October 12, 2016

President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

On behalf of Amnesty International’s 1.2 million supporters in the United States, I urge you to use the final 100 days of your administration to act on commitments you made to champion human rights here and around the world.

Mr. President, when you assumed office in 2009, you pledged to restore U.S. leadership globally on the basis of mutual respect and a return to the rule of law, and you underscored that the United States needed to lead by example. We applaud the work your administration has done to advance human rights over these past 8 years. But critical human rights issues remain outstanding, leaving the world at further risk of the kinds of abuses that you have condemned and opposed.

January 2017 will see a new President and a new Congress. Both will face certain challenges similar to those that you confronted, and they will be compelled to address new concerns as well. Actions you take now before leaving office will demonstrate the continuing commitment of your administration to human rights as you pass to your successor the duty to restore a moral compass to U.S. foreign policy by championing human rights and human dignity.

While the human rights needs of the world are many, Amnesty International USA has identified three key areas that demand your urgent attention and are within your power to address. We call upon you to:

Grant Temporary Protected Status for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras

By the end of 2015, 65.3 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced from their homes. We applaud your commitments to increase the number of refugees resettled in the United States. Mindful of the United States’ acknowledgement of the need to protect people fleeing countries convulsed by conflict and extreme violence, we urge you to recognize and adequately respond to the crisis at the U.S.’s own border. Stark homicide rates, ineffective legal structures, and corrupt law enforcement officials have forced many people to flee their homes in the “Northern Triangle” countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, and to seek refuge in Mexico and the United States. Yet, not only has the United States denied the asylum claims of many of these individuals seeking refuge, the government has then sent them back directly to the countries from which they fled.

Mr. President, we must address the human rights crisis at our doorstep. We call upon you to designate Guatemala for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and redesignate El Salvador and Honduras for Temporary Protected Status because of the devastating increase in violence that has led to an acute humanitarian emergency in these countries. This will grant protection to people from those countries who have fled these emergency situations. The situation in the Northern Triangle countries is dire, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has deemed it a humanitarian crisis. By granting Guatemalans, Salvadorans, and Hondurans the protection of TPS, we can offer refuge to individuals already present in the United States. This is an opportunity to show global leadership in this regional crisis. This action by your administration could protect an estimated 1.2 million people from being returned to situations in which their lives would be at risk.

Prevent U.S. weapons from being used to commit human rights and humanitarian law violations by recipients of U.S. security assistance

Saudi Arabia, Israel, and other U.S. allies in the Middle East have engaged in widespread repression and violations of human rights. Your administration has continued to sell weapons and provide military assistance to these governments despite evidence that such arms have been used to commit violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. We urge you to take stronger action to ensure that U.S. military aid and arms sales do not support such violations. That is why you should cancel the over $2 billion in recent arms sales to Saudi Arabia, as well as the recently announced $33 billion in military aid via foreign military financing for Israel that was included in the new 10 year agreement with the Government of Israel.

Your administration’s recent decisions to sell more than $2 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia have come amid worldwide condemnation of bombing and other actions by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen that have resulted in many civilian casualties. These arms deals risk making the U.S. government complicit in further Saudi-led assaults on civilians. They also violate the president’s own policy directive on arms sales, and provide tanks, bombs, and warheads to a government that unlawfully targets civilians.

In addition, by continuing to provide billions of dollars in military aid to Israel, the U.S. government is helping to perpetuate the human rights crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Despite previous talk of a U.S.-backed “peace process,” the reality is that the U.S. has consistently provided the weapons, ammunition and fuel that Israel has used to facilitate serious human rights and humanitarian law violations.

Mr. President, we can and must take stronger action to ensure that U.S. military aid and arms sales do not support such violations. For this reason, Amnesty International USA urges your administration to cancel the recent two major arms sales to Saudi Arabia: the $1.29 billion bomb sale announced on November 13, 2015, and the $1.15 billion sale of tanks and military vehicles announced on August 9, 2016. In addition, the recent White House announcement of $38 billion in military aid to Israel over the next 10 years must also be canceled, with the exception of the $5 billion in funds announced for purely defensive missile defense systems. Finally, all U.S. military assistance and arms sales to the Palestinian Authority must also end, given its record of human rights abuses and impunity.

Close Guantánamo and End Indefinite Detention

We strongly support your efforts, Mr. President, to close the detention camp at Guantánamo Bay before you leave office. Indeed, it is imperative you fulfill your personal commitment to do so. If Guantánamo remains open, a subsequent administration could attempt to bring dozens or even hundreds of new people there to be held until the end of a “war on terrorism” that by its terms is endless. This is particularly a risk in light of the possibility of increased U.S. military involvement in Syria, Iraq and other areas.

It is also a risk due to rising anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States. A subsequent administration could seek to use Guantánamo to hold dozens of individuals arrested far from any battlefield, that is, individuals who might otherwise be processed through the U.S. criminal justice system and afforded greater legal protections. Guantánamo, once deemed an experiment, could become a permanent institution and a widely used parallel system of injustice.

Guantánamo remains an international symbol of torture, and we are concerned about the treatment of individuals held there now and in the future. Despite changes to U.S. law, it is all too foreseeable that a subsequent administration could seek to return to systematic use of torture and other ill-treatment in the name of national security. Guantánamo, with its shameful tradition of secrecy and insularity from legal process, would be all too convenient a location for renewed systematic abuses.

We also urge your administration, in closing Guantánamo, to abandon the military commissions. These ill-conceived tribunals simultaneously fail to respect human rights principles or achieve justice. To be sure, anyone responsible for the crimes against humanity committed on September 11, 2001 should be brought to justice in fair trials. Guantánamo and the military commissions have not—and cannot—provide that justice. The 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks recently passed, and those who lost loved ones in the attacks have a right to see justice in their lifetime. However, not only do the military commission trials seem unlikely to begin—much less conclude—for years to come, when they do take place they will fail to meet international fair trial standards.

Mr. President, during your acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize, you told humankind, “Let us reach for the world that ought to be.” The actions you take in these final months will help set the path for human rights for the next administration and Congress. I urge you to seize this moment and take the measures needed to effectively address the critical issues above.

Sincerely,

Margaret Huang Executive Director Amnesty International USA