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Tony Newman 646-335-5384
Tommy McDonald 510-338-8827
On the eve of the 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the World Drug Problem, world leaders and activists have signed a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urging him to set the stage "for real reform of global drug control policy."
The unprecedented list of signatories includes a range of people from Senators Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker and Bernie Sanders to businessmen Warren Buffett, George Soros, Richard Branson, Barry Diller, actors Michael Douglas and Woody Harrelson, Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, singers John Legend and Mary J. Blige, activists Reverend Jesse Jackson, Gloria Steinem and Michelle Alexander, as well as distinguished legislators, cabinet ministers, and former UN officials.
"The drug control regime that emerged during the last century," the letter says, "has proven disastrous for global health, security and human rights. Focused overwhelmingly on criminalization and punishment, it created a vast illicit market that has enriched criminal organizations, corrupted governments, triggered explosive violence, distorted economic markets and undermined basic moral values.
"Governments devoted disproportionate resources to repression at the expense of efforts to better the human condition. Tens of millions of people, mostly poor and racial and ethnic minorities, were incarcerated, mostly for low-level and non-violent drug law violations, with little if any benefit to public security. Problematic drug use and HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and other infectious diseases spread rapidly as prohibitionist laws, agencies and attitudes impeded harm reduction and other effective health policies.
"Humankind cannot afford a 21st century drug policy as ineffective and counter-productive as the last century's."
"The influence and diversity of the leaders who signed this letter is unprecedented," said Ethan Nadelmann, Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which orchestrated the initiative in collaboration with dozens of allied organizations and individuals around the world. "Never before have so many respected voices joined together in calling for fundamental reform of drug control policies - in particular limiting 'the role of criminalization and criminal justice... to the extent truly required to protect health and safety'."
The UN Special Session, which will take place April 19-21, is the first of its kind since 1998, when the UN's illusory but official slogan was "A drug-free world - we can do it!" The upcoming UNGASS was proposed in late 2012 by the Mexican government, with strong support from other Latin American governments. Last year UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a strong call-to-action, urging governments "to conduct a wide-ranging and open debate that considers all options." Today's public letter to him was prompted in part by the obstacles to such debate within the confines of the United Nations.
"This letter was drafted and all the signatures secured in just the past few weeks," noted Nadelmann. "The signatories represent a tiny fraction of the distinguished leaders in politics and public policy, academia, law and law enforcement, health and medicine, culture and entertainment, business, and religion who would agree with the sentiments expressed in this letter."
"We've come a long way since 1998," said Nadelmann, "with a growing number of countries rejecting drug war rhetoric and policies. But the progress achieved to date pales beside the reforms still required." As the letter says: "A new global response to drugs is needed, grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights."
Below represent just a few of the distinguished individuals around the world who signed the public letter to Ban Ki-moon. For a complete list go to: https://www.drugpolicy.org/ungass2016
Gordon Bajnai (Hungary)
Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Brazil)
Ruth Dreifuss (Switzerland)
Vicente Fox (Mexico)
Cesar Gaviria Trujillo (Colombia)
Aleksander Kwasniewski (Poland)
Ricardo Lagos (Chile)
Olusegun Obasanjo (Nigeria)
George Papandreou (Greece)
Pedro Pires (Cape Verde)
Andries A. van Agt (Netherlands)
Ernesto Zedillo (Mexico)
Toney Anaya (Former Governor, New Mexico)
Cory Booker (U.S. Senator, New Jersey)
Howard Dean (Former Governor, Vermont)
David Dinkins (Former Mayor, New York City)
Gary Johnson (Former Governor, New Mexico)
Bob Kerrey (Former Governor and Senator, Nebraska)
Ed Markey (U.S. Senator, Massachusetts)
Jeff Merkley (U.S. Senator, Oregon)
Gavin Newsom (Lieutenant Governor, California)
Bill Richardson (Former Governor, New Mexico)
Bernie Sanders (U.S. Senator, Vermont)
Kurt Schmoke (Former Mayor, Baltimore)
Peter Shumlin (Governor, Vermont)
Elizabeth Warren (U.S. Senator, Massachusetts)
Arni Pall Arnason (Former Minister of Social Affairs, Iceland)
Pedro Aspe (Former Minister of Finances, Mexico)
Norman Baker (Minister of State at the Home Office, U.K.)
