The Obama Administration has established a new precedent by implementing sanctions against Russian officials for violations of international law in the wake of Russia’s occupation and annexation of Crimea. So we thought: let’s get civil society organizations in the United States and around the world to invoke this precedent in calling U.S. officials to account for the U.S.’s own violations of international law!
John Brennan, head of the Central Intelligence Agency, is playing a central role in shielding the agency from accountability to international law on three key issues: the CIA’s use of torture during the Bush Administration; the CIA’s use of drone strikes; and the CIA’s arming of Syria rebels, which the Obama Administration has acknowledged is a violation of Syria’s sovereignty under international law, [1] just as Russia’s actions in Crimea violate Ukraine’s sovereignty under international law.
Join us in calling for boycott and sanctions on John Brennan until the CIA takes concrete steps to comply with international law by signing our petition at MoveOn:
https://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/boycott-brennan
Here is the petition text:
John Brennan, head of the Central Intelligence Agency, should be subject to boycott and sanctions for the CIA’s failure to comply with U.S. and international law. John Brennan should not receive any award, honor, or recognition until the CIA takes concrete, minimal steps to transparently comply with U.S. and international law, including:
– supporting declassification of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on the CIA’s use of torture and the CIA’s internal “Panetta review” on the CIA’s use of torture;
– supporting the public report of information on how many civilians have been killed by U.S. drone strikes, as demanded by the Senate Intelligence Committee, supporting the public report of all Administration legal justifications for the use of drone strikes, cooperating fully with all UN investigations of the U.S.’s use of drone strikes, and ending all unlawful drone strikes conducted by the CIA;
– ending all CIA military operations in Syria, including the arming of Syrian rebels.
Until the CIA takes these minimal steps to comply with U.S. and international law, John Brennan should not be invited to participate in any civil society event, unless 1) the purpose of the event is to address the CIA’s lack of compliance with U.S. or international law, or 2) the event includes a meaningful opportunity to challenge John Brennan on the CIA’s lack of compliance with U.S. or international law.
Help us make John Brennan accountable to international law by signing and sharing our petition:
https://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/boycott-brennan
Thanks for all you do to help hold U.S. officials accountable to international law,
Robert Naiman, Chelsea Mozen, and Megan Iorio
Just Foreign Policy
Help us reach our March fundraising goal — make a $10 tax-deductible donation today!
Thanks to everyone who has donated so far! We only need to raise $2440 more this month. Help out by pitching in what you can. Your financial support helps us create opportunities for Americans to agitate for a more just foreign policy.
https://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate
References:
1. A fact that has been openly acknowledged in U.S. press, e.g. “Obama opted to approve the program as a CIA covert action to avoid international law restrictions on military efforts to overthrow another government and the need for wider congressional approval,” in “Congressional panels approve arms aid to Syrian opposition,” Karen DeYoung, Washington Post, July 22, 2013, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/congressional-panels-approve-arms-aid-to-syrian-opposition/2013/07/22/393035ce-f31a-11e2-8505-bf6f231e77b4_story.html.