May, 16 2011, 02:57pm EDT
CCR, Rights Groups Urge DOJ to Implement Oversight Policy After SCOTUS Rejects State Secrets Case
Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Brennan Center for Justice and 24 other groups and individuals urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to implement the state secrets policy it announced on September 23, 2009 in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder. The letter arrives after the Supreme Court's decision today in which it declined to hear Mohamed et al.
NEW YORK
Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Brennan Center for Justice and 24 other groups and individuals urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to implement the state secrets policy it announced on September 23, 2009 in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder. The letter arrives after the Supreme Court's decision today in which it declined to hear Mohamed et al. v Jeppesen DataPlan, Inc., a case regarding the government's use of the state secrets privilege to defeat a lawsuit challenging the post-9/11 extraordinary rendition program.
The letter to Attorney General Holder discusses Arar v. Ashcroft, a Center for Constitutional Rights case in which Canadian citizen Maher Arar, challenged U.S. officials for abuse of the law and rendering him to Syria, where he was tortured and detained for a year without charge. Though the Canadian government exonerated Mr. Arar, acknowledged its role in what happened to him and compensated him, the United States Supreme Court denied Mr. Arar's petition for certiorari seeking review of the Second Circuit's en banc decision affirming dismissal of his complaint last year. For more information on the case, visit CCR's legal case page.
To read the letter, click the PDF link below.
Attached Files
The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. CCR is committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.
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'Starvation Caucus': US Lawmakers Push Spending Bill That Bars Funding for UNRWA
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders slammed members of Congress who are "happy to cut funding to UNRWA and make it harder to get aid to Palestinians in the midst of this crisis."
Mar 21, 2024
A $1.2 trillion government spending package that Congress is expected to pass by this weekend would prohibit U.S. funding for the United Nations relief agency for Palestinian refugees for at least a year as Gazans living under Israeli siege face increasingly catastrophic hunger.
Buried at the end of 1,012 pages of legislative text unveiled early Thursday is a section that says funds appropriated under the bipartisan bill "may not be used for a contribution, grant, or other payment" to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which Gazans rely on for food and shelter. The U.S. is historically the largest donor to UNRWA.
The proposed freeze would last through March 2025. Many Republican lawmakers are calling for a permanent end to U.S. funding for the agency, which has faced shortfalls since the Biden administration and other Western governments paused donations in late January following Israel's unsubstantiated claims that UNRWA staffers took part in the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Israel.
Ahead of the release of legislative text, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) "touted" the UNRWA freeze to members, The Associated Pressreported Wednesday—days after a report warned that Gaza's entire population is facing "high levels of acute food insecurity" and "famine is imminent" in the northern part of the enclave.
Congressional progressives, meanwhile, have urged the Biden administration to immediately restore UNRWA funding.
In a floor speech on Wednesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) castigated lawmakers and others backing UNRWA cuts, calling them members of a "starvation caucus."
"Tens of thousands of people are starving," said Sanders. "UNRWA is trying to feed them. And the Israeli government and its allies like AIPAC spend much of their time lobbying to defund UNRWA, the major organization which is feeding starving people."
"Sadly, tragically, many members of Congress seem to be happy to be part of this starvation caucus, happy to cut funding to UNRWA and make it harder to get aid to Palestinians in the midst of this crisis," Sanders added.
Bernie Sanders calls members of Congress voting to cut funding for UNRWA, the U.N. agency accused of aiding Hamas, the “Starvation Caucus.” pic.twitter.com/wOhuJ2DtUB
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) March 21, 2024
Last week, The American Prospectobtained documents showing that AIPAC is pushing lawmakers to support the total abolition of UNRWA, which has coordinated most humanitarian aid efforts in Gaza amid Israel's latest assault on the territory.
For months, the Israeli government has deliberately obstructed ground-based aid deliveries to Gaza, subjecting shipments to arbitrary and complicated inspection processes and rejecting entire vehicles over items such as scissors in child medical kits.
Israel's blockade has resulted in the rapid spread of malnutrition across the Gaza Strip. Dozens of people, including children, have starved to death in recent weeks.
Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA's commissioner-general, said in an interview Wednesday that it is "a stain on our collective humanity that such a situation is artificially unfolding under our eyes."
"Food should not be used as a weapon of war," he added.
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Budget Proposal Shows GOP 'Is the Party of Cutting Social Security and Medicare'
"Trump has tried to walk back his support for Social Security and Medicare cuts," said the head of Social Security Works. "This budget is one of many reasons why no one should believe him."
Mar 20, 2024
Defenders of Social Security and Medicare on Wednesday swiftly criticized the biggest caucus of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives for putting out a budget proposal for fiscal year 2025 that takes aim at the crucial programs.
The 180-page "Fiscal Sanity to Save America" plan from the Republican Study Committee (RSC) follows the release of proposals from Democratic President Joe Biden and U.S. House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas)—who is leading the fight to create a fiscal commission for the programs that critics call a "death panel" designed to force through cuts.
The RSC document features full sections on "Saving Medicare" and "Preventing Biden's Cuts to Social Security," which both push back on the president's recent comments calling out Republican attacks on the programs that serve seniors.
The caucus plan promotes premium support for Medicare Advantage plans administered by private health insurance providers as well as changes to payments made to teaching hospitals. For Social Security, the proposal calls for tying retirement age to rising life expectancy and cutting benefits for younger workers over certain income levels, including phasing out auxiliary benefits.