Marek Balicki (Former Minister of Health, Poland)
Peter Baume (Former Minister for Health, Australia)
Neal Blewett (Former Minister for Health, Australia)
Frits Bolkestein (Former Minister of Defence, the Netherlands)
Michal Boni (Former Minister of Administration and Digitization, Poland)
Emma Bonino (Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Italy)
Frank Carlucci (Former U.S. Secretary of Defense; Former Deputy Director of the CIA, U.S.)
Fernando Carrera (Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Guatemala)
Nick Clegg (Former Deputy Prime Minister, U.K.)
Bernt Johan Collet (Former Minister of Defence, Denmark)
Hedy d'Ancona (Former Minister of Health, the Netherlands)
Bob Debus (Former Minister for Home Affairs, Australia)
Uffe Elbaek (Former Minister of Culture, Denmark, Denmark)
Baroness Lynne Featherstone (Minister of State at the Home, U.K.)
Diego Garcia-Sayan (Former Minister of Justice; Former Foreign Affairs Minister, Peru)
Alejandra Gaviria (Minister of Health, Colombia)
Mark Golding (Former Minister of Justice, Jamaica)
Anthony Hylton (Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jamaica)
Vasyl Knyazevytch (Former Minister of Health, Ukraine)
Bernard Koucher (Former Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, France)
Sandro Kvitashvili (Minister of Health, Ukraine)
Norman Lamb (Former Health Minister, United Kingdom)
Cecilia M. Lopez (Former Minister of Agriculture, Colombia)
Maria Julia Munoz (Minister of Education and Culture, Uruguay)
Svatopluk Nemecek (Minister of Health, Czech Republic)
George Papandreou (Former Prime Minister, Greece)
Robert Reich (Former Secretary of Labor, U.S.)
Yesid Reyes (Minister of Justice, Colombia)
Miguel Samper (Former Deputy Minister of Justice, Colombia)
George Shultz (Former U.S. Secretary of State; Former US Secretary of Labor; Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, U.S.)
Thorvald Stoltenberg (Former Minister of Foreign Affairs; Former Minister of Defence, Norway)
Umberto Veronesi (Former Minister of Health, Italy)
Dallas Austin
Mary J. Blige
Tom Brady
Michael Douglas
Eve Ensler
Jane Fonda
Peter Gabriel
Adrian Grenier
Herbie Hancock
Woody Harrelson
Natalie Imbruglia
DJ Khaled
Billie Jean King
Norman Lear
John Legend
Annie Lennox
Rita Marley
Rita Ora
Busta Rhymes
Carly Simon
Gloria Steinem
Sting
Alexander Wang
Paul Beirne (U.S.)
Chris Blackwell (Jamaica)
Richard Branson (U.K.)
Eli Broad (U.S.)
Susie Buell (U.S.)
Warren Buffett (U.S.)
Jannie Chan (Singapore)
Mark Cuban (U.S.)
Barry Diller (U.S.)
Christopher Forbes (U.S.)
Tom Freston (U.S.)
David Geffen (U.S.)
Ryan Holmes (Canada)
Mo Ibrahim (Sudan)
Alexander Rinnooy Kan (Netherlands)
Dustin Moskovitz (U.S.)
Zbigniew Niemczycki (Poland)
Pierre Omidyar (U.S.)
Salvador Paiz (Guatemala)
Antonio del Valle Perochena (Mexico)
Alex Ramirez (Mexico)
Stuart Resnick (U.S.)
Eugenio Clariond Reyes Retana (Mexico)
Joao Roberto Marinho (Brazil)
Ricardo Salinas (Mexico)
George Soros (U.S.)
Lord Rumi Verjee (U.K.)
J. Arturo Zapata (Mexico)
Louise Arbour, Former Justice, Supreme Court of Canada; Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (Canada)
Mark Bennett, US District Court Judge, Northern District of Iowa (U.S.)
