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"Sanctions kill innocents indiscriminately just like bombs." (Photo: CodePink)
Over 70 civil society groups representing more than 40 million people called on President Donald Trump Thursday to issue immediate sanctions relief for numerous countries--including Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea--for at least the duration of the coronavirus crisis which threatens to kill thousands in the hard-hit countries.
The "urgent appeal" came in the form of an open letter sent by the groups to Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin calling for curtailing the sanctions regime for the duration of the pandemic. Entitled "Lift Sanctions, Save Lives," the initiative is aimed at ensuring the economic warfare by the U.S. claims as few lives as possible as the nations fight off the health crisis.
"Denying people access to lifesaving resources now represents a risk to the entire world," said Daniel Jasper of the American Friends Service Committee, a signatory to the letter. "The U.S. must rethink its approach to sanctions."
\u201c70 groups with over 40 million supporters agree: Sanctions kill innocents indiscriminately just like bombs. During this pandemic crisis, the US needs to remove all barriers, like sanctions, so countries can counteract #COVID19.\n#LiftSanctionsSaveLives\nhttps://t.co/lIAydwuo6N\u201d— Paul Kawika Martin (he/him/his) #GlobalCeaseFire (@Paul Kawika Martin (he/him/his) #GlobalCeaseFire) 1587661317
According to a press release accompanying the letter:
The letter puts forth a framework for universal safeguards that include six specific categories. These include aid that is directly related to containing and providing treatment for COVID-19 (such as testing kits, personal protective equipment, ventilators, etc.). The letter also calls for safeguarding aid needed to address simultaneous challenges exacerbated by the pandemic, such as providing adequate water supply, food security, and urgent health services for other infectious diseases.
"Sanctions kill innocents indiscriminately just like bombs," said Peace Action senior policy director Paul Kawika Martin. "Historically, this type of economic warfare fails to positively affect the behavior of governments. During this pandemic crisis, the U.S. needs to remove all barriers, like sanctions, so countries can counteract COVID-19."
The letter also emphasizes the risks of "over-compliance" on the part of companies and financial institutions overly cautious in the face of sanctions. That can lead to more pain and suffering, said CodePink Latin America Campaign coordinator Teri Mattson.
"Banks often block purchases for these items out of fear of running afoul of sanctions, in what is known as over-compliance," said Mattson. "Over-compliance is one of the many ways that innocent civilians end up being harmed by sanctions regimes."
On Thursday, The Nation's Ken Klippenstein revealed evidence of the unintended consequences for the U.S. of maintaining the sanctions regime.
Citing a leaked classified Pentagon intelligence briefing, Klippenstein showed that the American military is concerned that the Iranian government's inability to handle the disease--due in part to brutal and continuing U.S. sanctions--could result in U.S. soldiers getting sick.
As Klippenstein reported:
The document, dated April 3, says that Qatar--host to the largest US military base in the region--"has the highest number of COVID-19 cases, with over 800 confirmed."
[...]
The majority of these cases, the brief says, derive from Iran, which is located across the Persian Gulf from Qatar. The document warns that US sanctions have "left Iran bereft of financial resources to mount an effective public health response" to the pandemic and "unable to order ventilators from abroad, which are crucial for treatment."
The damage to Iran's people and economy from the ongoing sanctions is expected to continue to be catastrophic, leading Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) to comment that the cruelty of the Trump administration has no excuse.
"Keeping sanctions in place on Iran during a global pandemic is unconscionable," Omar told The Nation. "These sanctions are only harming innocent civilians who bear the brunt of this crisis while having zero effect on the behavior of the Iranian government. Civilians are unable to receive lifesaving medicine and humanitarian supplies due to the U.S.-placed sanctions."
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Over 70 civil society groups representing more than 40 million people called on President Donald Trump Thursday to issue immediate sanctions relief for numerous countries--including Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea--for at least the duration of the coronavirus crisis which threatens to kill thousands in the hard-hit countries.
The "urgent appeal" came in the form of an open letter sent by the groups to Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin calling for curtailing the sanctions regime for the duration of the pandemic. Entitled "Lift Sanctions, Save Lives," the initiative is aimed at ensuring the economic warfare by the U.S. claims as few lives as possible as the nations fight off the health crisis.
