Gambiaj.com – (SACRAMENTO, UNITED STATES) – Former US prosecutors, investigators and human rights campaigners have launched a new organization to investigate alleged corruption and abuses by government officials and law enforcement officers, saying those responsible should not escape justice because of their position or influence.
The Rule of Law Project, a nonpartisan initiative based in the United States, will investigate cases of alleged misconduct that go unexamined or unpunished and prepare evidence for possible prosecution by state and local authorities or a future Department of Justice.
The organization brings together experienced Constitutional and Human Rights fellows, like Reed Brody and others, who have spent decades investigating corruption, civil rights violations and abuses of state power in the United States and other countries.
Brad Adams, the project’s co-founder and board chair, said he had spent much of his career documenting abuses in countries where the rule of law had broken down but had not expected to see what he described as such a rapid decline in the United States.
“Now, senior officials openly engage in corruption, while federal agents beat and kill innocent people with impunity,” Adams said.
He said the organization wanted to defend the principle that the law must apply equally to everyone, regardless of their political position, public office or authority.
Building Cases For Possible Prosecution
The project will be led by Mark Blumberg, who spent nearly 30 years in the US Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division investigating and prosecuting official misconduct.
Blumberg also led the department’s response to civil rights threats involving elections for two decades. His experience includes service on the FBI’s Shooting Investigation Review Group and Customs and Border Protection’s National Use of Force Review Board.
He will lead a team of former federal prosecutors and investigators tasked with examining allegations of wrongdoing and assembling cases that could be taken up by the appropriate authorities.
The organization says it will apply what it calls the “Ordinary Times Test“, meaning it will focus on cases that an independent Justice Department would ordinarily have pursued.
Blumberg said the intention was not to settle political scores but to ensure that powerful people face the same legal standards as everyone else.
The investigations will cover allegations of public officials using their positions for personal gain, improperly influencing government decisions and accepting benefits in exchange for official favors. The project will also examine the possible involvement of private individuals in such conduct.
Immigration Enforcement And Civil Rights In Focus
The treatment of people by federal immigration agencies will be another priority. The project plans to investigate allegations of unnecessary or excessive force and improper detention conditions involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.
It will also look into alleged interference with voting rights and other protected freedoms.
Kenneth Roth, a member of the project’s board and former executive director of Human Rights Watch, said independent organizations had helped expose abuses around the world by gathering evidence that could later support criminal proceedings.
He cited cases involving former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, former Liberian president Charles Taylor and former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladić as examples of how detailed investigations by private organizations can contribute to efforts to hold powerful figures accountable.
Roth said the project would investigate allegations of immigration enforcement violence and official corruption that he believes the current US government is unwilling to pursue.
The aim is to preserve evidence and prepare cases that could be handed to prosecutors when there is an opportunity to pursue them.
The initiative has assembled an advisory council of former US government officials, human rights specialists, lawyers and academics. Its members include Berkeley Law dean Erwin Chemerinsky, former US attorney Stephanie Hinds and former US ambassador for global criminal justice Beth Van Schaack.
The project cannot prosecute cases itself. Its work will instead focus on investigating alleged wrongdoing, documenting evidence and preparing files for authorities with the legal power to bring charges.
Whether those cases eventually lead to prosecution will depend on the decisions of the relevant authorities and the evidence available.
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