August, 02 2010, 10:23am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Lea Radick, Communications Officer, USCBL, Phone: +1 (301) 891-3002, lradick@handicap‑international.us
Zach Hudson, Coordinator, USCBL, Phone: +1 (917) 860-1883,
zhudson@handicap‑international.us
U.S. Campaigners Celebrate Entry Into Force of Convention on Cluster Munitions; Call on U.S. to Join Treaty and Attend First Meeting of States Parties
WASHINGTON
The Convention on Cluster Munitions entered into force on August 1, 2010,
becoming binding international law. While celebrating the treaty at events
throughout the United States on Sunday, campaigners called upon the U.S. to
attend the convention's first meeting of States Parties in Vientiane, Lao PDR,
this November, and to join the treaty as soon as possible.
"I
was proud to see U.S. citizens joining other campaigners from all over the
world to celebrate this historic treaty," said Lynn Bradach, an ambassador for
the U.S. Campaign to Ban Cluster Bombs. "My son, a U.S. Marine, was killed by a
cluster bomb dud explosion during clearance operations in Iraq in 2003. These
are barbaric weapons that kill and maim countless innocent men, women and
children every day. I organized a drumming event on Sunday in my hometown of
Portland to raise awareness and to ask the U.S. to stop using these weapons,"
she said.
In
December 2008, when the treaty opened for signature in Oslo, a spokeswoman for
the Obama transition team said that the next president would "carefully
review" the new treaty banning cluster munitions and would "work
closely [with] our friends and allies to ensure that the United States is doing
everything feasible to promote protection of civilians."
The
U.S. currently has the largest stockpile of cluster munitions in the world and
is a major user, exporter and producer of the weapon. While efforts to
restrain the use and trade of cluster munitions are under discussion in
Congress, there is no existing domestic law specifically regulating cluster
munitions.
In the most recent policy review released by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert
Gates in July 2008, cluster munitions were described as a "legitimate
weapons with clear military utility." Under the policy, the United States
will discontinue producing munitions with a tested failure rate of less than 1
percent by 2018.
The
U.S. Campaign to Ban Cluster Bombs calls on the U.S. to attend the First
Meeting of States Parties to the Convention, which will be held from November
9-12 in Lao PDR. Lao PDR is the world's most cluster-bombed country-from 1964
to 1973, the U.S. dropped more than 2 million tons of ordnance over Lao,
consisting of 270 million cluster bomblets, up to 80 million of which failed to
detonate and remain today as de facto landmines.
"It
is important that the U.S. attend this meeting and be a part of this process
now," said Zach Hudson, coordinator for the U.S. Campaign to Ban Cluster Bombs.
"This meeting will lay the foundation for how the Convention will be
implemented over the coming years. The U.S. should demonstrate leadership on
this issue and work with other governments that are actively involved in
banning this weapon. The U.S. should also participate with an eye as to how we
can move toward accession to the treaty as soon as possible."
The
United States has used cluster munitions in Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Lao PDR
and Vietnam) in the 1960s and 1970s, the Persian Gulf (Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi
Arabia) in 1991, Yugoslavia (including Kosovo) in 1999, Afghanistan in 2001 and
2002 and Iraq in 2003. On June 7, 2010, Amnesty International also released
images of a U.S.-manufactured Tomahawk cruise missile that carried cluster
submunitions, apparently taken following an attack on an alleged al-Qaida
training camp in the community of al-Ma'jalah in the Abyan area in the south of
Yemen. The December 17, 2009, attack reportedly killed 41 civilians, including
women and children. In response, the U.S. Campaign to Ban Cluster Bombs has
called on the U.S. to confirm or deny this reported use of the weapon.
The
Convention on Cluster Munitions was adopted in Dublin, Ireland, on May 30,
2008, and opened for signature in Oslo, Norway, in December 2008. To date, 107 countries
have signed the Convention and 37 have ratified. Among them are former users
and producers of cluster munitions, as well as countries affected by the
weapons. The Convention bans the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of
cluster munitions and calls for the destruction of stockpiles within eight
years, clearance of cluster munition-contaminated land within 10 years, and
assistance for cluster munition survivors and affected communities. On August
1, 2010, all of the Convention's provisions became fully and legally binding
for states that have joined.
The United States Campaign to Ban Landmines is a coalition of non-governmental organizations working to ensure that the U.S. comprehensively prohibits antipersonnel mines--by banning their use in Korea--and joins the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, as more than 160 nations have done. It is the national affiliate of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), founded in New York in 1992 and recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate together with former ICBL coordinator Ms. Jody Williams of Vermont. We also call for sustained U.S. government financial support for mine clearance and victim assistance.
