May, 05 2021, 12:00am EDT
Biden's TRIPS Waiver Decision Is A Transformative, Hopeful Event
The following statement is attributable to Jeff Hauser, Executive Director of the Revolving Door Project:
"The Biden administration's decision to support waiving intellectual property restrictions on COVID-19 vaccines is a genuinely transformative event, one which reinforces that there is real reason to hope for a better future when the right people are in place in the federal government. The Revolving Door Project praises and congratulates the Biden administration for this excellent decision. This one choice may save millions of lives."
WASHINGTON
The following statement is attributable to Jeff Hauser, Executive Director of the Revolving Door Project:
"The Biden administration's decision to support waiving intellectual property restrictions on COVID-19 vaccines is a genuinely transformative event, one which reinforces that there is real reason to hope for a better future when the right people are in place in the federal government. The Revolving Door Project praises and congratulates the Biden administration for this excellent decision. This one choice may save millions of lives."
"In particular, we want to praise U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai for handling the first big political conflict of her tenure with grace and professionalism, as the administration ultimately worked toward the right call. We may not know exactly how the administration came to this decision for quite some time, but Tai's ability to face down the well-funded and powerful pharmaceutical interests fighting against this waiver without fear shows that she was a perfect choice for this crucial job. Again, appointments matter. Personnel is policy."
"We will closely watch the inevitable conflicts during the text-based negotiations at the World Trade Organization. But this initial decision is one which Americans and onlookers around the world should celebrate."
The Revolving Door Project (RDP) scrutinizes executive branch appointees to ensure they use their office to serve the broad public interest, rather than to entrench corporate power or seek personal advancement.
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120+ Groups Warn Biden Against Backing Sanctions for ICC
Doing so would align the U.S. "with authoritarian tactics of threatening judges and independent judicial institutions," the groups cautioned.
May 23, 2024
As the Biden administration signals its willingness to work with congressional Republicans to potentially sanction International Criminal Court officials over their pursuit of arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, more than 120 rights groups on Wednesday urged U.S. President Joe Biden to "oppose the threats and calls for punitive actions" emanating from Congress.
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said earlier this week that he has formally applied for arrest warrants targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged "crimes of causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, [and] deliberately targeting civilians in conflict," and Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh, and Mohammed Deif for alleged "extermination, murder, taking of hostages, rape, and sexual assault in detention."
Referring to Senate Republicans' threats to retaliate against ICC officials if they issue arrest warrants for the Israelis—and Secretary of State Antony Blinken's stated willingness to work with GOP lawmakers on sanctions—the rights groups argued in a letter to Biden that acting on such efforts "would do grave harm to the interests of all victims globally and to the U.S. government's ability to champion human rights and the cause of justice."
"While the United States is not an ICC member country, Republican and Democratic administrations have supported the court in specific cases, and the U.S. has assisted arrest operations to bring justice to victims in central Africa," the groups noted. "Your own administration has recognized the court's essential role to address serious crimes in Ukraine and Darfur."
The letter condemns former U.S. President Donald Trump's sanctions targeting then-Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and other ICC officials over the court's effort to investigate U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan as "an affront to justice" that "threatened to undermine the ICC's effective functioning."
"Regrettably, those sanctions aligned the United States with authoritarian tactics of threatening judges and independent judicial institutions," the groups lamented.
The letter asserts:
The ability of the ICC to provide justice for victims requires full respect for its independence. A selective approach to judicial decisions undermines the credibility, and ultimately, the force of the law as a shield against human rights violations and abuses. Your administration appeared to recognize this in repealing the Trump-era sanctions, noting that U.S. concerns "would be better addressed through engagement with all stakeholders in the ICC process." We urge you to ensure that any disagreement about the court's process is pursued through proper judicial channels under the court's treaty.
U.S. and Israeli officials often note that neither country is a party to the Rome Treaty that established the ICC. However, the court has noted its "jurisdiction in relation to crimes committed on the territory of Palestine, including Gaza," as well as "over crimes committed by Palestinian nationals inside or outside Palestinian territory."
The groups' letter comes as the death toll from Israel's relentless 230-day assault on Gaza approaches 36,000, with more than 80,000 others wounded and at least 11,000 people missing and believed dead and buried beneath the rubble of hundreds of thousands of damaged or destroyed homes and other buildings throughout the embattled Palestinian enclave. Around 9 in 10 Gazans have also been forcibly displaced, with hundreds of thousands of refugees sheltering in the southern city of Rafah, where Israeli forces are now invading.