"Denying people access to lifesaving resources now represents a risk to the entire world," said Daniel Jasper of the American Friends Service Committee, a signatory to the letter. "The U.S. must rethink its approach to sanctions."
\u201c70 groups with over 40 million supporters agree: Sanctions kill innocents indiscriminately just like bombs. During this pandemic crisis, the US needs to remove all barriers, like sanctions, so countries can counteract #COVID19.\n#LiftSanctionsSaveLives\nhttps://t.co/lIAydwuo6N\u201d— Paul Kawika Martin (he/him/his) #GlobalCeaseFire (@Paul Kawika Martin (he/him/his) #GlobalCeaseFire) 1587661317
According to a press release accompanying the letter:
The letter puts forth a framework for universal safeguards that include six specific categories. These include aid that is directly related to containing and providing treatment for COVID-19 (such as testing kits, personal protective equipment, ventilators, etc.). The letter also calls for safeguarding aid needed to address simultaneous challenges exacerbated by the pandemic, such as providing adequate water supply, food security, and urgent health services for other infectious diseases.
"Sanctions kill innocents indiscriminately just like bombs," said Peace Action senior policy director Paul Kawika Martin. "Historically, this type of economic warfare fails to positively affect the behavior of governments. During this pandemic crisis, the U.S. needs to remove all barriers, like sanctions, so countries can counteract COVID-19."
The letter also emphasizes the risks of "over-compliance" on the part of companies and financial institutions overly cautious in the face of sanctions. That can lead to more pain and suffering, said CodePink Latin America Campaign coordinator Teri Mattson.
"Banks often block purchases for these items out of fear of running afoul of sanctions, in what is known as over-compliance," said Mattson. "Over-compliance is one of the many ways that innocent civilians end up being harmed by sanctions regimes."
On Thursday, The Nation's Ken Klippenstein revealed evidence of the unintended consequences for the U.S. of maintaining the sanctions regime.
Citing a leaked classified Pentagon intelligence briefing, Klippenstein showed that the American military is concerned that the Iranian government's inability to handle the disease--due in part to brutal and continuing U.S. sanctions--could result in U.S. soldiers getting sick.
As Klippenstein reported:
The document, dated April 3, says that Qatar--host to the largest US military base in the region--"has the highest number of COVID-19 cases, with over 800 confirmed."
[...]
The majority of these cases, the brief says, derive from Iran, which is located across the Persian Gulf from Qatar. The document warns that US sanctions have "left Iran bereft of financial resources to mount an effective public health response" to the pandemic and "unable to order ventilators from abroad, which are crucial for treatment."
The damage to Iran's people and economy from the ongoing sanctions is expected to continue to be catastrophic, leading Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) to comment that the cruelty of the Trump administration has no excuse.
"Keeping sanctions in place on Iran during a global pandemic is unconscionable," Omar told The Nation. "These sanctions are only harming innocent civilians who bear the brunt of this crisis while having zero effect on the behavior of the Iranian government. Civilians are unable to receive lifesaving medicine and humanitarian supplies due to the U.S.-placed sanctions."
Over 70 civil society groups representing more than 40 million people called on President Donald Trump Thursday to issue immediate sanctions relief for numerous countries--including Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea--for at least the duration of the coronavirus crisis which threatens to kill thousands in the hard-hit countries.
The "urgent appeal" came in the form of an open letter sent by the groups to Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin calling for curtailing the sanctions regime for the duration of the pandemic. Entitled "Lift Sanctions, Save Lives," the initiative is aimed at ensuring the economic warfare by the U.S. claims as few lives as possible as the nations fight off the health crisis.
"Denying people access to lifesaving resources now represents a risk to the entire world," said Daniel Jasper of the American Friends Service Committee, a signatory to the letter. "The U.S. must rethink its approach to sanctions."