Ernesto Pazmino Granizo, Public Defender General (Ecuador)
Webb Hubbell, Former Associate Attorney General of the United States; Former Chief Justice, Arkansas Supreme Court; Former Mayor, Little Rock, Arkansas (U.S.)
Ketil Lund, Former Supreme Court Justice (Norway)
Lord Jonathan Marks, Barrister; Peer, House of Lords (UK)
Cruz Reynoso, Former Justice, California Supreme Court (U.S.)
Hal Sperling, Former Judge, Supreme Court of New South Wales (Australia)
Jon Steinar, Gunnlaugsson, Former Supreme Court Judge (Iceland)
Robert Sweet, US Federal Judge, UD District Court, Southern District of NY (U.S.)
Patricia Wald, Former Chief Judge, US Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit; Former Judge, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (U.S.)
Vaughn Walker, Former District Judge, US District Court, Northern District of California (U.S.)
Raul Eugenio Zafaronni, Judge, Inter American Human Rights Court; Former member, Argentinean Supreme Court of Justice (Argentina)
Sette Camara, Former Police Commissioner, Federal Police (Brazil)
Gustavo de Greiff, Former Attorney General (Colombia)
TJ Donovan, State's Attorney, Burlington, Vermont (U.S.)
Kim Foxx, Cook County State's Attorney, Illinois (U.S.)
Pete Holmes, City Attorney, Seattle (U.S.)
George Gascon, District Attorney, San Francisco (U.S.)
Jim Manfre, Sheriff, Flagler County, Florida (U.S.)
Mick Palmer, Former Commissioner Australian Federal Police (Australia)
Karl Racine, Attorney General, District of Columbia (U.S.)
Ellen Rosenblum, Attorney General, Oregon (U.S.)
Graham Seaby, Former Detective Superintendent, New Scotland Yard (U.K.)
David Soares, District Attorney, Albany, New York (U.S.)
Hubert Wimber, Police Chief, Muenster (Germany)
Michelle Alexander
Senator Cory Booker
Geoffrey Canada
Congressman John Conyers
Ron Daniels
Professor Angela Y. Davis
David Dinkins
Professor Troy Duster
Professor Michael Eric Dyson
Congresswoman Donna Edwards
Congressman Keith Ellison
James E. Ferguson II
Alicia Garza
Professor Carl Hart
Congressman Alcee Hastings
Alice Huffman
Congressman Hakeem Jeffries
Patrisse Khan-Cullors
Congresswoman Barbara Lee
Marc Morial
Svante Myrick
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton
Congressman Bobby Scott
Kurt Schmoke
Bryan Stevenson
Opal Tometi
Toney Anaya
Jacob Candelaria
Juan Cartagena
Oscar Chacon
Tannia Esparza
Christian Estevez
George Gascon
Congressman Ruben Gallego
Antonio Gonzalez
Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham
Ian Haney-Lopez
Steven Lucero
Angela Pacheco
Gerald Ortiz y Pino
Maria Poblet
Cruz Reynoso
Bill Richardson
Duke Rodriguez
Congresswoman Linda T. Sanchez
Sergio Sanchez
Antonio Vasquez
Father Xavier Albo
Reverend Dr. William Barber II
Reverend Janet Cooper-Nelson
Reverend Dr. Yvonne Delk
Reverend Martin Ignacio Diaz Velasquez
Reverend Dr. John C. Dorhauer
Reverend Dr. Leah Gaskin Fitchue
Reverend James A. Forbes
Reverend Wendell Griffin
Reverend Hector Gutierrez
Reverend Frederick Haynes III
Reverend Miguel A. Hernandez
Reverend M. William Howard
Reverend Jesse L. Jackson
Rabbi Rick Jacobs
Reverend Peter Morales
Reverend Dr. Otis Moss III
Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid
Rabbi Jonah Pesner
Reverend Dr. Bernice Powell-Jackson
Reverend Barbara Ripple
Reverend Edwin Sanders
Reverend Dr. Jeremiah Wright
Chris Beyrer, President, International AIDS Society; Desmond Tutu Professor in Public Health and Human Rights, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore (U.S.)
Jo Ivey Boufford, President, New York Academy of Medicine (U.S.)
