Grade 4 of 5

Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Systematic actions that undermine fundamental constitutional or international legal protections at the structural level. Includes defiance of binding court orders, obstruction of international accountability mechanisms, mass violations of due process rights, and conduct that, while not yet meeting the threshold for international crimes, erodes the legal infrastructure that prevents them.

66 incidents

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

US Resumes Large-Scale Iran Strikes, Trump Vows to Hit 'Much Harder' and Rejects Iran's Truce Offer as Senate Falls One Vote Short of Ending the War (September 2026)

September 2026 saw the US resume heavy strikes on Iran, Trump threaten to strike 'much harder,' Congress come within one Senate vote of ordering an end to unauthorized hostilities, and Trump reject an Iranian truce proposal — leaving a seven-month war with no congressional authorization and no exit.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Judge Holds DHS in Contempt Twice for Deporting Protected Young Asylum Seekers, Including One Teen Deported to El Salvador Twice

A Trump-appointed federal judge twice held DHS in contempt in 2026 for deporting young asylum seekers protected by a court settlement: at least 107 removals found in July, then the second deportation to El Salvador of the same 19-year-old in September, after he had already been returned once. DHS blamed 'communication errors.'

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Trump Declares Iran Ceasefire 'Over': Nightly US Strikes, Blockade Reimposed, and Troop Deaths Moved Off the War Tally (July 2026)

The June ceasefire collapsed into a renewed nightly US bombing campaign in July 2026: Trump called the truce 'over' and Iran's leaders 'scum,' the blockade was reimposed, strikes hit bridges, energy infrastructure and (per Iran) a nuclear construction site, Iranian authorities reported 50+ dead, four US soldiers were killed — and then quietly moved off the Pentagon's Iran war tally. Congress again declined to stop it.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Islamabad Memorandum Ceasefire Collapses Within Ten Days: Hormuz Strikes, US-Iran Exchange, Trump Threatens Iran 'Will No Longer Exist' (June 2026)

A 60-day ceasefire signed June 17 collapsed within eight days: Iran struck a cargo ship near Hormuz, the US launched its third round of strikes in three weeks, Iranian missiles hit US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, a Qatari civilian died in the crossfire with attribution still unconfirmed, and Trump threatened that Iran 'will no longer exist.' No new congressional authorization exists for any of it.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Pentagon IG: Hegseth Dismantled Civilian Harm Safeguards During Active War (May 2026)

The Pentagon's own Inspector General found that the Department had not fully implemented any of its civilian harm mitigation objectives, with 133 actions incomplete and civilian harm staff cut by about 90%, during an active war. Released the same day CENTCOM's commander said there was no way to corroborate reports of strikes on Iranian hospitals and schools.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Immigration Judiciary Purge: 113 Judges Fired Without Due Process, Including Two Who Ruled for Student Activists

Over 113 immigration judges have been fired without due process since January 2025 — more firings in one year than in the entire prior history of the immigration court system. The April 2026 firing, without stated reason, of two judges who had dismissed deportation cases against pro-Palestinian activists signals to every remaining judge that ruling against the administration can cost them their post, undermining the independence of courts adjudicating life-and-death immigration cases.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

U.S. Complicity in Israel's Operation Eternal Darkness: April 8 Lebanon Massacre

Israel launched Operation Eternal Darkness on April 8, 2026 — 100 airstrikes in 10 minutes across Lebanon using 50 jets and ~160 munitions, killing 357 and injuring 1,223. The US remained silent and continued arms supply to Israel; whether US assistance reached this operation has not been established.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Trump Issues Ultimatum: 'A Whole Civilization Will Die Tonight' Unless Iran Capitulates

Trump's explicit threats to destroy all civilian infrastructure in Iran — every bridge, every power plant — with the stated goal of ensuring Iran 'could literally never rebuild as a nation again' were characterised by Amnesty International as 'a threat to commit war crimes' and by HRW as threats against objects protected by IHL. Carrying them out would raise war-crime liability under Rome Statute art. 8(2)(b)(ii)/(iv). The threats themselves are prohibited by AP I art. 51(2) if their primary purpose is to terrorise civilians, but they are not a listed Rome Statute crime. The threatened nationwide demolition was not carried out on April 7.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Strait of Hormuz Crisis: Global Energy and Food Security Catastrophe