\u201c70 groups with over 40 million supporters agree: Sanctions kill innocents indiscriminately just like bombs. During this pandemic crisis, the US needs to remove all barriers, like sanctions, so countries can counteract #COVID19.\n#LiftSanctionsSaveLives\nhttps://t.co/lIAydwuo6N\u201d— Paul Kawika Martin (he/him/his) #GlobalCeaseFire (@Paul Kawika Martin (he/him/his) #GlobalCeaseFire) 1587661317
According to a press release accompanying the letter:
The letter puts forth a framework for universal safeguards that include six specific categories. These include aid that is directly related to containing and providing treatment for COVID-19 (such as testing kits, personal protective equipment, ventilators, etc.). The letter also calls for safeguarding aid needed to address simultaneous challenges exacerbated by the pandemic, such as providing adequate water supply, food security, and urgent health services for other infectious diseases.
"Sanctions kill innocents indiscriminately just like bombs," said Peace Action senior policy director Paul Kawika Martin. "Historically, this type of economic warfare fails to positively affect the behavior of governments. During this pandemic crisis, the U.S. needs to remove all barriers, like sanctions, so countries can counteract COVID-19."
The letter also emphasizes the risks of "over-compliance" on the part of companies and financial institutions overly cautious in the face of sanctions. That can lead to more pain and suffering, said CodePink Latin America Campaign coordinator Teri Mattson.
"Banks often block purchases for these items out of fear of running afoul of sanctions, in what is known as over-compliance," said Mattson. "Over-compliance is one of the many ways that innocent civilians end up being harmed by sanctions regimes."
On Thursday, The Nation's Ken Klippenstein revealed evidence of the unintended consequences for the U.S. of maintaining the sanctions regime.
Citing a leaked classified Pentagon intelligence briefing, Klippenstein showed that the American military is concerned that the Iranian government's inability to handle the disease--due in part to brutal and continuing U.S. sanctions--could result in U.S. soldiers getting sick.
As Klippenstein reported:
The document, dated April 3, says that Qatar--host to the largest US military base in the region--"has the highest number of COVID-19 cases, with over 800 confirmed."
[...]
The majority of these cases, the brief says, derive from Iran, which is located across the Persian Gulf from Qatar. The document warns that US sanctions have "left Iran bereft of financial resources to mount an effective public health response" to the pandemic and "unable to order ventilators from abroad, which are crucial for treatment."
The damage to Iran's people and economy from the ongoing sanctions is expected to continue to be catastrophic, leading Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) to comment that the cruelty of the Trump administration has no excuse.
"Keeping sanctions in place on Iran during a global pandemic is unconscionable," Omar told The Nation. "These sanctions are only harming innocent civilians who bear the brunt of this crisis while having zero effect on the behavior of the Iranian government. Civilians are unable to receive lifesaving medicine and humanitarian supplies due to the U.S.-placed sanctions."
"Bureau of Labor Statistics data is what determines the annual cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security benefits," said Rep. John Larson. "It should alarm everyone when a yes-man determined to end Social Security is installed in this position."
U.S. President Donald Trump's pick to replace the top labor statistics official he fired earlier this month has called Social Security a "Ponzi scheme" that needs to be "sunset," comments that critics said further disqualify the nominee for the key government role.
During a December 2024 radio interview, Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni said it is a "mathematical fiction" that Social Security "can go on forever" and called for "some kind of transition program where unfortunately you'll need a generation of people who pay Social Security taxes, but never actually receive any of those benefits."
"That's the price to pay for unwinding a Ponzi scheme that was foisted on the American people by the Democrats in the 1930s," Antoni continued. "You're not going to be able to sustain a Ponzi scheme like Social Security. Eventually, you need to sunset the program."
Trump's choice for the Commissioner of the Bureau Labor Statistics called Social Security a "Ponzi scheme" in an interview:
" What you need to do is have some kind of transition program where unfortunately you'll need a generation of people who pay Social Security taxes, but… pic.twitter.com/MXL7k1C644
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) August 12, 2025
Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), one of Social Security's most vocal defenders in Congress, said Antoni's position on the program matters because "Bureau of Labor Statistics data is what determines the annual cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security benefits."
