President Biden pledged to make human rights central to his administration, but with only weeks left in his term as President of the United States, he’s got a lot of catching up to do.

Demand Biden Take These 5 Actions Before His Legacy is Sealed for the History Books

Amnesty International has joined countless human rights and humanitarian organizations and experts from around the world to provide extensive evidence that Israeli forces are using U.S.-origin weapons in violation of not only international law but also U.S. law and policy. Even in its evaluations, the administration determined that it is “reasonable to assess” that Israeli security forces’ use of U.S. weapons has been “in instances inconsistent” with international humanitarian law.

President Biden has himself expressed concern about the actions of Israeli forces on a number of occasions and paused one weapons shipment of 2,000 pound bombs due to these concerns. He must know that continued weapons transfers will lead to an even bigger unmitigated—and unlawful— disaster, human suffering and death that he and the U.S. government is enabling with U.S. taxpayer dollars.

The U.S. government must stop the transfer and sale of weapons in a context where there is a grave risk they further unlawful killings and other violations of international law, including failing to prevent genocide. In his final weeks as president, he must immediately suspend the transfer and sale of weapons to the government of Israel. He must also use all leverage to bring about an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the occupied Gaza Strip, establish unhindered humanitarian aid and access, and enable the safe return of the remaining hostages.

Transfer the Guantánamo Bay detainees not charged with crimes to countries where their human rights will be respected.

The military detention facility at Guantánamo Bay is a glaring, longstanding stain on the human rights record of the United States. Today, it continues to violate the rights of the 30 Muslim men it continues to detain indefinitely, most without charge and none having been given a fair trial.

In his remaining weeks in office, President Biden can take some simple steps that will make a huge difference. He can transfer all detainees not charged with crimes to countries where their human rights will be respected. This would not only end their unlawful indefinite detention and allow them to rebuild their lives, but also be a critical step towards closing the Guantanamo prison once and for all.

Commute the sentences of Billie Allen and all those on federal and military death row.

Billie Jerome Allen has been on federal death row for well over half his life. Now 47, he was 19 at the time of the crime for which he was sentenced to death in 1998 despite racial bias affecting his case, his age at the time of the crime, and lack of DNA evidence linking him to the crime. His case is illustrative of many of the issues which plague this practice throughout the USA. 

The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Forty-four men remain on federal and military death row.

President Biden made history as the first American President to openly oppose the death penalty. He now has the opportunity to act on the death penalty, but time is running out on this administration. Now is the time for President Biden to use his constitutional power to commute the death sentences of Billie Allen and all of and those on federal and military death row.

Racist rhetoric about invasions at the border and fear mongering about how people seeking safety are security threats fuel policies that deny people their human right to seek safety. The current border policies are cruel and undermine the human right to seek asylum. Biden must restore access to asylum at the border and ensure that the bipartisan border bill remains a thing of the past. People seeking safety must no longer be treated as pawns in Washington’s political game, and President Biden must restore access to asylum in his final weeks in office.

Instead of spending billions of taxpayer dollars to fuel cruel border policies that create heartbreaking human rights and humanitarian crises, the United States must invest in a coordinated welcome and reception system that meets the immediate and long-term needs of people seeking safety.

Current border immigration rules are clearly intended to deter people seeking safety from exercising their human right to seek asylum, as well as to punish and inflict cruelty on those who continue to seek safety as they are legally allowed to do so. Clinging to policies of cruelty is wrong, especially when there are solutions on the table that can both solve the issues at the border and provide meaningful support for cities like Springfield, New York, Chicago, and Denver without human suffering and with respect for human rights and dignity.

President Biden must remember his promise to restore sanity to our immigration system. He must not pass the Border Bill as one of his last acts as President.

Free Indigenous elder and activist Leonard Peltier

Indigenous elder and activist Leonard Peltier has been incarcerated for nearly 50 years despite serious and ongoing concerns about the fairness of his trial. He is now 80 years old and is dealing with numerous health issues. No one should be imprisoned after a trial riddled with uncertainty about its fairness, and keeping him locked behind bars does not serve justice.

As a matter of humanity, mercy, and human rights, in his remaining weeks in office, President Biden should grant clemency and release Leonard Peltier. This would not only allow Peltier to be home with his family and community for his last years, but it would also help mend the fractured relationship between Native Americans and the U.S. government, which could be forever part of Biden’s legacy.