I’m very proud to announce that ReThinking Foreign Policy is one of 105 groups signing this letter to President Biden calling on him to “address the longstanding structural flaws in how the US mitigates, investigates, and responds to civilian deaths and injuries in its operations.”
The letter rightly points out that U.S. indifference to human life and human rights has impacted Black, Brown, and Muslim people to a massively disproportionate degree. We specifically called on Biden to:
● Publicly commit to a detailed plan for how the U.S. government will address the systemic
shortcomings raised by civil society groups, the media, and the Defense Department’s
own studies.4
● Prioritize the protection of civilians in your ongoing review of U.S. counterterrorism
operations and use of force policy and ensure meaningful civil society consultation in that
review.
● Ensure full, independent, and transparent investigations of all credible reports of civilian
harm, including past reports that may have been erroneously dismissed. Investigations
should meet international standards for independence, thoroughness, and impartiality, and
should evaluate conduct according to the applicable international human rights and
international humanitarian law standards.
● Provide meaningful accountability to civilian victims and survivors of U.S. operations by
publicly and transparently acknowledging deaths and injuries, providing amends or
redress, and appropriately holding civilian leaders and military commanders responsible
for their actions, including by addressing findings of wrongdoing through disciplinary
measures or prosecutions.
Click here to download and read the letter, along with a full list of signatories.
The letter has already gotten some media attention, as you can see in this piece on it in Politico.
You can help by calling your elected officials and telling them you support this and that they should add their voice to ours or by pointing any media contacts to the letter.