infrastructure. It has included unlawful attack after unlawful attack, with homes, hospitals, schools, and…

People inspect a damaged building in Sanaa, Yemen.

December 16, 2021 News

ICC Starts Next Chapter in Colombia

Will It Lead to Justice?

On October 28, the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor, Karim Khan, on a visit to Bogota, announced that his office is closing down its preliminary examination in the country. The decision was cast as heralding a new chapter in the…

September 30, 2021 News

When Targeted Killings Become ‘Tragic Mistakes’

Since the 9/11 attacks, U.S. forces fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere have carried out targeted killings that frequently kill and injure civilians.

On September 17, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, gave an extraordinary news conference in which he admitted that the United States had killed an aid worker in Kabul and his family; McKenzie apologized, adding that…

The Pentagon, Washington, DC, United States.

July 16, 2021 News

Credibility on International Justice Requires Equal Application of the Law

On June 7, at a public hearing, Representative Ilhan Omar asked Secretary of State Tony Blinken where the victims of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity could go to seek justice if domestic prosecutors won’t pursue cases in court…

May 19, 2021 News

The US Should Respect the ICC’s Founding Mandate

After more than two years combatting the Trump administration’s egregious attacks on the International Criminal Court (ICC), it is refreshing to contemplate a possible return to a constructive U.S. policy toward the Court. The American Society…

The International Criminal Court, or ICC, is seen in The Hague, Netherlands, November 7, 2019.

February 17, 2021 News

Biden's Next Steps on Human Rights: Multilateral Institutions

The United States government's decision to "reengage" with the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council is a big step toward the multilateral support for human rights that President Joe Biden promised in his major foreign policy speech.…

Delegates sit at the opening of the 41th session of the Human Rights Council, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 24, 2019.

July 6, 2020 News

Donald Trump’s Attack on the ICC Shows His Contempt for the Global Rule of Law

The president of the United States, Donald Trump has made the International Criminal Court (ICC) the latest target of his administration’s contempt for the global rule of law. The sanctions and family visa bans he authorised on June 11 for use against…

March 27, 2020 News

Why the US Should be Supporting, Not Undermining, International Justice

When U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stepped to the State Department podium on March 17 to threaten possible sanctions, the targets were not, as you might expect, human rights abusers. Instead, Pompeo called out two staff members of…

November 20, 2019 News

Voting for Human Rights: A Guide for 2020

What does it mean to be a human rights voter? Support candidates who want the government to adopt and enforce laws that promote and protect human rights. This means candidates who defend people from abusive systems, officials, individuals, and…

May 17, 2019 News

‘Flying Ginsu’ Missile Won’t Resolve US Targeted Killing Controversy

Last week, the Wall Street Journal revealed a noteworthy development in the US targeted killing program: a modified Hellfire missile that strikes without exploding, reportedly leaving those close to the target unscathed. The CIA and the US military have…

June 22, 2018 News

How To Make A North Korea Deal Work

President Donald Trump’s Singapore summit with Kim Jong Un yielded very little in terms of firm denuclearization commitments from North Korea. It delivered nothing on human rights. In fact, the non-binding joint communique marking the summit didn’t…

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un walk together before their working lunch during their summit at the Capella Hotel on the resort island of Sentosa, Singapore June 12, 2018. Picture taken June 12, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Erns

June 13, 2018 News

The Singapore Summit’s Failure on North Korean Human Rights

Romancing Kim Won’t Denuclearize North Korea or Improve Its Human Rights Record

As counterproliferation experts and seasoned North Korea watchers have concluded in parsing the joint communique to Tuesday’s summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, no significant or tangible steps were actually taken toward…

Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump after their meeting in Singapore, June 12, 2018.

March 21, 2017 News

Trump’s Syrian “safe area” is just another wall

Just as the Berlin Wall was the iconic symbol of the Cold War era, so the emblematic symbol of President Donald Trump’s administration, if he has his way, could well be the Mexican wall. It represents a simplistic, concrete solution to…

An internally displaced Syrian girl who fled from Aleppo carries a red jacket in the village of Batabo, Syria on February 14, 2016.

March 21, 2017 News

Trump’s Budget Would Cut Crucial Emergency Aid

President Trump’s 2018 budget request not only proposes drastic reductions to the State Department and USAID, including funding to the United Nations and its affiliated agencies. It also proposes to entirely eliminate the State…

President-elect Donald Trump speaks at his election night rally in Manhattan, New York.

January 9, 2017 News

Barack Obama’s Shaky Legacy on Human Rights

For all his promises — and a Nobel Peace Prize — the Obama presidency delivered more hope than change

As Donald Trump prepares to take office, many fear a new hostility to human rights on the part of the United States. From his divisive rhetoric about minorities to his embrace of autocrats abroad, there is plenty to worry about. Trump…

U.S. President Barack Obama waves at the conclusion of his final State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in Washington January 12, 2016.

July 8, 2016 News

Airstrike Transparency We Can’t Believe In

More Questions Than Answers in Obama’s Civilian Toll Data

The Bedouins were sleeping in their huts when US cruise missiles struck the hamlet of Al-Majalah in southern Yemen, showering them with hundreds of cluster munitions and thousands of shards of steel. Sheikh Saleh bin Fareed, a tribal…

December 18, 2015 News

Why Germany Can and Should Open an Investigation into US Torture

In 2004, four Iraqis filed a criminal complaint with the German federal prosecutor against senior United States officials alleging torture by US armed forces in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The US government strongly protested and warned that the complaint…

June 18, 2015 News

The open secret of targeted killings

The latest reports of targeted US attacks on militant leaders abroad – one in Libya and one in Yemen —once again raise the issue of the secrecy around these attacks, especially the drone attacks under CIA jurisdiction. But Congress may be…

May 29, 2014 News

US Should Support ICC Jurisdiction in Palestine

Secretary of State John Kerry called the collapse of the latest round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks “reality-check time” for the peace process. That reassessment should include the self-defeating U.S. policy of opposing steps toward justice and…

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