Pedro Cahn, Former President, International AIDS Society (Argentina)
Grant Colfax, M.D.; Former Director, White House Office of National AIDS Policy (U.S.)
Jeffrey S. Crowley, Program Director of the National HIV/AIDS Initiative, O'Neill Institute, Georgetown University Law Centre; Former Director White House Office of National AIDS Policy (U.S.)
Eric P. Goosby, UN Secretary General's Special Envoy on TB; Professor of Medicine; Director, Global Health Delivery and Diplomacy, Global Health Sciences, University of California San Francisco (U.S.)
Anand Grover, Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health (India)
Paul Hunt, Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health (U.K.)
Stephen Lewis, Former UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa (Canada)
Marina Mahathir, UN Person of the Year (2010) for Achievements in Gender, Women's Empowerment, and HIV/AIDs; Human Rights Activist (Malaysia)
Julio Montaner, Director, British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (Canada)
David Nutt, Director, Neuropsychopharmacology Unit, Imperial College London; Former Chair, Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (U.K.)
Peter Piot, Director, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine; Former Executive Director, UNAIDS; Discoverer of the Ebola virus (Belgium)
Steve Safyer, President and CEO, Montefiore Health System, Albert Einstein College of Medicine (U.S.)
David Vlahov, Dean & Professor, University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing (U.S.)
Andrew Weil, Director, Center for Integrative Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Arizona (U.S.)
Lord Paddy Ashdown, Former leader, Liberal Democrats; Former High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina; Former Member of Parliament (U.K.)
Robert Curl, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1996; University Professor Emeritus, Rice University (U.S.)
Asma Jahangir, Former UN Special Rapporteur on Arbitrary, Extrajudicial and Summary Executions (Pakistan)
Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel Prize in Literature, 2010 (Peru)
Lou McGrath, Nobel Peace Prize, 1997; Founder, Mines Action Group (U.K.)
Manfred Nowak, Former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture (Austria)
John Polanyi, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1986 (Canada)
Lionel Rosenblatt, President Emeritus, Refugees International (U.S.)
Javier Sicilia, Founder, Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity in Mexico; Poet; Journalist (Mexico)
Vernon Smith, Nobel Prize in Economics, 2002; Professor of Economics; Founder and President, International Foundation for Research in Experimental Economics (U.S.)
Shashi Tharoor, Former Under-Secretary General, United Nations; Member of Parliament (India)
Mabel van Oranje (The Netherlands)
Federico Mayor Zaragoza, Former Director-General of UNESCO; Chairman, Foundation for a Culture of Peace (Spain)
*Institutional affiliations and titles are included solely for identification purposes and should not be understood as indicating the respective organization's agreement with the content of this letter.
The Drug Policy Alliance is the nation's leading organization promoting drug policies grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights.
(212) 613-8020"This executive order, based on nothing but years of disinformation, is blatantly unlawful and a naked attempt to suppress the votes of targeted communities," said LULAC's national president.
A pro-voter coalition on Monday sued to block U.S. President Donald Trump's recent executive order that critics warn would make it harder for tens of millions of eligible citizens to cast their ballots in state and federal elections.
The Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and State Democracy Defenders Fund (SDDF) sued the executive office of the president and members of Trump's administration in a Washington, D.C. federal court on behalf of three advocacy groups: the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Secure Families Initiative (SFI), and Arizona Students' Association (ASA).
"The president's executive order is an unlawful action that threatens to uproot our tried-and-tested election systems and silence potentially millions of Americans. It is simply not within the president's authority to set election rules by executive decree, especially when they would restrict access to voting in this way," said Danielle Lang, senior director of voting rights at CLC.
"Donald Trump is attempting to wrongfully impede voting by millions of Americans with this latest unlawful executive order."
As the complaint puts it: "Under our Constitution, the president does not dictate election rules. States and Congress do... Through the order, the president attempts to exercise powers that the Constitution withholds from him and instead assigns to the states and to Congress. The order violates and subverts the separation of powers by lawlessly arrogating to the president authority to declare election rules by executive fiat."
