Target: Joe Biden, President of the United States
Goal: Formally recognize universal justice and its application around the world.
In Syria, at least 11,000 people are believed to have been tortured to death for “crimes” such as protesting the brutal rule of the Bashar al-Assad regime. Recently, three officers of this regime were tried for some of these offenses. But the defendants were not present, and their trial took place in a far-away European nation. These men, accused by France’s war crimes tribunal of crimes against humanity, were the latest examples of a concept known as universal justice, or universal jurisdiction.
This concept holds that some crimes are so serious and in breach of international law that it does not matter where they are committed. Nations or international organizations have a moral duty to hold anyone responsible for the commission of these crimes accountable, even if the offenses occurred thousands of miles away. Universal justice helps ensure that atrocities like the genocide that took place during World War II are acknowledged and prosecuted on a global stage. At its most effective, universal jurisdiction would also prohibit safe havens for accused individuals and hold everyone, including a nation’s highest-ranking leaders, to its strict standard.
Several countries have adopted formal statutes codifying universal justice into their system. The United States, however, has never formally authorized such a statute. Sign the petition below to call on the leader of the free world to do its part in upholding international codes of conduct.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear President Biden,
Whether it’s called a law on universal jurisdiction, a Crimes Against Humanity Act, or a war crimes commission, universal justice has been enshrined into the legal code of nearly every developed nation. The United States, which has never formally authorized this practice, is a notable and shameful exception. In fact, this nation still refuses to acknowledge the authority of the International Criminal Court.
Universal justice affirms that some crimes are so grave and so destructive that the world has a moral obligation to condemn and punish them. World War II should have taught us the necessity of this concept. If you truly value international order and common human values, then join your allies in ratifying the ideal that embodies these cherished principles.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: U.S. Army