The Iran war triggered closure of the world's most critical energy chokepoint, causing the largest supply disruption since the 1970s. Iran closed and mined the strait. Despite a nominal ceasefire, the US and Iran exchanged fire in the strait on May 7, 2026: after Iranian attacks on three US destroyers, the US struck what CENTCOM called military sites at Qeshm and Bandar Abbas, while Iran said civilian areas were hit (unverified); a cargo vessel was hit, killing one sailor. Copernicus satellite imagery showed a large oil slick (71 sq km) near Kharg Island; its source is disputed and it has not been attributed to US strikes. Iran declared the ceasefire violated; the strait remains effectively closed.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

2026 Lebanon War — US Weapons Complicity in Mass Civilian Casualties and White Phosphorus Attacks

Israel's 2026 Lebanon offensive — including white phosphorus munitions used over civilian areas — has killed over 1,000 people, wounded nearly 3,000, and displaced 700,000. Continued US arms transfers despite documented violations raise state-responsibility concerns under Common Article 1; individual criminal complicity has not been established, because no US-supplied item has been linked to a documented 2026 unlawful strike. HRW and UN experts have called for suspension of military assistance.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Trump Threats to Obliterate Iran's Civilian Power Infrastructure

Trump's explicit threats to destroy Iran's civilian power infrastructure escalated from 'obliterate' to a promise of 'complete demolition' of every bridge and power plant. Amnesty International characterised them as threats to commit war crimes; no tribunal or UN body has found a threat itself criminal, and a threat is not a listed Rome Statute act. Strikes that were later carried out on Iranian bridges and power infrastructure are assessed in their own entries.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Attacks on Iranian Healthcare Facilities: WHO Verifies 18 Strikes on Hospitals and Medical Infrastructure

A sustained pattern of strikes on Iranian hospitals, ambulances, and medical infrastructure has killed healthcare workers and forced the evacuation of six hospitals. The WHO verified 18 attacks on health sites through mid-March 2026, documenting systematic damage to protected medical facilities including Gandhi Hospital and Iranian Red Crescent centers. WHO counted 21 attacks on health workers and facilities by late March, with 17 Red Crescent centres struck and nearly 100 ambulances damaged or destroyed.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Lamerd Sports Hall Strike: US Airburst Missiles Hit a Sports Centre, School and Homes in Southern Iran, Killing At Least 21 (February 2026)

Precision Strike Missiles, which burst above their target and scatter about 180,000 tungsten pellets, hit a sports hall, a school and homes in Lamerd on 28 February 2026, killing at least 21 civilians. A UN fact-finding mission found reasonable grounds that the US was responsible and that the strike was an indiscriminate attack amounting to a war crime under customary law, applying a recklessness standard. The US denies responsibility.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Minab School Strike: US Tomahawk Cruise Missile Kills At Least 156 at a Primary School

A Tomahawk cruise missile struck a primary school in Minab, Iran, killing at least 156 people, including 120 to 123 children, in one of the deadliest single incidents of civilian harm in the 2026 Iran war. Media investigations, a preliminary US military inquiry as reported, and the UN fact-finding mission (A/HRC/63/61) attribute the strike to the US.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Federal Agents Kill ICU Nurse Alex Pretti During Minneapolis Immigration Protest

A second American citizen killed by federal agents during Minneapolis immigration enforcement protests. The deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti — both unarmed U.S. citizens — during a single enforcement operation constituted a pattern of excessive force that prompted bipartisan calls for accountability.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

ICE Agent Kills Renee Good, American Mother of Three, in Minneapolis

An ICE agent shot and killed an American woman during an immigration raid in Minneapolis. Video evidence contradicted the government's claim of self-defense. The administration used the killing to threaten the Insurrection Act and escalate immigration enforcement.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Naval Blockade of Venezuelan Oil Exports