During an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour earlier this week, Khan said the ICC should represent "the triumph of law over brute force, grab what you can, take what you want, do what you will."
"We will not be dissuaded," he vowed.
The Biden White House and Republican Congress are considering sanctions against ICC Chief Prosecutor @KarimKhanQC as he seeks arrest warrants for their ally Benjamin Netanyahu. But Khan told me the court “will not be dissuaded”: pic.twitter.com/T6pBtjyX7f
— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) May 23, 2024
The United Nations' International Court of Justice—which is weighing a wider genocide case filed by South Africa and supported by over 30 other nations—is expected to rule Friday on a related South African request for the tribunal to order a cease-fire in Gaza.
The U.N. Human Rights Council in March found "reasonable grounds to believe" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, a conclusion shared by at least hundreds of legal experts around the world.
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Senators Launch Probe of Trump's $1 Billion Offer to Big Oil
"Emboldened by impunity, Mr. Trump and Big Oil are flaunting their indifference to U.S. citizens' economic well-being for all to see, conferring on how to trade campaign cash for policy changes."
May 23, 2024
In the wake of Donald Trump attending a Big Oil-hosted fundraiser in Texas, two Democratic Senate chairs on Thursday initiated an investigation into the recent quid pro quo offer to fossil fuel industry executives by the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
After The Washington Postreported that during an April event, Trump pledged to gut climate policies implemented under Democratic President Joe Biden if the fossil fuel industry raised $1 billion for his 2024 presidential campaign, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) launched a probe last week, sending letters to the leaders of a trade group and companies whose executives appear to have attended that Mar-a-Lago gathering.
Senate Budget Committee Chair Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) followed suit on Thursday, sending letters to the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the same eight companies: Cheniere Energy, Chesapeake Energy, Chevron, Continental Resources, EQT Corporation, ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum, and Venture Global LNG.
"Such an obvious policies-for-money transaction reeks of cronyism and corruption," Whitehouse and Wyden wrote. "This solicitation, coupled with troubling reports that fossil fuel interests and other companies have been drafting language for use in executive orders favorable to their businesses during a possible second Trump administration, demand immediate additional inquiry."
"Such an obvious policies-for-money transaction reeks of cronyism and corruption."
"According to reports, Mr. Trump made specific policy commitments, including promises to auction off more oil and gas leases on federal lands and in federal waters, reverse pollution standards for new cars, and end drilling restrictions in the Alaskan Arctic," they detailed. "He also vowed to terminate the pause on new permits for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, allegedly pledging to do so 'on the first day.' Notably, Mr. Trump called the proposed arrangement a 'deal' for the executives given the tax and regulatory benefits that he would deliver for Big Oil companies and executives."
As Common Dreamsreported last week, one analysis found that if the industry executives took Trump up on his $1 billion offer—that has been undercovered by cable news—there would be a major return on investment for the companies, which would enjoy an estimated $110 billion from the tax breaks alone.
"Mr. Trump's blatant quid pro quo offer is particularly concerning in light of concurrent reporting by Politico that the oil and gas industry is drafting 'ready-to-sign' executive orders," Whitehouse and Wyden noted. "The fossil fuel industry's active attempts to write policy for its preferred presidential candidate are simply the latest installment in Big Oil's decadeslong pattern and practice of lobbying for anti-climate policies even while trying to greenwash its public image."
The pair of senators pointed to documents released last month by Raskin and Whitehouse's panels as part of a three-year probe that on Wednesday culminated in them urging U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the fossil fuel industry for decades of spreading disinformation about their products and the climate emergency.
Speaking with The New Republic's Greg Sargent about Trump's reported comments to Big Oil executives, Whitehouse said last week that "this is practically an invitation to ask more questions," and a "natural extension of the investigation already underway."
As the senators highlighted Thursday: "Of particular relevance here, documents released in the joint investigation detail the industry's outsized influence on energy policy during Mr. Trump's first administration... In turn, the Trump administration appeared to rely on the oil and gas industry to support and defend its anti-climate energy agenda."
"Time and time again, both Mr. Trump and the U.S. oil and gas industry have proved they are willing to sell out Americans to pad their own pockets," they continued. "And now, emboldened by impunity, Mr. Trump and Big Oil are flaunting their indifference to U.S. citizens' economic well-being for all to see, conferring on how to trade campaign cash for policy changes. Such potential abuses must be scrutinized."
