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Accountability

US Senators Play Schoolyard Bully Against International Criminal Court

Despite the fact that the United States is not a member nation of the International Criminal Court (ICC), that organization has been under its sway from its inception. The ICC has only prosecuted Africans and a few Serbians who were accused of war crimes during the NATO-engineered breakup of the former Yugoslavia. The ICC has never issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s many documented war crimes. After Israeli officials publicly expressed concern that the ICC might issue arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and other high-ranking Israeli officials, U.S. pressure began in earnest. Recently a letter to the ICC signed by twelve republican senators was made public.

Minneapolis: Petitions Turned In For Community Control Of Police

Minneapolis, MN – On Wednesday May 1, Minneapolis 4 Community Control of the Police (M4CCP) held a press conference in the Public Safety Center, the temporary home to city hall offices, to turn in their petitions to put community control of the police on the November ballot. The petitions call for an amendment to the city charter, to establish an all-elected Civilian Police Accountability Commission (CPAC). The city charter determines the structure of city government and can only be amended by election, or a unanimous decision of the city council with mayoral approval. Citizens can get issues on the ballot by filing a petition signed by 8943 Minneapolis registered voters.

No More German Contribution To The Genocide In Gaza!

Let's raise our protest, loud and clear, during the  Hearings of the Nicaragua (April 8, 2024) and Germany (April 9, 2024) cases before the ICJ in The Hague against Germany's complicity and assistance in Israel's genocide. On these two days, rallies and vigils will be organized in front of the International Court of Justice in The Hague and in front of many embassies and consulates of the Federal Republic of Germany abroad. This background to the proceedings before the International Court of Justice can and will also be highlighted in the days and weeks before and after the planned Palestine Solidarity events - particularly in Germany but also internationally.

Baltimore: Cops Tried To Arrest A Whole Neighborhood

Former Baltimore Police Sgt. Ethan Newberg’s disgraceful downfall continues as new body camera footage reveals an incident in which the ex-cop made three illegal arrests, and then threatened to arrest entire block full of witnesses. Although they were initially responding to a neighborhood dispute, Newberg and his partner arrested a local resident who was not involved in the altercation almost immediately. When neighbors began to protest, Newberg escalated to arrest two more residents—and threatened to keep going until the whole neighborhood was in handcuffs. 

Sweden Closing Nordsteam Investigation Is A Shocking Coverup

The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal interviews Swedish engineer Erik Andersson, who led the first independent investigation to the site of the Nordstream pipelines blast sites, on the Swedish government’s sudden closing of the investigation into the terror attack on the eve of joining NATO. Andersson also addresses US meddling in Swedish politics, and the potential consequences of Stockholm surrendering its traditional neutrality to the anti-Russian alliance.

Veterans For Peace Calls For Criminal Investigation Of Biden Administration

In sixteen U.S. cities, March 5-7, members of Veterans For Peace will hand deliver an exhaustively researched letter to U.S. State Department offices that has gotten no response from the department’s Inspector-General since February 11. The cities are Buffalo, New York, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Portsmouth, NH, Greensboro, NC, Boston, San Diego, Tucson, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta,  Bridgeport, CT, Los Angeles, Dallas and Houston. Josh Paul, former State Department senior official who resigned over weapons shipments to Israel said, “The Secretary and all relevant officials under his purview should take this letter from Veterans For Peace with the utmost seriousness.

Complicity In Genocide: The Case Against The Biden Administration

Early this month, a federal judge dismissed a case brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) charging U.S. President Joe Biden, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken with complicity in the Israeli-led genocide in Gaza. But while many media outlets were quick to report on the case not moving forward, they largely missed a key aspect of the ruling: the judge did not dismiss the case on its merits but rather because it fell ​“outside the court’s limited jurisdiction,” therefore rejecting it on technical grounds.

