FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 26, 2023
Contact: Director of Communications
communications@nlg.org
(212) 679-5100, ext. 5
New York, NY — On Saturday, January 28, the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) will co-launch the International People’s Tribunal on U.S. Imperialism: Sanctions, Blockades, and Economic Coercive Measures. The Tribunal is an international effort to challenge U.S. imperialism and to build structures of accountability both within and outside the law.
“Sanctions are inherently violent measures designed to maintain hierarchy and inequality in the international economic and political system. They cause direct material harm not only to the people living on the receiving end of these policies, but to those who rely on trade and economic relations with sanctioned countries. ” said Suzanne Adely, NLG President and People’s Tribunal Steering Committee member. “The legal community needs to push back against the narrative that sanctions are non-violent alternatives to warfare.”
The Tribunal was conceived with the understanding that sanctions are a legal tool that enforces the underdevelopment in the Global South, enabling material exploitation, political subordination, and cultural domination in order to maintain the global supremacy of the United States.
The Tribunal will interrogate sanctions from the perspective of those most impacted, not from the perspective of international legal organizations such as the United Nations or policymakers, both of which have been complicit in executing sanctions regimes. Sanctions are inherently violent measures designed to maintain hierarchy and inequality in the international economic and political system.
The launch event will take place on January 28, 2023, at People’s Forum located at 320 W 37th St, New York, NY 10018. Doors will open at 10:30AM. Event registration can be found online at this link.
The National Lawyers Guild has used law to promote human rights over property interests for 85 years. For more information about NLG’s activist support programs, please visit the NLG website.
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