The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) has pointed out that the impeachment trial – ‘impeachment’ – of former US President Donald Trump “is not enough” and has urged the US authorities to “thoroughly investigate the rights abuses committed to reverse the presidential elections of November 3, 2020, “which ended the assault on the Washington Capitol on January 6.
“In addition to the impeachment of Donald Trump, the government must vigorously carry out criminal investigations into the related events, find those responsible and ensure that abuses are not repeated,” the organization stressed in a statement.
Specifically, the executive director of the HRW United States Program, Nicole Austin-Hillery, has asserted that the impeachment “does not cover all the people involved or all the abuses and crimes that occurred between the elections and the attack on the Capitol. “.
The organization has indicated that in addition to Trump, “many others, including members of his Administration, Congress and law enforcement”, “participated to revoke the will of the people.”
“The federal and state authorities have the obligation to carry out exhaustive and effective criminal investigations of these events and guarantee accountability,” insisted Human Rights Watch, which has pointed to violations of the “right to vote, the right to life and freedom. security of the person or not to be the object of discrimination “.
Although the organization recognizes that the Department of Justice has already opened an investigation and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have expressed their intention to initiate their own, it stresses that the authorities must investigate possible violations “by criminal law.” . “Including Trump’s multiple demands on state officials to alter the results of the elections in Georgia,” he asked.
In relation to other investigations related to the attack on the Capitol, such as those of the FBI, the Department of Defense or the House of Representatives, the NGO has demanded that they be “wide-ranging” and that they focus “not only on the people who broke in.” in the place, “if not also in those who may have colluded with them or have helped them by action or omission, including the lack of preparation and response of officials.”
“President Biden will have to make responsibility for abuses of political rights, including the attack on the Capitol, a priority if he wants his word on democratic values to have weight at home and abroad,” he added in this Austin-Hillery look.
On the other hand, the organization has called on the United States authorities to address “violent extremism” since “white supremacists and far-right” participated in the different incidents.
In this context, he has appealed to also investigate the “violent and excessively militarized” responses to black activists and their allies in the protests for racial justice in the summer of 2020.
“The difference in responses requires careful examination in the context of widespread racial discrimination by US law enforcement and frequent racist comments by Trump and members of his Administration,” Human Righst Watch noted.
