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Americas Iran Middle East & North Africa United States | Advocacy Letter

More than 200 Organizations and Experts Call for an End to Trump’s Threats of War Crimes and Call for Accountability

April 7, 2026

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We the undersigned human rights, humanitarian, civil liberties, faith-based and environmental organizations, think tanks and experts are deeply alarmed by President Trump’s threat regarding Iran that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if his demands are not met.

Such language describes a grave atrocity if carried out. A threat to wipe out “a whole civilization” may amount to a threat of genocide. Genocide is a crime defined by the Genocide Convention and by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as committing one or more of several acts “with intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, racial or religious groups as such.”

The law is clear that civilians must not be targeted, and they must also be protected from indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks. Strikes on civilian infrastructure – such as the recent attack on a bridge and the attacks President Trump is repeatedly threatening to carry out to destroy power plants – have devastating consequences for the civilian population and environment.

We urge all parties to respect international law. Those responsible for atrocities, including crimes against humanity and war crimes, can and must be held accountable.

The undersigned remind those engaged in military operations of their obligation to refuse any patently unlawful order. Anyone who orders, carries out, or is otherwise complicit in President Trump’s abhorrent threats must be held accountable. 

Signed,

Organizations 

  1. Amnesty International USA 
  2. Human Rights Watch 
  3. Oxfam America 
  4. Refugees International 
  5. 99 Coalition 
  6. Action Center on Race and the Economy 
  7. Al Otro Lado 
  8. Aldea – the People’s Justice Center 
  9. American Atheists 
  10. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) 
  11. American Committee for Middle East Rights (ACMER) 
  12. American Friends Service Committee
  13. American Muslims for Palestine 
  14. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) 
  15. Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action) 
  16. ANAR 
  17. Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) 
  18. ATHENA Network 
  19. Back from the Brink: Bringing Communities Together to Abolish Nuclear Weapons 
  20. Baltimore, MD Phil Berrigan Memorial Chapter Veterans For Peace 
  21. Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation 
  22. Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) 
  23. Center for Gender & Refugee Studies 
  24. Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law 
  25. Center for International Environmental Law 
  26. Center for International Policy 
  27. Center for Victims of Torture 
  28. Center on Conscience and War 
  29. Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility 
  30. Christians for a Free Palestine (CFP) 
  31. Church World Service 
  32. Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) 
  33. Common Defense 
  34. Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Region 
  35. Council for a Livable World 
  36. Council for Global Equality 
  37. Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) 
  38. cylindr 
  39. DAWN 
  40. DAYLIGHT | Rule of Law, Access to Justice, Advocacy 
  41. Defending Rights & Dissent 
  42. Demand Progress 
  43. Emerald Pademelon Press LLC 
  44. Femena 
  45. Feminism Makes Us Smarter LLC 
  46. Foreign Policy for America 
  47. Foundation for Middle East Peace 
  48. Friends Committee on National Legislation 
  49. Fund for Global Human Rights 
  50. Georgetown Center for Asian Law 
  51. Girls for Gender Equity 
  52. Grassroots Global Justice Alliance 
  53. Haitian Bridge Alliance 
  54. HALT Solitary Campaign 
  55. Help Me Leave 
  56. Human Rights Activists (in Iran) HRA 
  57. Human Rights First 
  58. Humanity United 
  59. IfNotNow Movement 
  60. IMEU Policy Project 
  61. Impact Coalition on Strengthening International Judicial Institutions 
  62. Institute for Policy Studies, New Internationalism Project 
  63. Institute for Policy Studies, National Priorities Project 
  64. Interconnected Justice 
  65. International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) 
  66. International Mayan League / Liga Maya Internacional 
  67. Just Detention International 
  68. KNR Sisters 
  69. Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) 
  70. Latin America Working Group 
  71. Lawyers for Good Government 
  72. Legal Empowerment Portal 
  73. Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School 
  74. Loretto Link 
  75. MADRE 
  76. Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns 
  77. Miaan Group 
  78. Migrant Roots Media 
  79. Military Law Task Force of the National Lawyers Guild 
  80. MPower Change Action Fund 
  81. Muslim Advocates 
  82. NAACP 
  83. National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd 
  84. National Iranian American Council Action 
  85. National Partnership for New Americans 
  86. NBJC 
  87. Oasis Legal Services 
  88. Ohio Immigrant Alliance 
  89. Open Society Foundations 
  90. P Street 
  91. Peace Action 
  92. Peace Action, New York State 
  93. Peace, Justice, Sustainability NOW! 
  94. PEN America 
  95. Physicians for Human Rights 
  96. Physicians for Social Responsibility 
  97. Ploughshares 
  98. Presbyterian Church (USA), Office of Public Witness 
  99. Presbyterian Peace Fellowship 
  100. Project On Government Oversight 
  101. Public Citizen 
  102. Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft 
  103. Quixote Center 
  104. Refugee Council USA 
  105. Reparations Pledge 
  106. Reparations4Slavery 
  107. ReThinking Foreign Policy 
  108. Rising Majority 
  109. Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center 
  110. RootsAction 
  111. Saferworld 
  112. Savie ASBL NGO LGBTQ DRC 
  113. September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows 
  114. Signal Research and Resilience Initiative Sierra Leone RSquare 
  115. Sisters of Mercy of the Americas 
  116. Stanley Center for Peace and Security 
  117. Susquehanna Valley Presbytery’s Justice in Mission & Ministry Team 
  118. Texas Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry 
  119. The Alliance for Diplomacy and Justice 
  120. The Reckoning Project 
  121. The Sentry 
  122. The United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society 
  123. The Workers Circle 
  124. Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment (CAREs) 
  125. Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) 
  126. United for Iran 
  127. Unlock the Box: The National Campaign to End Solitary Confinement 
  128. War Prevention Initiative 
  129. We Are All America (WAAA) 
  130. Welcoming America 
  131. Western States Legal Foundation 
  132. Win Without War 
  133. Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) 
  134. Women’s Foundation California 
  135. Women’s March 
  136. World BEYOND War 
  137. Woven Foundation 