A naval blockade of Venezuelan oil exports drew condemnation from UN experts as a violation of fundamental international law, with legal analysts characterizing it as an act of war imposed without Congressional authorization.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Epstein Files: DOJ Withholds Evidence, UN Experts Warn of Crimes Against Humanity

After signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the Trump administration's DOJ missed legal deadlines, secretly re-redacted files, and withheld documents containing an unadjudicated allegation that Trump sexually abused a minor. Separately, UN special-procedure experts stated that a number of the crimes described in the files 'may reasonably meet' the threshold of crimes against humanity. The case has drawn bipartisan congressional subpoenas of AG Bondi, and calls for a special counsel over alleged perjury.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Operation Midway Blitz: Chicago Immigration Surge Breached a Court Decree on Warrantless Arrests and Drew Orders Limiting Force Against Protesters and Press (2025)

During the Chicago-area immigration surge, ICE made warrantless arrests that federal courts found breached a binding consent decree DHS had said it would stop following. A federal judge also restricted agents' use of chemical weapons against protesters and journalists. Appeals courts affirmed the consent-decree findings in part but vacated the use-of-force injunction on procedural grounds after the case was dropped.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

US Sanctions Al-Haq, Al Mezan and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights Under ICC Sanctions Order (September 2025)

The Trump administration used its ICC sanctions order against three of the main Palestinian organisations that document abuses in Gaza and the West Bank and submit evidence to the International Criminal Court, freezing their US-linked assets and exposing anyone who works with them to sanctions risk.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Torture and Enforced Disappearances at 'Alligator Alcatraz' and Krome Detention Centers

Florida immigration detention centers are sites of documented torture including a punitive cage device, prolonged solitary confinement, unsanitary conditions, and enforced disappearances facilitated by the absence of any tracking system. At least six people died in Florida ICE facilities since October 2024.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Sanctions Against UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine

The United States sanctioned a UN human rights investigator for performing the duties of her mandate, in what UN experts described as an unprecedented threat to the international human rights system.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Operation Midnight Hammer: US Strikes on Iran's Nuclear Sites Without Congressional or UN Authorisation (June 2025)

The US bombed three Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025 without asking Congress or the UN Security Council. A leading international law scholar, writing for the Lieber Institute at West Point, concluded the strikes do not qualify as self-defence. The operation was the first direct US use of force against Iran in this period and preceded the 2026 war.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Gaza Humanitarian Foundation: US-Funded Aid Scheme Where Hundreds Were Killed Seeking Food (May–November 2025)

The Trump administration backed and funded a privatised aid scheme in Gaza whose four sites became scenes of near-daily shootings of hungry people, overwhelmingly by Israeli forces. The UN counted 859 killed near GHF sites in its first two months. The US approved $30 million for GHF after the killings were known. Whether that support amounts to complicity in war crimes is plausible but not established.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Executive Order on Elections: Voter Suppression and Presidential Seizure of Election Administration

An executive order attempting unprecedented presidential control over federal elections — requiring proof of citizenship to register, decertifying voting machines in 39 states, restricting mail ballots, and demanding state voter files — struck down by three federal courts as unconstitutional but partially implemented by compliant states ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Kilmar Abrego Garcia Deported to El Salvador Despite Withholding Order

Federal officials removed Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador despite a preexisting withholding order barring that destination, then spent weeks litigating what it meant to 'facilitate' his return after the Supreme Court intervened. Returned in June 2025 to face criminal charges, he was released from ICE custody in December 2025, and the criminal case was dismissed in May 2026 as vindictive prosecution; the Justice Department has appealed.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Systematic Attacks on Judicial Independence and Defiance of Court Orders

A pattern of court order defiance, threats against judges, calls for impeachment, and DOJ Civil Rights Division gutting that constitutional scholars describe as the most serious executive-judicial confrontation since at least Watergate.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Secret Deportation of 252 Venezuelans to CECOT Mega-Prison

252 Venezuelans were secretly deported to CECOT, where HRW documented torture, sexual violence, prolonged incommunicado detention, and denial of basic necessities. At least 48.8% had no criminal history in the United States, and at least 62 had asylum cases pending. All 252 were sent to Venezuela in a July 18, 2025 prisoner exchange.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Forced Disappearances of Salvadoran Deportees in El Salvador's Prison System