Trump's order includes provisions enabling the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Department of Homeland Security to subpoena voting records for "list maintenance," restricting mail-in voting, and requiring the Election Assistance Commission to include documentary proof of citizenship on the federal voting form.
"Donald Trump is attempting to wrongfully impede voting by millions of Americans with this latest unlawful executive order. But it will not work. In America voters get to pick their president—presidents don't get to pick their voters, declared SDDF co-founder and executive chair Norm Eisen. "We are proud to stand up for the ability of every American voter to cast their ballots freely and fairly through this litigation."
Advocacy group leaders detailed how provisions in Trump's order would impact various communities if the directive isn't struck down.
"Military families, veterans, caregivers, and overseas voters deserve secure access to the very democracy we serve to protect—no matter where we're stationed or how we serve," said SFI executive director Sarah Streyder. "This new order would mean that the veteran who is a full-time caretaker at home, who has done everything right, may now be shut out of the ballot box due to outdated paperwork."
"This new order would mean that the military family stationed on the other side of the world from home, who crossed every t and dotted every i—their military ID will no longer suffice, and due to mail delays outside of their control, their ballot will never count," Streyder warned.
Roman Palomares, LULAC's national president, declared that "this executive order, based on nothing but years of disinformation, is blatantly unlawful and a naked attempt to suppress the votes of targeted communities—disproportionately impacting the Latino community."
"We are proud to join this coalition seeking to stop the effort to silence the voice and votes of the U.S. electorate—and particularly of voters of color," Palomares continued. "Our democracy depends on all voters feeling confident that they can vote freely and that their vote will be counted accurately."
Trump orders states to open voter files to Musk. Exec Order will cost 21 million their vote. ▶️ Get the full story: www.gregpalast.com/trump-execut...
[image or embed]
— Greg Palast (@gregpalast.bsky.social) March 30, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Kyle Nitschke, co-executive director of Arizona Students' Association, highlighted that some states have imposed voter suppression laws similar to Trump's executive order (EO).
"The Arizona Students' Association has seen firsthand what these egregious citizenship requirements really are, an attempt to suppress the vote. In Arizona we have a dual-track federal registration system, and the voters being affected by citizenship requirements are college students registering to vote for the first time, unsheltered voters, and Native voters, Nitschke said. "There are already extensive citizenship checks in place when registering to vote, Trump's EO is a clear attack on our voting rights. Our student members believe we should live in a country where it's accessible and convenient to be a part of democracy."
The Associated Pressnoted that "Monday's lawsuit against Trump's elections order could be just the first of many challenges. Other voting rights advocates have said they're considering legal action, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Democratic attorney Marc Elias. Several Democratic state attorneys general have said they are looking closely at the order and suspect it is illegal."
Monday evening, the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Governors Association, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) announced that they also filed a suit against the order in the D.C. court. They are represented by Elias Law Group.
"This executive order is an unconstitutional power grab from Donald Trump that attacks vote by mail, gives DOGE sensitive personal information, and makes it harder for states to run their own free and fair elections," they said in a joint statement. "It will even make it harder for military members serving overseas and married women who have changed their name to have their votes count."
"Donald Trump and DOGE are doing this as an attempt to rationalize their repeatedly debunked conspiracy theories and set the groundwork to throw out legal votes and ignore election outcomes they do not like," they added. "It's anti-American and Democrats are using every tool at our disposal—including taking Trump to court—to stop this illegal overreach that undermines our democracy."
The pro-voter lawsuits are also among several legal challenges to Trump's long list of executive actions since January 20. As Common Dreamsreported earlier Monday, the National Treasury Employees Union filed a federal suit in the same D.C. court over Trump's recent order that aims to strip collective bargaining rights from hundreds of thousands of government workers.
It's not just the Trump administration that's working to make it more difficult for Americans to participate in democracy. Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are also planning to hold a vote on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act this week.
"If the bill passes, more than 21 million Americans could be blocked from voting," the Brennan Center for Justice warned on social media Monday. "The SAVE Act would be the first voter suppression bill ever passed by Congress. Lawmakers should be protecting the freedom to vote—not restricting it. We urge Congress to reject the SAVE Act."
This article has been updated to include the Democratic lawsuit.