Individuals (Affiliation only for identification purposes) 

  1. Afshin Samali, University of Galway 
  2. Alexandra Toma, Peace and Security Funders Group 
  3. Ambassador (Ret.) Alexander F. Watson 
  4. Ambassador (Ret.) Deborah Malac, Former Ambassador, Career Foreign Service Officer, Department of State 
  5. Anne C. Richard, Former Assistant Secretary of State, 2012-2017 
  6. Anne Peniston, Retired from USAID 
  7. Annie Pforzheimer, City University of New York 
  8. Anthony Tirado Chase, Occidental College 
  9. Arsalan Suleman, Former Acting U.S. Special Envoy to the OIC 
  10. Aryeh Neier, Open Society Foundations 
  11. Aurelia Brazeal, U.S. Department of State (retired) 
  12. Bama Athreya, Former US diplomat; current Executive Director, ICRW Americas 
  13. Begona Sangrador-Vegas, University of Galway 
  14. Bill Galvin, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship; Center on Conscience & War 
  15. Brian Peniston, ACLU member 
  16. Bruce Gillette, Susquehanna Valley Presbytery’s Justice in Mission & Ministry Team 
  17. Charles O. (Cob) Blaha, DAWN Senior Advisor, retired Foreign Service Officer 
  18. Christine Kraemer, Trinity Church of Austin 
  19. Corbin B. Lyday, Senior Policy Analyst (retired), US Agency for International Development 
  20. Daniel Cole, Quaker, Center on Conscience and War board member 
  21. Daryl G. Kimball, Arms Control Association 
  22. David Dyssegaard Kallick, Immigration Research Initiative 
  23. Elham Youssefian, Disability rights and human rights advocate 
  24. Elisa Massimino, Visiting Professor of Law, Executive Director, Human Rights Institute, Georgetown Law 
  25. Eric P. Schwartz, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota 
  26. Fleurian Filkins, Head of Advocacy at Help Me Leave 
  27. Gabriele Köhler, Wecf 
  28. Geeta Rao Gupta, Arch Collaborative 
  29. Gerald Feierstein, Former U.S. Ambassador to Yemen 
  30. Ghazal MIYAR, Sciences Po Paris 
  31. Grove Harris, Temple of Understanding 
  32. Hadar Harris, Rights and Justice Consulting 
  33. Heather Davison, Western States Legal Foundation 
  34. Heather Hogan, Former State Department Official 
  35. Jane Kinninmont, United Nations Association – UK 
  36. Janet Drew, AFSC 
  37. Jeff Abramson, Senior non-resident fellow, Center for International Policy 
  38. Jennifer Trahan, NYU Center for Global Affairs 
  39. Jessica John, Former CIA Leadership Analyst 
  40. Jon Temin, Former State Department Official 
  41. Jonah Blank, Former Policy Director/South & Southeast Asia, Senate Foreign Relations Committee 
  42. Kavita N Ramdas, KNR Sisters 
  43. Kenneth Roth, Visiting professor, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs; former executive director, Human Rights Watch 
  44. Leslie Rowe, Ambassador (ret.) 
  45. Mani Mostofi, Executive Director of the Miaan Group 
  46. Mardi Veiluva, Board member, Western States Legal Foundation, Oakland, CA 
  47. Nancy McEldowney, Former National Security Adviser to the Vice President 
  48. Niloufar Omidi, Human rights lawyer 
  49. Pamela L. Spratlen, Assn. of Black American Ambassadors (ABAA) 
  50. Rebecca A. Shoot, Co-Convener, ImPact Coalition on Strengthening International Judicial Institutions; Washington Working Group for the ICC 
  51. Roman Avramenko, The Reckoning Project 
  52. Salim Ishmail Kondoh, Stop the War 
  53. Saqib Bhatti, Action Center on Race and the Economy 
  54. Saskia Brechenmacher, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace 
  55. Sekar Jasmine Noegroho, Columbia University 
  56. Shahed Ghoreishi, Former State Department Official 
  57. Shannon Kowalski, Independent Expert on Gender Equality and Human Rights 
  58. Shannon Raj Singh, Athena Tech & Atrocities Advisory 
  59. Sister Mary Ann McGivern, Sister of Loretto 
  60. Skylar Thompson, Deputy Director, Human Rights Activists (in Iran) 
  61. Soheila Comninos, SC Consulting 
  62. Susan Waltz, Professor emeritus, University of Michigan 
  63. Susana T Fried, Just Futures Collaborative 
  64. Terry Kay Rockefeller, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows 
  65. Varina Winder, Former State Department Official 
  66. Yasmine Taeb, Human Rights Lawyer and Progressive Strategist 

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