How The CIA Destabilizes The World

There are three basic problems with the CIA: its objectives, methods, and unaccountability. Its operational objectives are whatever the CIA or the President of the United States defines to be in the U.S. interest at a given time, irrespective of international law or U.S. law. Its methods are secretive and duplicitous. Its unaccountability means that the CIA and president run foreign policy without any public scrutiny. Congress is a doormat, a sideshow. As a recent CIA Director, Mike Pompeo, said of his time at the CIA: “I was the CIA director. We lied, we cheated, we stole. We had entire training courses. It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment.” The CIA was established in 1947 as the successor to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

Nicaragua: Holding Countries Accountable Without War Or Sanctions

I was 13 years old the day I got braces on my teeth and the United States bombed Baghdad, launching the “first” Iraq war. “Today, Wednesday the 16th of January 1991, we had just gotten out of the dentist's office and Mom told me the news,” I wrote in my journal. “She started saying, ‘Oh my God!’ and I was silent, wanting to cry and throw up.” My 8th grade class organized a “speak out” in the school library. The students sat cross-legged on the carpet and took turns struggling to express our feelings through the tangle of meaningless phrases we’d heard adults around us using. One of my classmates stood up to say she was worried about her dad; he was a soldier and had been deployed. “I support our troops,” she declared.

State Senator Seeks To Unearth Hidden Costs Of Developer Tax Breaks

For decades, Baltimore has doled out tax breaks intended to spur development. But the increasing use of incentives has not been matched by scrutiny of how much they cost the city, and who is benefiting. State Senator Jill Carter intends to correct that imbalance with a bill she has introduced to study a variety of tax breaks in-depth, with the purpose of determining if their use is both equitable and cost effective. “I think it’s important that people pay attention to how much money is thrown out to wealthy developers with no accountability,” Carter said. The bill would authorize a task force to gather data and recommend processes to increase transparency and accountability for how tax breaks are used.

International Coalition To Stop Genocide In Palestine Demands Full Funding Of UNRWA

On January 26, 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) released its ruling in the case of South Africa v. Israel in which the court found there was sufficient evidence to support South Africa’s allegations of genocide against the Palestinian people (see our previous press release for more details) and rejected Israel’s claim to be acting in ‘self-defense’. The World Court ordered the state of Israel to “take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of” acts of genocide, including deaths, harm to mental and physical health and conditions that threaten the well-being of the Palestinian people, in effect, an order for a ceasefire.

Lawmakers Trying To Kill Historic Suit Seeking Gun Industry Accountability

For nearly a quarter century, some of the world’s largest gunmakers have tried unsuccessfully to beat back a lawsuit brought by the city of Gary, Indiana, accusing them of turning a blind eye to illegal gun sales. The lawsuit was one of dozens that cities filed against gun manufacturers in the late 1990s, but it is the only one to survive a barrage of legal challenges and legislation aimed at limiting the gun industry’s liability for crimes committed with their products. Now, facing the prospect of turning over internal documents that gun-control advocates believe could contain damning evidence, the industry has returned to an important ally in a last-ditch effort to kill the suit: the state legislature.

For God’s Sake Joe, What the Hell Are You Doing?

It's 3am and I can’t sleep again. All of us concerned about Gaza and the West Bank are spending sleepless nights and busy days trying desperately to pressure the Biden administration to stop its complicity the relentless Israeli genocide in Gaza, to stop providing weapons and money to Israel and to demand an end to the carnage.  Ceasefire Now! We awakened to the news that the US has attacked Syria, Iraq and Yemen in retaliation for militants firing missiles into US troop areas in Syria and Jordan and Houthis stopping Red Sea cargo ships.  Why have there been attacks on U.S. troops and interests??

US Court: Biden Administration Should Reflect On Its ‘Unflagging Support’ For ‘Plausible’ Genocide

A U.S. court in Oakland dismissed a lawsuit accusing the Biden administration of failing to prevent in a genocide in Gaza. However, it also called on The White House to reflect on its “unflagging support” for Israel’s assault and said the genocide charges were “plausible.” The conclusion of the court’s decision makes it clear that the case was reluctantly dismissed on jurisdictional grounds. “There are rare cases in which the preferred outcome is inaccessible to the Court,” wrote U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White. “This is one of those cases.

Families Of Israelis Killed By Tank Fire On 7 October Demand Probe

The families of 13 Israeli civilians killed during an intense firefight between Hamas and Israeli troops in Be’eri on 7 October are asking the Israeli military to investigate the cause of the victims’ deaths, Israeli media reported on 7 January. The families are requesting the investigation due to the likelihood that most were deliberately killed by an Israeli general, who ordered a tank to fire on a home where they were being held captive by fighters of Hamas’ Qassam Brigades. The fighters had gathered 14 Israelis into the home of Pessi Cohen. They were seeking to use them as human shields to safely return to Gaza while surrounded by Israeli forces and as Israeli helicopters were targeting anyone near the Gaza border fence.