The document also claims that the caucus budget "would promote trust fund solvency by increasing payroll tax revenues through pro-growth tax reform, pro-growth energy policy that lifts wages, work requirements that move Americans from welfare to work, and regulatory reforms that increase economic growth."
In a lengthy Wednesday statement blasting the RSC budget, Social Security Works president Nancy Altman pointed out that last week, former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee to face Biden in the November election, "toldCNBC that 'there's a lot you can do' to cut Social Security."
"Everyone who cares about the future of these vital earned benefits should vote accordingly in November."
"Now, congressional Republicans are confirming the party's support for cuts—to the tune of $1.5 trillion. They are also laying out some of those cuts," Altman said. "This budget would raise the retirement age, in line with prominent Republican influencer Ben Shapiro's recent comments that 'retirement itself is a stupid idea.' It would make annual cost-of-living increases stingier, so that benefits erode over time. It would slash middle-class benefits."
"Perhaps most insultingly, given the Republicans' claim to be the party of 'family values,' this budget would eliminate Social Security spousal benefits, as well as children's benefits, for middle-class families. That would punish women who take time out of the workforce to care for children and other loved ones," she continued. "This coming from a party that wants to take away women's reproductive rights!"
The caucus, chaired by Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), included 285 bills and initiatives from 192 members in its budget plan—among them are various proposals threatening abortion care, birth control, and in vitro fertilization (IVF) nationwide.
"The RSC budget would also take away Medicare's new power to negotiate lower prices on prescription drugs, putting more money into the pockets of the GOP's Big Pharma donors," Altman warned. "And it accelerates the privatization of Medicare, handing it over to private insurance companies who have a long history of ripping off the government and delaying and denying care to those who need it."
"In recent days, Trump has tried to walk back his support for Social Security and Medicare cuts," she noted. "This budget is one of many reasons why no one should believe him. The Republican Party is the party of cutting Social Security and Medicare, while giving tax handouts to billionaires."
"The Democratic Party is the party of expanding Social Security and Medicare, paid for by requiring the ultrawealthy to contribute their fair share," Altman added. "Everyone who cares about the future of these vital earned benefits should vote accordingly in November."
Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler also targeted the Republican presidential candidate while slamming the RSC plan, saying that "Donald Trump's MAGA allies in Congress made it clear today: A vote for Trump is a vote to make the MAGA 2025 agenda of cutting Social Security, ripping away access to IVF, and banning abortion nationwide a hellish reality."
"While Trump and his allies push forward their extreme agenda, the American people are watching," Tyler added, suggesting that the RSC proposal will help motivate voters to give Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris four more years in the White House.
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While Mulling Israel Claims, Biden Urged to 'Stop Weapons Sales Now'
"After over half a million uncommitted votes and counting, it's time Biden administration officials finally listen," said one campaigner. "We need concrete action to stop weapons aid immediately."
Mar 20, 2024
As the Biden administration wrestles with whether to certify that Israel is complying with a presidential directive requiring human rights assurances from governments receiving American weapons, Palestine defenders on Wednesday renewed calls for a suspension of U.S. arms sales to Israel's genocidal government and military.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has until March 25 to certify to Congress that Israel is adhering to President Joe Biden's February 2023 memo stating that "no arms transfer will be authorized where the United States assesses that it is more likely than not that the arms to be transferred will be used by the recipient to commit... genocide, crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949... or other serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law."
If Israel fails to provide written assurance that it is using U.S.-supplied weapons in accordance with international law, arms sales would automatically be suspended. According toHuffPost, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew on Tuesday privately claimed to the State Department that Israel is in compliance with domestic and international law.
However, the Israeli daily Haartezreported Wednesday that officials from three State Department bureaus—Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; Population, Refugees, and Migration; and the Office of Global Criminal Justice—as well as the United States Agency for International Development are deeply skepitcal of Lew's claim.
"America should follow in Canada's steps and stop weapons sales now."
The Uncommitted National Movement—a coalition of pro-Palestine, peace, and progressive groups urging people to vote "uncommitted" in U.S. Democratic primaries in a bid to pressure Biden to push Israel for a Gaza cease-fire—led demands for a suspension of arms transfers to Israel.
"After over half a million uncommitted votes and counting, it's time Biden administration officials finally listen," Uncommitted National Movement co-chair Layla Elabedsaid in a statement Wednesday. "We need concrete action to stop weapons aid immediately. America should follow in Canada's steps and stop weapons sales now."
The Canadian Parliament on Monday approved a nonbinding resolution calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to cut off arms exports to Israel. Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly subsequently said that the government would cease future weapons sales to the country.
Other countries including Japan, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium have suspended or restricted weapons sales to Israel, whose military forces have killed or wounded more than 113,000 Palestinians since the October 7 attacks while forcibly displacing around 90% of Gaza's 2.3 million people and fueling famine and disease by besieging the embattled strip. Most of those killed have been women and children.
On January 26, the
International Criminal Court ordered Israel to prevent genocidal acts. Both the ICJ and a U.S. federal judge have found that Israel is "plausibly" committing genocide in Gaza. Palestinians, human rights groups, and legal experts have accused Israel of ignoring the World Court's directive.
Common Dreamsreported Tuesday that Human Rights Watch and Oxfam called Israeli assurances that U.S.-supplied weapons are not being used in violation of international law "not credible." The groups also dismissed false Israeli claims that the country is not blocking humanitarian aid from reaching starving Gazans.
The U.S. gives Israel approximately $4 billion in annual military aid. Since October 7, the Biden administration has requested an additional $14.3 billion in armed assistance for Israel, while repeatedly circumventing Congress to fast-track emergency weapons transfers.
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