Systematic forced disappearances of Salvadoran nationals deported from the US, held incommunicado in Salvadoran prisons including CECOT with no access to lawyers, families, or courts. The US is accused of breaching non-refoulement by deporting people to a system that human rights groups document as practising enforced disappearance. Amnesty International has said El Salvador's state-of-exception abuses could amount to crimes against humanity.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Pattern of Wrongful Deportations: US Citizens and Protected Individuals Removed Despite Court Orders

Multiple US citizens and legally protected individuals have been wrongfully deported, often in direct defiance of federal court orders. The pattern includes deportation of a man with explicit judicial protection, another removed the day after a court barred his removal, and a US citizenship claimant deported despite a restraining order.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Deportation Traps at Immigration Court Hearings and Systematic Denial of Due Process

ICE turned mandatory immigration court hearings into arrest traps, coordinating in real time with government attorneys to arrest immigrants whose cases were dismissed. Record-setting asylum denials, in absentia orders tripling to 50,000, and 'rocket dockets' processing cases too fast for legal representation destroyed systematic access to due process.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Dismantlement of Pentagon Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Program

The Pentagon's civilian casualty prevention infrastructure was gutted in early 2025, removing institutional safeguards for complying with IHL precautions before the administration's subsequent military operations, in which serious civilian harm was documented.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

ICC Immunity Demands: Ultimatum to Amend Rome Statute and Exempt Americans from War Crimes Prosecution

A systematic campaign to destroy the International Criminal Court's ability to hold Americans accountable for war crimes, combining unprecedented sanctions on judges with demands to rewrite the Rome Statute itself. The campaign goes far beyond any previous US opposition to the ICC, seeking not merely non-cooperation but the permanent restructuring of international criminal justice.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Executive Order Sanctioning International Criminal Court Officials

The administration imposed escalating sanctions on ICC officials -- including judges and prosecutors -- for investigating US citizens and allies, obstructing international criminal accountability and drawing broad condemnation from the UN and international legal community.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Deportations to Haiti Despite Gang Control and Humanitarian Collapse

The US deported Haitians to a country whose capital's airport US airlines are barred from after commercial planes were hit by gang gunfire, where 90% of the capital is under gang control and 1.4 million are displaced. DHS terminated TPS for about 348,000 Haitians while the State Department maintained a Level 4 'Do Not Travel' advisory; the Supreme Court allowed the termination to proceed in June 2026.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Trump Proposes Forcible Displacement of 2.3 Million Palestinians from Gaza

President Trump publicly called for the removal of Gaza's Palestinian population, describing it as 'cleaning out' the territory. The UN, Arab League and international lawyers condemned the proposal as ethnic cleansing if implemented. The administration pressed Egypt and Jordan to accept Palestinians and reportedly explored relocation to Libya and East Africa; no transfer was carried out, and the September 2025 20-point plan states that no one will be forced to leave Gaza.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Secret $6 Million Contract to Outsource Detention to El Salvador's CECOT

A secret $6 million contract enabled the US to outsource detention to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison, where HRW documented systematic torture. The unreleased agreement created an unprecedented mechanism to evade domestic legal protections by transferring detainees to a foreign torture facility.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Surge in Solitary Confinement in Immigration Detention

At least 10,588 people were subjected to solitary confinement in immigration detention over 14 months spanning two administrations, with usage surging under the Trump administration. PHR reports that from 2018 to 2023 nearly three in four placements lasted 15 days or longer, the duration beyond which the UN Special Rapporteur on torture considers solitary confinement prohibited and capable of amounting to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; whether a given placement amounts to torture depends on its purpose and severity, assessed case by case. DHS oversight offices were simultaneously decimated from 150 to 22 staff.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Record ICE Detention Deaths and Medical Care Payment Halt

46 deaths in ICE custody since January 2025 mark a two-decade high. ICE's October 2025 halt of medical care payments left detainees without access to health services as the detention population reached record levels, creating conditions that contributed to preventable deaths.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

