CCR files complaint against Biden for supporting genocide in Gaza

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
14 Nov 2023 03:37
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The Center for Constitutional Rights files a lawsuit against the US President Joe Biden on behalf of Palestinian groups for failing to use his influence to bring the Israeli genocidal practices to an end.

People march toward the US Capitol during a pro-Palestinian march calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, in Washington (AP)

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed a complaint in federal court in California, on behalf of several Palestinian groups and individuals, aiming to sue US President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin for failing their legal obligations to prevent a developing genocide committed by the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip.

According to the CCR's statement, the complaint aims to halt further provision of arms, financial aid, and diplomatic support to the entity, as advocates argue that US officials have a moral and legal obligation to prevent such atrocities and abstain from enabling them.

This legal action, which specifically targets Biden, Blinken, and Austin in their official capacity, says that the three individuals did not utilize the influence they have over "Israel" and are "directly abetting the [genocide's] progression with arms, funds, and diplomatic cover, in breach of duties enshrined in the Genocide Convention and customary international law."

Unfolding Israeli genocide in Gaza

Katherine Gallagher, a senior attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights and one of the lawyers who brought the case, said, “For the last five weeks, President Biden and Secretaries Blinken and Austin have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with an Israeli government that has made clear its intention to destroy the Palestinian population in Gaza."

"As neighborhood after neighborhood, hospital after hospital, and sheltering displaced Palestinians were bombed, while subject to a total siege and closure that denies 2.2 million people basic necessities for life, they have continued to provide both military and political support for Israel’s unfolding genocidal campaign while imposing no red lines."

As per the letter, "this breach of duties is in violation of the Genocide Convention and customary international law."

Collective punishment

Furthermore, according to the statement, the filing is accompanied by a "declaration from the leading legal expert on genocide, William Schabas, who identifies features of the Israeli government’s statements, deadly military assault, and total siege as signs of genocide and affirms the US’ breach of its legal duty to prevent genocide."

“I conclude that there is a serious risk of genocide committed against the Palestinian population of Gaza and that the United States of America is in breach of its obligation, under both the 1948 Genocide Convention to which it is a party as well as customary international law, to use its position of influence with the Government of Israel and to take the best measures within its power to prevent the crime taking place," Schabas said.

In addition to Schabas' declaration, a group of distinguished legal experts on genocide have provided their analysis, emphasizing the resemblance between Israeli leadership's intentions and actions and those witnessed in past genocides, according to the rights group.

This lawsuit, the organization said, seeks declaratory and injunctive relief and underscores the unyielding support the US government has extended to "Israel", particularly as "it bombs the people of Gaza and deprives them of food, water, and other necessities."

The letter stressed that the Resistance operation on October 7 "cannot legally justify the forms of targeting an entire population and collective punishment meted out by the Israeli government, let alone genocide."

Chemical weapons and dehumanization

Since October 8, "Israel" has killed over 11,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip – mostly civilians, including more than 4,600 children – and displaced 1.5 million, the statement noted.

"Thousands of Palestinians remain missing, and Israel’s destruction of hospitals, schools, and most infrastructure in Gaza – as well as intentional deprivation of access to food, water, electricity, and medicine – has rendered life in Gaza impossible," the Center said in its statement.

On the lawsuit by CCR with the law firm of Van Der Hout, the statement detailed that the filed complaint "provides extensive evidence" that the acts of the Israeli occupation government represent an "unfolding genocide, which the Genocide Convention defines as acts committed 'with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group,' and which can be accomplished through killing, inflicting serious bodily or mental harm upon a targeted group, or by “inflicting upon the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”

The complaint also stated that the Israeli occupation army targeted civilian areas and infrastructure, "including using chemical weapons, and deprived Palestinians of basic necessities for life."

It continued pointing out that Israelis "dehumanized" Palestinians and deemed them unworthy of "human rights protections" and vowed to “eliminate everything,” making clear the “emphasis is on damage and not accuracy.”

"Gaza had already been subject to five prior bombing campaigns and a nearly 17-year military closure and ongoing occupation that had made Gaza an open air prison," the complaint added.

BREAKING: Palestinians are suing @POTUS, @SecBlinken, & @SecDef to stop U.S. support for Israel’s unfolding genocide, asking a U.S. Court to enforce the most basic & important legal—and moral—obligation in the world – preventing genocide.

Read more: https://t.co/GbdzQqH5Ty pic.twitter.com/oa5o8kTQ3a
— The CCR (@theCCR) November 13, 2023

It is noteworthy that since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, the United States has been providing the Israeli occupation with military and financial support and affirming that a ceasefire was completely off the table, greenlighting "Israel's" continuous massacres against the Palestinian people in the Strip.

Hamas files complaint to ICC against 'Israel's' siege on Gaza Strip

Earlier in June of this year, Palestinian Resistance group Hamas filed a complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the Israeli occupation over its 17-year siege on the Gaza Strip, describing "Israel" as an "occupation entity" that has committed crimes against Palestinians.

In a statement, Huda Naim, the head of the human rights committee in the Palestinian Legislative Council in the Gaza Strip, indicated that "we are in a comprehensive battle with a criminal, colonial, settler occupation, which includes all arenas and fields, and the legal battle is one of the most important tools, because the occupation depends for its survival on military force and international support and cover."

Naim stated that French lawyer Gilles Devers is set to submit a complaint to the ICC filed by Hamas MPs on the Israeli occupation's war crimes committed during the ongoing blockade imposed on Gaza.

The Palestinian official explained that approaching the ICC "comes as part of the legal and parliamentary diplomatic efforts undertaken by the Legislative Council and its deputies, to criminalize the Israeli occupation for its grave violations against the Palestinian people, especially the crime of blockade, and its flagrant violations of laws and charters."

"There is a great need to exert every effort to strengthen the Palestinian narrative, reveal the fascist truth of the occupation, and expose its crimes to international public opinion," Naim stressed.

She said that in accordance with the Rome Statute, Palestinian deputies in Gaza filed a complaint to the ICC over the crime of blockade as a war crime and a crime against humanity and are demanding that the Israeli occupation be condemned and compensation be provided for the heavy losses inflicted due to the ongoing siege, as documented by international human rights organizations.

The official admitted that the Palestinian Legislative Council recognizes that the Israeli occupation applies pressure and blackmail on international judicial centers in order to avoid accountability and punishment, but "this does not absolve these international institutions from their responsibilities and the scope of their competencies."

"Even if we did not reach an actual condemnation of the occupation, filing lawsuits narrows the occupation's capabilities, contributes to exposing its narrative and limits its political and diplomatic activity against us," Naim said.

She stated that international law, resolutions, and reports support the Palestinian cause and rights, adding that this lawsuit is based on those conclusions.

Elsewhere, Naim went on to say that "the problem is a power imbalance in favor of the occupation and its allies."