The current conflict in the news is the war in Gaza and the heart-ending stories of Gazan civilians and the doctors tending them in a hospital that has also become a sort of refuge. The other day when electricity was off due to the Israeli blockade of fuel trucks, a ten year old girl in critical care died. A doctor interviewed on Al Jazeera broke down as he talked of Cesareans performed without anaesthetics and other horrors. He was shortly thereafter picked up by Israeli officials for questioning.
Meanwhile Ralph Nader has drawn attention to an open letter sent by Veterans for Peace to the Inspector General of the US State Department and to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken pointing out several US statutes that forbid such aid in the present circumstances.
The Foreign Assistance Act forbids aid to a government that violates internationally recognized human rights.
The Export Control Act which requires countries receiving military aid — to use it for legitimate self defense when Israel’s campaign in Gaza goes arguably well beyond this.
The US War Crimes Act which forbids grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, including wilful killing, wilfully causing great suffering and unlawful deportation as is currently being perpetrated by Israeli occupying forces.
The Leahy Law which prohibits funds for assistance when there is credible evidence implicating the recipient in gross violations of human rights.
The Genocide Conventions Implementation Act was passed to implement US obligations under the Geneva Convention. It provides criminal penalties for individuals who commit or incite others to commit genocide.
Individual citizens do not have legal standing to take Secretary Blinken to court and force him to obey these laws. Only a Congressional Committee backed by a Senate or House Resolution can take the State Department to federal court.
How does this impact you? Under the Fourth Geneva Convention nationals of a co-belligerent state (the US) are not regarded as protected persons if their state has diplomatic relations with an allied nation (in this case Israel).
For decades the State Department has had an independent Office of the Legal Adviser. The current adviser Richard C. Vizek has been publicly silent. One wonders when he will respond to the public and publicized Veterans for Peace letter and explain the legal position to the American people who pay his salary — at least in his view that is.
One wonders also if he needs prompting …