Create people's tribunals in America to hold powerful human rights violators accountable

On the Necessity of Tribunals

We, the People of America, are in crises. That’s plural. Our systems and leaders are inadequate to meeting these crises and in many cases are responsible for them.


We are committed to establishing People’s tribunals, guided by moral law, to establish Justice, to remove inadequate leaders and guide new leaders, and to make necessary adjustments to our political and economic systems re-aligning them to do the People’s work.

Why we must establish tribunals to bring American human rights violators to Justice

1. Our systems of justice and our leaders have failed
2. We are facing unnecessary suffering, death
3. Our planet is becoming uninhabitable
4. Nobody will save us but ourselves
5. When it comes to human rights victims, we are next

What’s the nature of the problem?

1. Governments, political parties, candidates and media are awash in corporate money
2. These institutions serve their corporate funders at the expense of the People
3. Plutocracy, which is defined as government by the rich, is a dangerous reality
4. They engage in torture, excuse murders by police, operate concentration camps, and use a vast portion of the People’s money for mass murder (“war” or “defense”)
5. They deliver gifts to the wealthy most commonly never-ending rounds of “tax breaks” and other undeserved benefits
6. They take advantage of prejudice and division by encouraging and exploiting hatred of the “other”
7. They slash or deny the People help from their own tax dollars to ease hunger, homelessness, disease and every form of unnecessary suffering
8. They exhibit an astounding absence of empathy and competence

What we must do

1. Establish a core group of human rights activists, experts, victims and other interested parties to address the problem
2. The core group must set up rules and procedures for tribunals which will include direct confrontation of the accused by the victims, proportional punishment with the exception of torture and the death penalty (because we are not barbarians), and rules similar but not identical to criminal trials minus the preferential treatment currently afforded to the wealthy
3. Through popular mass protest and action, demand that the establishment stand aside and allow the tribunals to do their work
4. Provide guidance for future leaders who must do their jobs guided by moral law and paramount care for the well-being of the People
5. Remove all private money from the political systems and de-certify all corporations that are currently bound by charter to maximize shareholder returns—a systemic flaw that has been responsible for lies, cheating, greed and suffering everywhere
   
   

Why this can succeed

We are aware of the objections this course of action will generate.

1. The Establishment and its ideological allies will make rationalizations for continuing along our fatal course
2. Naysayers will dismiss the tribunals and related activities as unrealistic and assume that nothing will happen or that any such actions will be suppressed

However...

1. Many movements have succeeded throughout history and were dismissed as impossible until they happened. For example, the American colonies declared Independence from England and militarily defeated the greatest power on Earth; India ejected the British through nonviolent protest; the people of the Soviet Union and its satellites nonviolently dissolved a superpower
2. We have no other choice

Our next steps

1. We must sign this document and share it widely
2. We must encourage human rights activists, experts, and victims to organize a core group and get to work
3. We must commit ourselves to support the tribunals in every way possible including nonviolent protest in the streets
4. We must remember what is at stake and never waver

I am signing this document as a sign of my personal commitment to the cause of Justice and the well-being of the People of America and the world.