DOGE: Musk-Led Dismantlement of Federal Agencies Without Congressional Authorization

DOGE operated as an unaccountable parallel executive structure. Musk's associates accessed federal payment systems, personnel databases, Social Security administration data, IRS systems, and classified networks. Congress had not authorized DOGE to exist, to fire employees, or to redirect agency funds. Courts issued numerous injunctions against DOGE actions. Multiple agencies had their websites taken offline, their career employees locked out, and their operations functionally suspended within weeks of inauguration. USAID was effectively eliminated — folded into the State Department without Congressional action — ending decades of foreign assistance infrastructure. Federal workers who objected or filed suit faced retaliation.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Second-Term Mass Deportations: Largest Enforcement Operation in U.S. History

The administration declared a national emergency at the border on January 20, 2025, and directed federal military and law enforcement resources toward immigration enforcement. ICE operations expanded significantly; worksite raids and community arrests became routine. The administration deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national with a U.S. court order protecting him from removal to El Salvador, to CECOT on March 15, 2025; a federal judge ordered the government to facilitate his return, and the Supreme Court upheld that requirement; the administration resisted for weeks before returning him on June 6, 2025 to face criminal charges in Tennessee. The ACLU and other organizations documented multiple U.S. citizens and green card holders wrongly detained. Trump characterized the deportation operations as removing 'the worst, most violent criminals' despite documented cases of individuals with no criminal history being targeted.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Systematic Dismantlement of USAID and Global Humanitarian Consequences

Systematic destruction of the US Agency for International Development resulted in termination of lifesaving programs across the developing world. A Lancet study projected more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030 if USAID funding cuts continue. Ending foreign aid is not an international crime, but the harm is grave and the dismantlement raised serious domestic rule-of-law questions.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Annexation Threats: Greenland, Panama Canal, Canada — Territorial Expansionism

Trump's January 7, 2025 press conference at Mar-a-Lago was the clearest statement of the annexation posture: asked whether he would rule out military force to take Greenland, he said 'no.' Asked about economic coercion of Canada, he said tariffs were possible. His son Donald Trump Jr. visited Greenland on what was described as a personal trip days before the press conference, raising diplomatic concerns. Denmark's prime minister stated that Greenland was not for sale. Greenland's prime minister stated Greenland's future was for Greenlanders to decide. Panama's president said the canal was and would remain Panamanian. Canada's prime minister described the threats as unacceptable.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

White Phosphorus Over Lebanese Civilian Areas and the US Supply Question

Israel deployed white phosphorus over Lebanese civilian areas in 191 reported attacks across 17+ municipalities since October 2023, continuing through March 2026; US-supplied munitions were identified in the October 2023 Dhayra attack. HRW found the March 2026 Yohmor use unlawfully indiscriminate and called on states, including the US, to suspend arms transfers. US criminal complicity in the 2026 attacks is not shown.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Federal Election Interference Indictment: 4 Counts for Defrauding the United States

The indictment described a multi-pronged conspiracy: fabricating slates of Trump electors in seven states that Biden had won; pressuring Pence to refuse to certify or delay certification; pressuring state officials to change election results; coordinating with the Justice Department to send false claims to states; and promoting false claims of election fraud Trump knew to be false. The case was assigned to Judge Tanya Chutkan; the Supreme Court's June-July 2024 ruling on presidential immunity vacated the lower court's immunity decision and required further proceedings; Smith closed the case in November 2024 citing DOJ policy.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

January 6 Capitol Insurrection: Incitement of an Attack on Democratic Transition of Power

Following months of false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, Trump held a rally on January 6 and incited his supporters to march to the Capitol. A mob of thousands stormed and occupied the building for hours, injuring 140 police officers, causing multiple deaths, and forcing the evacuation of Congress. Trump watched on television and, despite multiple requests, refused to call off the mob for over three hours.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

January 6: Capitol Insurrection, Incitement, Second Impeachment, Supreme Court Immunity

