Human Rights First Calls on Biden Administration to Center Justice and Accountability in Next 100 Days
NEW YORK — Today marks one hundred days of President Biden’s administration. While the Biden presidency has brought some needed progress, the administration has considerable work ahead to re-establish justice as the guiding force for American leadership around the globe.
At the 100-day milestone, Human Rights First calls on the Biden administration to take swift and decisive action to center human rights, dignity, and humanity in its policies for the rest of its time in office.
“While we commend the work the Biden administration has done to right the wrongs of the previous administration in its first hundred days, that’s a return to the status quo,” said Human Rights First President and CEO Michael Breen. “The American people need bold action to meet the challenges of this moment, and the central question is what the president will do with his next 100 days.”
Human Rights First applauds many of the Biden administration’s accomplishments in its first 100 days, including ending the discriminatory Muslim and African refugee bans, calling for a military-wide stand-down to address and root out white supremacy in the military, committing to rejoin the U.N. Human Rights Council, and partnering with allies to sanction human rights abusers abroad.
In the next 100 days of the Biden presidency, we call on the administration to tackle systemic injustice in the United States by:
- Restoring U.S. asylum and no longer expelling refugees to danger using Title 42
- Raising refugee resettlement from its historic Trump-era low to 62,500 this year and 125,000 next year
- Ending Trump-era policies that separate families and endanger refugees
- Swiftly resettling the 17,000 Afghan allies still remaining in the Special Immigrant Visa pipeline amid America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan
- Reforming 1033, 1122, and other programs that place military weapons and equipment in the hands of domestic law enforcement
To counter authoritarianism around the globe, we call on the Biden administration to:
- Condition security assistance on countries’ human rights records
- Impose consequences for Jamal Khashoggi’s murder
- Appoint coordinators for sanctions and anti-corruption policy to ensure that our Global Magnitsky program is most effective
- Protect human rights defenders around the world
To reestablish American leadership in human rights protection, we call on the Biden administration to:
- Close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay
- Repeal the 2001 and 2002 Authorizations of Military Force
- Support efforts in Congress to reform the War Powers Act
- Shift away from war-based detention, trial, and lethal force
- Prioritize the use of diplomatic, law enforcement, intelligence, development, and other resources