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"It'd be a travesty for justices to delay matters further," said one legal expert.
Apr 25, 2024
After about three hours of oral arguments Thursday on former President Donald Trump's immunity claims, legal experts and democracy defenders urged the U.S. Supreme Court to rule swiftly, with just over six months until the November election.
Trump—the presumptive Republican candidate to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden, despite his 88 felony charges in four ongoing criminal cases—is arguing that presidential immunity should protect him from federal charges for trying to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden, which culminated in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Justices across the ideological spectrum didn't seem inclined to support Trump's broad immunity claims—which critics have said "reflect a misreading of constitutional text and history as well as this court's precedent." However, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) shared examples of what it would mean if they did.
"Trump could sell pardons, ambassadorships, and other official benefits to his wealthy donors, members of his clubs, or cronies who helped him commit other crimes," CREW warned. "Trump could sell nuclear codes and government secrets to help pay back crippling debts."
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After warning that a president could also order the occupation or closure of the Capitol or high court to prevent actions against him, CREW concluded that "the Supreme Court never should have taken this appeal up in the first place. They should rule quickly and shut these ludicrous claims down for good."
The organization was far from alone in demanding a quick decision from the nation's highest court.
"In the name of accountability, the court must not delay its decision," the Brennan Center for Justice said Thursday evening. "The Supreme Court's time is up. It needs to let the prosecution move forward. The court decided Bush v. Gore in three days—it should act with similar alacrity in deciding Trump v. U.S."
In Bush v. Gore, the case that decided the 2000 election, the high court issued a related stay on December 9, heard oral arguments on December 11, and issued a final decision on December 12.
On Thursday, the arguments "got away from the central question: Is a former president immune from criminal prosecution if he tried to overthrow a presidential election, using private means and the power of his office to do so?" the Brennan Center noted. "The answer is simple: No."
"It is not an 'official act' to try to overthrow the peaceful transfer of power or the Constitution, even if you conspire with other government officials to do it or use the Oval Office phone," the center said. "Trump's attorney was pushing the court to come up with a sea change in the law. That's unnecessary and a delay tactic that will hurt the pursuit of justice in this case."
In a departure from previous claims, Trump's attorney, D. John Sauer, "appeared to agree with Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, that there are some allegations in the indictment that do not involve 'official acts' of the president," NBC Newsreported, noting questions from liberal Justice Elena Kagan and conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee.
Barrett summarized various allegations from the indictment and in three cases—involving dishonest election claims, false allegations of fraud, and fake electors—Sauer conceded that Trump's alleged conduct sounded private, suggesting that a more narrow case against the ex-president that excluded any potential official acts could proceed.
Due to Trump attorney's concessions in Supreme Court oral argument, there's now a very clear path for DOJ's case to go forward.\n\nIt'd be a travesty for Justices to delay matters further.\n\nJustice Amy Coney Barrett got Trump attorney to concede core allegations are private acts.\u2b07\ufe0f— (@)
According to NBC:
Matthew Seligman, a lawyer and a fellow at the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School who filed a brief backing prosecutors, said Sauer's concessions highlight that Trump is "not immune for the vast majority of the conduct alleged in the indictment."
Ultimately, he said, the case will go to trial "absent some external intervention—like Trump ordering [the Justice Department] to drop the charges" after having won the election.
At the same time, Sauer's backtracking might have little consequence from an electoral perspective. Further delay in a trial, which Sauer is close to achieving, is a form of victory in itself.
Slate's Mark Joseph Stern pointed out that when Barrett similarly questioned Michael Dreeben, the U.S. Department of Justice lawyer arguing the case for Smith, it seemed like they "were trying to work out some compromise wherein the trial court could distinguish between official and unofficial acts, then instruct the jury not to impose criminal liability on the former."
"It was fascinating to watch Barrett nodding along as Dreeben pitched a compromise that would largely preserve Smith's January 6 prosecution but limit what the jury could hear, or at least consider," Stern added. "That, though, would take months to suss out in the trial court. More delays!"
Stern and other experts signaled that the decision likely comes down to Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts, with the three liberals seemingly supporting the prosecution of Trump and the other four conservatives suggesting it is unconstitutional.
People for the American Way president Svante Myrick said in a statement that "today's argument brought both good and bad news. It was chilling to hear Donald Trump's lawyer say that staging a military coup could be considered part of a president's official duties."
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Stop the Money Pipeline co-director Alec Connon said: "To have any chance of reigning in the climate crisis, we must stop investing in fossil fuel expansion. Yet, Citibank is pumping billions of dollars into new coal, oil, and gas projects."
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According to the protest organizers:
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