Whitehouse and Wyden are demanding answers and documents from API and the executives by June 6. Raskin, in his letters, called for responses and records by next Monday.
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'For Gaza': Hundreds of Students Stage Walkout at Harvard Commencement Ceremony
The demonstration followed the “unduly harsh punishment” of 13 students barred from receiving their diplomas stemming from their support for Palestinian rights.
May 23, 2024
Update (2:20 PM ET):
Hundreds of graduates walked out in protest at Harvard University's commencement ceremony on Thursday in protest of the war in Gaza and the college's decision not to confer degrees on 13 pro-Palestine seniors.Harvard's controversial decision to block the 13 seniors from graduating strengthened the intensity of Thursday's demonstration, which was "far larger, louder, and more extensive than graduation protests at any other university in the region thus far this spring," according toThe Boston Globe.
Many of the protesting graduates wore keffiyehs, waved Palestinian flags, and carried placards with messages such as "For Gaza." They chanted "Let them walk!" in support of the 13 students during the ceremony before marching out to a nearby church for what one organizer called the "peoples' commencement," the Globe reported.
BREAKING: Hundreds of Harvard students and faculty have walked out of commencement in support of Palestine and the 15 seniors having their degrees withheld for protesting a genocide. pic.twitter.com/D0lGKrmzvq
— Harvxrd Palestine Solidarity Committee (@HarvxrdPSC) May 23, 2024
Earlier:
Harvard University's board on Wednesday rejected a faculty vote to allow 13 seniors who had participated in a pro-Palestine encampment to graduate, provoking outrage from educators and students, some of whom protested outside the commencement ceremony Thursday morning.
The Wednesday announcement followed competing decisions by Harvard institutions in the days leading up to graduation. On May 18, the college's administrative board announced disciplinary actions against students—suspending five and placing more than 20 on probation—for their involvement in the on-campus encampment, which ended last week. This left the 13 seniors ineligible to graduate.
Professors in Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences responded on Monday by voting to amend the list of students receiving degrees to include the 13 students—effectively rejecting the administrative board's decision. Harvard's main governing board, known as the Corporation, had to make the final decision, which they announced in a statement on Wednesday:
Because the [13] students included as the result of Monday's amendment are not in good standing, we cannot responsibly vote to award them degrees at this time. In coming to this determination, we note that the express provisions of the Harvard College Student Handbook state that students who are not in good standing are not eligible for degrees. We also considered the inequity of exempting a particular group of students who are not in good standing from established rules, while other seniors with similar status for matters unrelated to Monday's faculty amendment would be unable to graduate.
Both faculty and students condemned the decision, which The Harvard Crimson called an "unprecedented veto" of the faculty.
"I would expect a faculty rebellion, possibly a faculty rebellion against the entire governance structure, because there's already a fair amount of mistrust toward the Corporation to begin with," government professor Steven Levitsky told the Crimson.
The decision leaves uncertain the immediate future of the 13 students, two of whom have been awarded Rhodes Scholarships to study at Oxford University. "Despite fulfilling their degree requirements, these [13] students will not receive their diplomas, fellowships, and grad funding because of the Corporation's decision," Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine, a student group, wrote on social media. The faculty's vote was a "clear repudiation of the administrative board's unduly harsh punishment," the post said.
Pro-Palestine students also said that the Corporation's decision violated the terms of a deal they had reached with the administration. They ended the 20-day protest on Harvard Yard on May 14 after interim Harvard University President Alan Garber wrote an email promising to "encourage the administrative boards or other disciplinary bodies within the schools to address cases expeditiously under existing precedent and practice (including taking into account where relevant the voluntary decision to leave the encampment), for all students, including those students eligible thereafter to graduate so that they may do so."
Protestors set up outside of Harvard's graduation Thursday morning as the college's other seniors received their degrees.
Good morning from Harvard’s commencement. pic.twitter.com/dMMMZzmsk6
— Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine (@HarvardOOP) May 23, 2024
Protesters gather outside Harvard University commencement after some students denied degrees https://t.co/y5CyZ0LxWv
— WBZ | CBS News Boston (@wbz) May 23, 2024
The tumult at Harvard follows a spring of Gaza-related protests at campuses across the U.S., which have led to thousands of arrests as well as disciplinary action by universities, despite the lack of protestor violence. Many of these colleges still have graduation ceremonies in the coming weeks.
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