For hours after the Capitol was breached, Trump did not issue a clear call to stop; at 2:24 PM, while rioters were in the building, he tweeted that Pence 'didn't have the courage to do what should have been done,' and his 4:17 PM video telling rioters they were 'very special' and he 'loved' them was posted while the attack was ongoing. Congressional Republicans and aides documented attempts to get Trump to intervene that he ignored or dismissed. The second impeachment passed with 10 Republican House votes — the most bipartisan presidential impeachment vote in U.S. history. Senate Minority Leader McConnell stated on the Senate floor that Trump was 'practically and morally responsible' for January 6 before voting against conviction on jurisdictional grounds. The Supreme Court's July 1, 2024 immunity ruling narrowed the federal prosecution; it ended when Special Counsel Smith moved to dismiss after Trump's November 2024 election, citing Justice Department policy.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Georgia Election Interference: Trump Demands Secretary of State 'Find' 11,780 Votes

Trump's January 2, 2021 phone call with Raffensperger was a direct attempt to pressure a state election official to falsify vote tallies. Trump made factually false claims about the election, threatened Raffensperger with unspecified legal 'risk,' and specifically demanded he 'find' a precise number of votes matching the margin Trump needed to win Georgia. Raffensperger refused. The conversation was recorded and published; Trump was later indicted for conspiracy and RICO violations in Georgia, but the case was dropped in November 2025 without trial.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Georgia Call: Trump Pressured Secretary of State to 'Find' Votes to Overturn Election

Trump spent approximately an hour on the call with Raffensperger, his deputy, and Trump's attorneys, pressing Raffensperger to reverse Georgia's certified presidential election results. He made multiple false claims about fraud that Raffensperger repeatedly corrected in real time. Trump told Raffensperger 'there's nothing wrong with saying, you know, that you've recalculated' and that finding 11,780 votes would put Trump ahead in Georgia. Raffensperger refused. The call recording was published; Trump's Georgia indictment in August 2023 cited it as a central piece of evidence.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Executive Order 13928: First-Term Sanctions on ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda (2020)

Trump used a national-emergency sanctions order to freeze the assets of the ICC's chief prosecutor and a senior aide because the court was investigating possible crimes by US personnel in Afghanistan. Human Rights Watch called it a 'perverse use of sanctions, devised for alleged terrorists and drug kingpins.' The order was revoked in 2021.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Title 42 Expulsions: Public-Health Order Used to Expel Asylum Seekers Without Screening, Over CDC Experts' Objections (March 2020)

The administration used a COVID-19 public-health order to close the southern border to asylum seekers, expelling hundreds of thousands of people with no protection screening. Top CDC scientists said there was no public-health basis for it. Human Rights Watch found it violated the US obligation not to return people to persecution or torture.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Assassination of Qasem Soleimani: Extrajudicial Killing Without Congressional Authorization

Trump ordered the killing of Iran's most senior military commander without consulting Congress and without a clear and credible imminent threat justification. The strike killed Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Iran retaliated with ballistic missiles against U.S. forces in Iraq. The administration offered contradictory and later-disputed justifications for the 'imminence' of the claimed threat.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Soleimani Assassination: Drone Strike Without Congressional Notification, Iran Ballistic Missile Response

Soleimani was one of the most senior military commanders of a foreign government. His killing — outside declared combat zones, in the territory of a third country (Iraq) — raised significant questions under international law and the U.S. War Powers Resolution. Congressional leaders, including Senate majority leader McConnell, were not briefed in advance. Iran's ballistic missile response struck Al Asad Air Base and injured 110 U.S. service members; Trump initially told the public no one was hurt. The administration's justification for the strike — an 'imminent threat' — was not substantiated with specific intelligence that was shared with Congress.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

War Criminal Pardons: Gallagher, Lorance, Golsteyn — Undermining Military Justice