"We do not need to—and indeed should not—turn public schools into Sunday schools."
A group of 42 Arkansas faith leaders on Monday called on the General Assembly to reject Republican-led legislation that would force every classroom in the state to display the Ten Commandments and the national motto, "In God We Trust."
"We are faith leaders from across Arkansas who value religious freedom for all. We urge you to vote against S.B. 433, which would require the display of a government-selected version of the Ten Commandments in every classroom of all elementary, secondary, and postsecondary schools and in every other public building or facility maintained with taxpayer funds," a letter to lawmakers signed by the 42 clerics states. The bill was passed by the state Senate on March 19 by a vote of 27-4.
"A government mandate that the Ten Commandments be displayed in all government buildings demeans religious freedom."
State Sen. Jim Dotson (R-34), one of the bill's primary sponsors, called the Ten Commandments "a historical reference point... that has basic things like you shall not kill, steal, commit adultery, those basic foundations of life that is good for everybody to keep front of mind so that we are hopefully living good lives."
However, the faith leaders—41 Christians and one Jew—said that "S.B. 433 is a misguided effort that undermines the faith and freedom we cherish."
"A government mandate that the Ten Commandments be displayed in all government buildings demeans religious freedom," their letter asserts. "The government oversteps its authority when it dictates an official state-approved version of any religious text. The government must respect the rights of individuals and faith communities to make decisions about the sacred texts that inform our religious understandings and practices."
"We do not need to—and indeed should not—turn public schools into Sunday schools," the signers continued. "We remain steadfast and united in affirming the values of religious freedom that are foundational to our democracy and will continue to push back against attempts to impose a singular religious viewpoint into our public institutions."
"Finally, we recognize that the Ten Commandments hold no religious meaning for thousands of Arkansans," the letter acknowledges. "The Ten Commandments are held in a different light for Arkansans who are Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Unitarian Universalist, or who practice other religions or no religion at all."
Rev. Brittany Stillwell, associate pastor with students and families at Second Baptist Church in Little Rock, said in a statement that "as a Christian, I understand the Ten Commandments as holy and worthy of contemplation and I take them very seriously."
"They do not, however, belong in schools and other public spaces as a kitschy symbol of a shallow faith," she added. "I don't want the students I pastor to become desensitized to the holiness and reverence they are due. Religious liberty protects scripture from the whims of the government so that it might remain the elevated word from God we hold so dear."
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship director of advocacy Rev. Jennifer Hawks said that "growing up, I spent Easter weekends at my family's homestead in Bearden. My Arkansas aunts, uncles, and cousins played a crucial role in my spiritual formation and never needed the government to define for them Christian teachings or practices."
"When the state writes a CliffsNotes version of a religious text and mandates its use, we all lose," Hawks added, referring to the once-ubiquitous series of student study guides. "The state should not waste time trying to usurp our families and religious institutions. Leave religious instruction to us and don't turn public schools into Sunday schools."
Other Republican-controlled state legislatures have passed or introduced bills requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in schools or other government buildings. Last year, Louisiana became the only state to fully enact such legislation. However, last November, a federal judge blocked the law, calling it "unconstitutional on its face and in all applications."
Groups including the ACLU and Freedom From Religion Foundation oppose such bills, and faith leaders in other states including Missouri and Texas have also urged lawmakers to reject bills similar to Arkansas' S.B. 433.
While campaigning last year, U.S. President Donald Trump—who critics say has violated at least half of the commandments—expressed support for mandatory classroom display of the divine dicta.
In June 2017, a Ten Commandments monument was installed on the grounds of the Arkansas State Capitol. A day later, Michael Tate Reed II drove his car into the granite slab, destroying it. The monument was rebuilt with concrete bollards added for protection. Reed—who hads previously wrecked a similar monument at Oklahoma's Capitol—was later acquitted on mental health grounds.
In response to the Arkansas monument, the Satanic Temple fought for and won the right to install a statue of Baphomet, a goat-headed, winged being, on the state Capitol grounds. The statue—which contains two children fawning over Baphomet—was unveiled in 2018.