"It should alarm everyone when a yes-man determined to end Social Security is installed in this position," Larson said in a statement. "I call on every Senate Republican to stand with Democrats and reject this extreme nominee—before our seniors are denied the benefits they earned through a lifetime of hard work."
Trump announced Antoni's nomination to serve as the next commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) less than two weeks after the president fired the agency's former head, Erika McEntarfer, following the release of abysmal jobs figures. The firing sparked concerns that future BLS data will be manipulated to suit Trump's political interests.
Antoni was a contributor to the far-right Project 2025 agenda that the Trump administration appears to have drawn from repeatedly this year, and his position on Social Security echoes that of far-right billionaire Elon Musk, who has also falsely characterized the program as a Ponzi scheme.
During his time in the Trump administration, Musk spearheaded an assault on the Social Security Administration that continues in the present, causing widespread chaos at the agency and increasing wait times for beneficiaries.
"President Trump fired the commissioner of Labor Statistics to cover up a weak jobs report—and now he is replacing her with a Project 2025 lackey who wants to shut down Social Security," said Larson. "E.J. Antoni agrees with Elon Musk that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme and said that middle-class seniors would be better off if it was eliminated."
"This sends a chilling message that the U.S. is willing to overlook some abuses, signaling that people experiencing human rights violations may be left to fend for themselves," said one Amnesty campaigner.
After leaked drafts exposed the Trump administration's plans to downplay human rights abuses in some allied countries, including Israel, the U.S. Department of State released the final edition of an annual report on Tuesday, sparking fresh condemnation.
"Breaking with precedent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not provide a written introduction to the report nor did he make remarks about it," CNN reported. Still, Amanda Klasing, Amnesty International USA's national director of government relations and advocacy, called him out by name in a Tuesday statement.
"With the release of the U.S. State Department's human rights report, it is clear that the Trump administration has engaged in a very selective documentation of human rights abuses in certain countries," Klasing said. "In addition to eliminating entire sections for certain countries—for example discrimination against LGBTQ+ people—there are also arbitrary omissions within existing sections of the report based on the country."
Klasing explained that "we have criticized past reports when warranted, but have never seen reports quite like this. Never before have the reports gone this far in prioritizing an administration's political agenda over a consistent and truthful accounting of human rights violations around the world—softening criticism in some countries while ignoring violations in others. The State Department has said in relation to the reports less is more. However, for the victims and human rights defenders who rely on these reports to shine light on abuses and violations, less is just less."
"Secretary Rubio knows full well from his time in the Senate how vital these reports are in informing policy decisions and shaping diplomatic conversations, yet he has made the dangerous and short-sighted decision to put out a truncated version that doesn't tell the whole story of human rights violations," she continued. "This sends a chilling message that the U.S. is willing to overlook some abuses, signaling that people experiencing human rights violations may be left to fend for themselves."
"Failing to adequately report on human rights violations further damages the credibility of the U.S. on human rights issues," she added. "It's shameful that the Trump administration and Secretary Rubio are putting politics above human lives."
The overarching report—which includes over 100 individual country reports—covers 2024, the last full calendar year of the Biden administration. The appendix says that in March, the report was "streamlined for better utility and accessibility in the field and by partners, and to be more responsive to the underlying legislative mandate and aligned to the administration's executive orders."
As CNN detailed:
The latest report was stripped of many of the specific sections included in past reports, including reporting on alleged abuses based on sexual orientation, violence toward women, corruption in government, systemic racial or ethnic violence, or denial of a fair public trial. Some country reports, including for Afghanistan, do address human rights abuses against women.
"We were asked to edit down the human rights reports to the bare minimum of what was statutorily required," said Michael Honigstein, the former director of African Affairs at the State Department's Bureau of Human Rights, Democracy, and Labor. He and his office helped compile the initial reports.
Over the past week, since the draft country reports leaked to the press, the Trump administration has come under fire for its portrayals of El Salvador, Israel, and Russia.
The report on Israel—and the illegally occupied Palestinian territories, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank—is just nine pages. The brevity even drew the attention of Israeli media. The Times of Israel highlighted that it "is much shorter than last year's edition compiled under the Biden administration and contained no mention of the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza."
