We're tracking how the Trump administration has increasingly been lifting sanctions with little explanation or transparency, even when those sanctioned for corruption or human rights abuses have not been held accountable. See our tracker and learn more here: humanrightsfirst.org/library/dubi...

Magyar: “No mercy, they will need to take responsibility for all their actions.”

We joined 200+ organizations & experts in condemning President Trump’s threats against Iran. Congress must act urgently to end this conflict & prevent the commission of grave crimes. U.S. officers & servicemembers must refuse unlawful orders. Read the letter: humanrightsfirst.org/wp-content/u...

"The Government of Spain will not applaud those who set the world on fire just because they show up with a bucket. What’s needed now: diplomacy, international legality, and peace.” - Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez on Iran-US ceasefire: www.aa.com.tr/en/world/spa...

invoke the 25th and start impeachment anyway

This is simply genocidal language and is a horror in itself.

just to be clear, everyone, when 8 pm EDT comes and goes, regardless of what does or does not happen, the president still threatened genocide and war crimes and we should still impeach, arrest, and try him

It's time to stop dismissing Trump's comments as those of a "madman." Our failure to take seriously what he has said and our willingness to look the other way is why we are here. POTUS has a responsibility to speak responsibly and I, as a citizen, refuse to accept any less.

"I don't want to happen but it probably will" is classic abuser language: "look what you made me do." Except it's not on the scale of a household, but of a nation of 90 million and millennia of civilization.....

Donald Trump must be removed from office. Not only is he waging an illegal war—he’s threatening war crimes. To the members of our military: remember, you do not have to follow illegal orders.

I think people are allowed to draw conclusions about the American people based on their decision to put this man in office bsky.app/profile/pear...

Prior crimes against the Iranian people do not excuse fresh war crimes against the Iranian people.

This is an actual post. This is not funny. This is beyond desperate. This is a deeply unwell man who doesn’t belong anywhere near the levers of power. Every member of his cabinet and Congress is complicit in not demanding his removal now.

Under a different admin, I would have more confidence that executive branch lawyers (including JAGs) would advise against attacking civilian objects & that advice would be followed. After 6 months of boat strikes, I have grave doubts as to whether that legal advice is being given or followed. 5/n

Really not loving SecDef's "no quarter" declaration, especially today.

The fact that Trump is going to oral arguments to pressure the justices to acquiesce to his attempted nullification of a constitutional amendment and create a stateless class for the first time since the civil war, illustrates what is really at the core of the Trump project and it isn’t tariffs.

"We are a sovereign country that does not wish to take part in illegal wars.” Spain won’t allow US to use its airbases for its war on Iran: www.bbc.com/news/article...

The administration simply declaring victory (again) and ceasing hostilities would by no means be the worst COA. Trump has created a mess and has no great options for fixing it. But some of those options—committing war crimes, sending in ground troops, etc—are definitely worse than others.

they’ve obviously done more harmful and evil things but the absolute brazenness of boosting this building, removing all the people studying peace from it, sticking Donald Trump’s name on it, and then giving Kristi Noem an office in it is really something

“In other words, adherence to the law prevents bad things from happening.”

We as Americans cannot fathom how profoundly destabilizing Trump’s insane Greenland saber-rattling was to European allies. It was a rupture that will never be fully repaired — and yet America has already forgotten it.

The Trump administration's misuse of sanctions is eroding the U.S. government's ability to effectively and legitimately use these tools for positive impact against human rights abusers and corrupt actors. Facts, not favors, must shape U.S. decision-making. @npr.org www.npr.org/2026/03/17/n...

DC statehood now.

“I always thought my counterterrorism guy was weak on security, which is why I appointed him and left him in office until he resigned.”

HYPOTHETICAL Legal Advice to SecDef Hegseth on “No Quarter” Statement (from General Counsel) By Daniel Maurer, retired Judge Advocate "... may be construed as ... a war crime. This may expose you to criminal liability under 18 U.S.C. 2441(c)(2) ... We recommend that you publicly retract."

Slovenia's PM and president to EU leaders: "[The ICC's] judges and prosecutors have been targeted by coercive measures. ... We owe it to those victims not to be silent. They deserve more than cautious language. They deserve a Europe that acts and decisively protects the Court to fulfil its mandate."