"If you're going to have one religious monument up then it should be open to others," Satanic Arkansas co-founder Ivy Forrester
said at the time, "and if you don't agree with that then let's just not have any at all."
"Genocide, ecocide, mass infanticide, rape, sexual assault, torture, slavery, sniping children, bombing hospitals, executing aid workers," said one critic. "We are funding an endless nightmare and it should haunt us forever."
As Israel Defense Forces bombing continued to kill and maim large numbers of Palestinians across the Gaza Strip over the weekend and into Monday, the discovery of the bodies of medical workers who were apparently executed by their captors and the publication of several reports in which Israeli soldiers admit to torturing prisoners and using civilians as human shields have drawn renewed war crimes accusations and calls for accountability.
On Sunday, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said it had recovered the bodies of 15 Palestinian first responders from a mass grave, including eight Red Crescent workers and six Civil Defense personnel, who were killed by Israeli forces on March 23 while traveling "on duty" in five ambulances, a fire truck, and a United Nations vehicle in the al-Hashashin area of southern Gaza.
Jonathan Whittall, head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Gaza, said Sunday that the vehicles were picked off "one by one."
"Their bodies were gathered and buried in this mass grave," Whittall added. "We're digging them out with uniforms, with their gloves on. They were here to save lives. Instead, they ended up in a mass grave."
The IFRC condemns the killing of eight Palestine Red Crescent Society medics in Gaza. We are heartbroken. These dedicated humanitarians, killed while responding to the wounded, should have been protected. We mourn their loss and stand with the Palestine Red Crescent. Full statement: bit.ly/427LXxp
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— IFRC (@ifrc.org) March 30, 2025 at 11:47 AM
The Gaza Health Ministry said that "some of these bodies were bound and shot in the chest" before being "buried in a deep hole to prevent their identification."
Accusing Israel of a "heinous crime," the ministry called on U.N. agencies "and relevant international bodies to conduct an urgent investigation into these crimes and hold the occupation accountable for committing them."
An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said troops opened fire on the convoy because it was "advancing suspiciously" toward their position.
"Following an initial assessment, it was determined that the forces had eliminated a Hamas military operative, Mohammad Amin Ibrahim Shubaki, who took part in the October 7 massacre, along with eight other terrorists from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad," the spokesperson claimed.
Israeli officials routinely claim—often with little or no evidence—that Palestinian first responders, United Nations workers, journalists, and other civilians that it kills are members of Hamas or other militant resistance groups.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said in a statement Sunday that it is "outraged" by the killings, which it called "the single most deadly attack on Red Cross Red Crescent workers anywhere in the world since 2017."
"After seven days of silence and having access denied to the area of Rafah where they were last seen, the bodies of ambulance officers Mostafa Khufaga, Saleh Muamer, and Ezzedine Shaath and first responder volunteers Mohammad Bahloul, Mohammed Al-Heila, Ashraf Abu Labda, Raed Al Sharif, and Rifatt Radwan were retrieved today," the statement noted. "Ambulance officer Assad Al-Nassasra is still missing."
Noting that at least 30 Red Crescent workers and volunteers have been killed by Israeli forces during the war, IFRC secretary general Jagan Chapagain said: "I am heartbroken. These dedicated ambulance workers were responding to wounded people. They were humanitarians. They wore emblems that should have protected them; their ambulances were clearly marked. They should have returned to their families; they did not."
"Even in the most complex conflict zones, there are rules," Chapagain stressed. "These rules of international humanitarian law could not be clearer—civilians must be protected; humanitarians must be protected. Health services must be protected."
"Our network is in mourning, but this is not enough," he added. "Instead of another call on all parties to protect and respect humanitarians and civilians, I pose a question: When will this stop? All parties must stop the killing, and all humanitarians must be protected."
Journalist Mohammad Alsaafin compared the killings to last year's IDF massacre of 6-year-old Hind Rajab, five of her relatives, and two PRCS medics who rushed to the site of the attack in a doomed bid to rescue the wounded child after she called for help.
On Sunday, the British newspaper The Independent published an investigation into alleged Israeli torture of Palestinians detained at facilities including Ofer Prison in the illegally occupied West Bank and the notorious Sde Teiman base in the Negev Desert.