Since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Israeli forces have slaughtered over 60,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local officials—though experts warn the true toll is likely far higher. As Israel has restricted humanitarian aid in recent months, over 200 people have starved to death, including 103 children.
The U.S. report on Israel does not mention the genocide case that Israel faces at the International Court of Justice over the assault on Gaza, or the International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The section on war crimes and genocide only says that "terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah continue to engage in the
indiscriminate targeting of Israeli civilians in violation of the law of armed conflict."
As the world mourns the killing of six more Palestinian media professionals in Gaza this week—which prompted calls for the United Nations Security Council to convene an emergency meeting—the report's section on press freedom is also short and makes no mention of the hundreds of journalists killed in Israel's annihilation of the strip:
The law generally provided for freedom of expression, including for members of the press and other media, and the government generally respected this right for most Israelis. NGOs and journalists reported authorities restricted press coverage and limited certain forms of expression, especially in the context of criticism against the war or sympathy for Palestinians in Gaza.
Noting that "the human rights reports have been among the U.S. government's most-read documents," DAWN senior adviser and 32-year State Department official Charles Blaha said the "significant omissions" in this year's report on Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank render it "functionally useless for Congress and the public as nothing more than a pro-Israel document."
Like Klasing at Amnesty, Sarah Leah Whitson, DAWN's executive director, specifically called out the U.S. secretary of state.
"Secretary Rubio has revamped the State Department reports for one principal purpose: to whitewash Israeli crimes, including its horrific genocide and starvation in Gaza. The report shockingly includes not a word about the overwhelming evidence of genocide, mass starvation, and the deliberate bombardment of civilians in Gaza," she said. "Rubio has defied the letter and intent of U.S. laws requiring the State Department to report truthfully and comprehensively about every country's human rights abuses, instead offering up anodyne cover for his murderous friends in Tel Aviv."
The Tuesday release came after a coalition of LGBTQ+ and human rights organizations on Monday filed a lawsuit against the U.S. State Department over its refusal to release the congressionally mandated report.
This article has been updated with comment from DAWN.
"We will not sit idly by while political leaders manipulate voting maps to entrench their power and subvert our democracy," said the head of Common Cause.
As Republicans try to rig congressional maps in several states and Democrats threaten retaliatory measures, a pro-democracy watchdog on Tuesday unveiled new fairness standards underscoring that "independent redistricting commissions remain the gold standard for ending partisan gerrymandering."
Common Cause will hold an online media briefing Wednesday at noon Eastern time "to walk reporters though the six pieces of criteria the organization will use to evaluate any proposed maps."
The Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group said that "it will closely evaluate, but not automatically condemn, countermeasures" to Republican gerrymandering efforts—especially mid-decade redistricting not based on decennial censuses.
Amid the gerrymandering wars, we just launched 6 fairness criteria to hold all actors to the same principled standard: people first—not parties. Read our criteria here: www.commoncause.org/resources/po...
[image or embed]
— Common Cause (@commoncause.org) August 12, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Common Cause's six fairness criteria for mid-decade redistricting are:
"We will not sit idly by while political leaders manipulate voting maps to entrench their power and subvert our democracy," Common Cause president and CEO Virginia Kase Solomón said in a statement. "But neither will we call for unilateral political disarmament in the face of authoritarian tactics that undermine fair representation."
"We have established a fairness criteria that we will use to evaluate all countermeasures so we can respond to the most urgent threats to fair representation while holding all actors to the same principled standard: people—not parties—first," she added.
Common Cause's fairness criteria come amid the ongoing standoff between Republicans trying to gerrymander Texas' congressional map and Democratic lawmakers who fled the state in a bid to stymie a vote on the measure. Texas state senators on Tuesday approved the proposed map despite a walkout by most of their Democratic colleagues.
Leaders of several Democrat-controlled states, most notably California, have threatened retaliatory redistricting.
"This moment is about more than responding to a single threat—it's about building the movement for lasting reform," Kase Solomón asserted. "This is not an isolated political tactic; it is part of a broader march toward authoritarianism, dismantling people-powered democracy, and stripping away the people's ability to have a political voice and say in how they are governed."