"For now, the former president [Duterte] sits in his jail cell. During the day, loyal supporters display his cardboard likeness on a strip of grass they call Duterte Street. But at night, only the screeching of seagulls pierces the silence—loud, high-pitched cries, like widows and mothers wailing."

✋ Former USG war crimes lawyer here. Apropos of SecDef's remarks this morning: Denial of quarter—even the declaration of no quarter—is a war crime. And recognized as such by the US Government. From DoD's Manual for Military Commissions.

Political leaders in most other countries don't talk in this deranged, murderous way because prospective leaders who talk in this way are seen as dangerous and frightening and as lacking the temperament and judgment to lead other people anywhere they would want to be led.

This is no different from Putin saying MH17 was shot down by Ukraine or Assad saying rebels gassed themselves.

I know that the people who need to read this aren’t here, but here goes: Rules of engagement aren’t for the enemy. They’re for you. They’re for your soldiers when they’re captured or wounded. They’re for your civilians when they’re in range of the enemy. They’re for your allies, to reassure.

Trump's reckless, deadly, and astrategic war on Iran is the latest in a series of violations of international law, and without reprimand from allies and partners it is set to unravel the whole post-World War II edifice of international order. internationalpolicy.org/publications...

With deep alarm, TIMEP has watched another war come to the MENA region, following the decision of the U.S. and Israel to launch a massive military operation targeting Iran. With urgency, TIMEP calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and deescalation.

This is pretty hilarious. Retaliation *against* your attack really can't be the imminent threat that justifies your attack. I think the concept of linear time pretty much settles this question without the need for additional argument.

"I think responses [that ask only for the Administration to 'explain itself'] are pathetic. This isn’t a mystery that needs to be solved. This is not the case of the missing casus belli."

If I were a head of state, I would think setting a precedent that assassination is a legitimate tool of state competition would be unwise

Human rights have nothing to do with this war by a U.S. administration that has forcibly returned Iranians to face harm in Iran, detained Iranian religious minorities in ICE custody at home, and now asks Americans to absorb the financial costs of escalation. humanrightsfirst.org/library/huma...

It would be cool to have a legislature that acted to defend its own constitutional prerogatives and, maybe as a treat, the interests of the people it represents too.

“Oh if only they had done these four steps better” get a grip. there’s no better way to do something plainly bad.

there's a lot of specific overwhelming and massive crises happening at once and every single one has at its root elites who did crimes and never suffered consequences for it.

i cannot stop thinking about this man, who survived the Rohingya genocide but couldn’t survive border patrol. “He died trying to get home” is a gut punch

"Brazil and S. Korea are arguably outliers in their commitment to defending the integrity of their democracy against the corruption of the wealthy and powerful. But they also don’t hold themselves out as...the model to which all other democracies should aspire." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

On the 4th anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of #Ukraine, local activists warn that even if fighting stops, serious human rights issues will remain. Our new report outlines 7 urgent issues that demand sustained int'l attention beyond a ceasefire. humanrightsfirst.org/library/ukra...

There's a real danger that members of Congress and the American public tune out this killing spree at sea as mere background noise. Don't normalize or become inured to this deeply abnormal and lawless premeditated killing. The administration has asserted a license to kill outside the law.

BREAKING: Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been convicted of insurrection for declaring martial law in December 2024, and has been sentenced to life in prison.

we are talking about 'trump launching an attack,' which is accurate & insane, but the world will still see it, if it happens, as an *american* attack. our system lets it happen. we bear responsibility.

the Trump foreign policy of violence at will against whoever for whatever with total impunity will continue until the administration experiences a consequence

What are the International Criminal Court’s next steps in the case related to #Duterte's “war on drugs”? New Q&A: Get a clear breakdown of the ICC’s upcoming hearing on the Philippines case and understand what comes next. 👉 Read the explainer here: https://bit.ly/4rVoISB

“The fight against corruption is imperative for protecting the integrity of markets and defending human rights, both at home and abroad.” - Uzra Zeya, president and CEO of @humanrights1st.bsky.social