The report begins:
Handcuffed and cowering on the floor of a cell in a military base in southern Israel, the Palestinian found himself surrounded by five soldiers. Armed with dogs, the five reservists allegedly kicked, punched, and stamped on the man as he lay on the ground. Continuing their assault, they are accused of attacking him with Taser guns and sharp objects, sexually abusing him with these instruments. At one point, the soldiers allegedly stabbed him so hard that they pierced his buttocks and anus. The brutal alleged assault left the man hospitalized with a punctured lung, cracked ribs, and a tear in his rectum needing surgery for a stoma. He had not been charged with any crime.
The Independent noted details regarding some of the dozens of Palestinian detainees who have died in Israeli custody. The IDF is currently conducting its own probe into the deaths of at least 36 Sde Teiman prisoners, including one who died after allegedly being sodomized with an electric baton.
"The fact that we see some signs of abuse means that this is probably the tip of the iceberg," said one Israeli physician who has overseen multiple autopsies on dead detainees.
In an anonymous testimony leaked to The Independent, one Sde Teiman guard described a prevailing attitude of "Yes, they need to be beaten, it must be done."
"We began looking for opportunities to do so," the soldier said, adding that when he spoke out against the beating of one detainee, he was told, "Shut up, you leftist, these are Gazans, these are terrorists, what's wrong with you?"
One former Sde Teiman detainee said that "every meter you moved, they beat you, they hit you, they insulted you; they used dogs, tear gas, and electric shock."
IDF troops and veterans who were posted at Sde Teiman have provided similar details about "Israel's Abu Ghraib," a reference to the U.S. torture prison outside Baghdad during the Iraq War. Israeli doctors and medics have described forced starvation and 24-hour shackling so severe that prisoners have had limbs amputated.
A number of Sde Teiman guards were arrested last year following the leak of a video allegedly showing them raping a Palestinian detainee. The arrests outraged far-right Israelis, a mob of whom stormed Sde Teiman in a failed bid to free the accused guards.
As The Independent noted, "Among those held in [Israeli] detention are many of Gaza's healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, and paramedics." Some of these prisoners have died in custody, including the renowned surgeon Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, who may have been raped to death, according to Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.
Earlier this month, an independent U.N. panel found that Israel has "systematically" used reproductive, sexual, and other forms of gender-based violence against Palestinian men, women, and children during the war.
The IDF has responded to these and other allegations by claiming it "operates in accordance with international law."
However, the International Criminal Court last year issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant—who ordered a "complete siege" of Gaza blamed for deadly starvation and disease there—for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Israel is also the subject of an ongoing International Court of Justice genocide case brought by South Africa.
Also on Sunday, Haaretz, Israel's oldest newspaper, published a piece by an anonymous Israel soldier who said that "in Gaza, almost every IDF platoon keeps a human shield."
"We operate a sub-army of slaves," the soldier said, describing how innocent Palestinians are used to check buildings for Hamas fighters or booby traps before IDF troops enter.
"I recently saw that the IDF's Military Police Criminal Investigation Division opened six investigations into the use of Palestinian civilians as human shields, and my jaw dropped," he wrote. "I've seen cover-ups before, but this is a new low."
Previous reporting has detailed the IDF's widespread use of Palestinian civilians—including children—as human shields in Gaza. The IDF even has a name for the practice—the "mosquito protocol." In one case, an 80-year-old man was used as a human shield before being shot dead by Israeli troops.
The IDF's thoroughly documented use of noncombatants as human shields stands in start contrast with mostly baseless claims of Hamas using Palestinian civilians in such a manner.
The new reports come as Israeli forces continued their assault on Gaza. Health and medical officials in Gaza said at least 41 Palestinians were killed in airstrikes throughout the strip on Monday, the second day of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr. This followed the killing of at least 64 Palestinians across Gaza on Sunday.
Approximately 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel resumed its assault on the embattled coastal enclave on March 18,
including hundreds of children. Israel's 542-day annihilation of Gaza has left more than 175,000 Palestinians dead, wounded, or missing since October 7, 2023, when Hamas led the deadliest-ever attack on Israel.