The Gallagher case was the most prominent: he had been reported by his own platoon members, who described him as 'freaking evil' and said they feared he would shoot civilians and colleagues. He was convicted by court-martial of posing with a corpse but acquitted of murder after a key prosecution witness changed his testimony. Trump followed the verdict by restoring Gallagher's rank and then, overriding Defense Secretary Esper's objections, blocking the Navy SEALs from removing Gallagher's Trident pin (the insignia of qualification). Navy Secretary Richard Spencer was fired after he sought a compromise with the White House outside normal channels. The pardons were condemned by military ethics experts as undermining the uniform code and the military's commitment to the laws of armed conflict.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Khashoggi Assassination Cover-Up: Trump's Protection of Saudi Arabia from Accountability

Khashoggi was killed and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a 15-person hit squad sent from Riyadh. The CIA concluded with high confidence that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally ordered the killing. Trump publicly sided with Saudi Arabia over his own intelligence agencies, blocked sanctions on MBS, and used the murder as leverage in arms sales negotiations.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Family Separation Continuation: Violating Federal Court Orders to Reunify Families

A federal judge in the ACLU's Ms. L. v. ICE case ordered the government to reunify separated children under five within 14 days and all others within 30 days. The administration missed the deadlines and admitted it lacked a tracking system. Parents were deported without their children; children were 'lost' in the system; in some cases children remained in U.S. custody for years after their parents had been removed to their home countries. The ACLU's family tracking project located hundreds of deported parents who didn't know where their children were.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Tender Age Shelters: Separating and Warehousing Infants and Toddlers

While the Zero Tolerance policy is documented elsewhere, the specific treatment of children under 5 — the 'tender age' population — constituted a distinct category of harm. Infants as young as a few months old were taken from parents and placed in facilities where they were cared for by strangers. Whistleblowers described children crying inconsolably. The American Academy of Pediatrics called the policy 'child abuse.' A federal court gave the government 14 days to reunify this group; the administration missed the deadline.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

April 2018 Strikes on Syrian Chemical-Weapons Facilities Without UN or Congressional Authorisation

Trump ordered a second round of missile strikes on the Syrian government, this time with Britain and France, after a chemical attack in Douma. The strikes had no Security Council mandate and no congressional authorisation. The legal opinion written to justify them widened the President's claimed power to use force on his own.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Zero Tolerance Family Separation: Systematic Removal of Children from Asylum-Seeking Parents

Attorney General Sessions announced a zero tolerance policy in April 2018 requiring criminal prosecution of all illegal border crossers. Because federal criminal custody excludes children, this automatically separated minors from their parents. Over 5,500 children were separated in six weeks. Courts ordered reunification; a June 2022 federal task-force report found about 1,400 children still not reunified.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Zero Tolerance: 5,500+ Children Separated, HHS Lost Track of Hundreds

Zero tolerance created systematic family separation as deliberate policy — not incidentally but intentionally, with separation designed as a deterrent. The administration did not build a system to track which children belonged to which parents. A federal judge ordered reunification within 30 days; the government said it could not comply. In October 2020, ACLU lawyers reported they still could not reach the parents of 545 children — many of whom had been deported to Central America without their children, without being told where their children were.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Trump Pardons Sheriff Joe Arpaio for Defying a Court Order Against Racial Profiling (2017)

A federal judge found Arpaio guilty of deliberately defying a court order meant to stop his deputies from detaining Latino drivers on immigration suspicion alone. Trump pardoned him before he could be sentenced, removing the courts' criminal sanction for an official's defiance of an order protecting constitutional rights.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Shayrat Airbase Strike: Unilateral Military Action Against Syria Without Congressional Authorization

Following a chemical weapons attack on Khan Shaykhun attributed to the Assad regime, Trump ordered a cruise missile strike on the airbase allegedly used to launch the attack. The strike was conducted without Congressional authorization and without a UN Security Council mandate. U.S. officials pre-warned Russia, which warned Syrian forces. The airbase was operational again within hours.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Drone War Expansion: Relaxed Rules of Engagement and Surging Civilian Casualties

Trump granted the military broader strike authority, designated large areas as 'Areas of Active Hostility' enabling expanded strike approvals, removed mandatory civilian harm mitigation steps, and stopped requiring senior White House approval for counterterrorism strikes. Amnesty International, Airwars and the UN documented civilian casualties across Somalia, Yemen, and Afghanistan.