Photo by Markus Spiske
I am an American citizen. The US Constitution is a fine document anchored in general principles of law, on democratic traditions of the rule of law. Amendments to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights enumerate fundamental rights and freedoms for all persons living under Unites States jurisdiction.
As a UN member, the United States is bound by the UN Charter, and is legally committed to advance the purposes and principles enunciated in articles 1 and 2, including the sovereign equality of states, the self-determination of peoples, the prohibition of the threat or the use of force, and the obligation to settle disputes diplomatically. The US is a state party to the 1948 Genocide Convention, to the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other UN Treaties. This is the framework.
Has the US lived up to the promise? It certainly could have, but a reality check tells us that hitherto the US is failing badly. If America aspires to be “great” again, it can start by reviving the legacy of Eleanor Roosevelt and rediscovering the spirituality of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Greatness is not measured by military power, not by acting as a bully, not by aggressing other countries, stealing their resources, kidnapping presidents, and decapitating religious leaders. This is not greatness but gangsterism.
The world is witnessing in real time a revolt against civilization[1], against the UN Charter and international morals, as has been amply documented by American scholars including Professors John Mearsheimer, Jeffrey Sachs, Francis Boyle, Stephen Kinzer, John Quigley, Norman Finkelstein, Norman Solomon, Dan Kovalik and many others.
The US is complicit in the ongoing Israeli genocide against the Palestinians. Both the United States and Israel have violated the Nuremberg Principles and articles 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the Statute of Rome of the International Criminal Court.
Greatness and mutual respect
The MAGA movement in the United States is a post-truth collection of paranoias dressed up in pseudo-patriotic verbiage. Before being considered “great”, a country should endeavour to earn the respect of other countries by its actions in conformity with civilized practice. Instead of MAGA, the US should aim at being esteemed as a law-abiding country, a reliable partner, a friend ready to provide assistance when needed.
Domestically, greatness should be measured by the practical recognition of human dignity and the concrete enjoyment of human rights by all citizens. Greatness is also measured by the creativity of a civilization, not only in the fields of technology and medicine, but most importantly in the pursuit of spiritual—not only material – values. A civilized country empowers the population and facilitates happiness in an atmosphere of peace and solidarity.
Over the centuries the United States has achieved much that has contributed to the welfare of the American people, and the world — but it has also failed to live up to the promises of the US Constitution and to abide by international human rights treaties.
Domestically we observe the persecution of “illegal migrants”, egregious crimes by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office[2], generalized police brutality, homelessness, extreme poverty, endemic racism, a widespread absence of empathy, nurtured by what has been termed necrocapitalismand “zero sum” dynamics of exploitation. Academic freedom has been seriously curtailed, freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association have been criminalized. Dissenters and whistleblowers are jailed[3].
An atmosphere of fear and insecurity prevails. The mainstream media engages in relentless war-mongering and incitement to hatred and violence. Russophobia and Sinophobia are rampant, notwithstanding article 20 of the ICCPR, which stipulates:
1. Any propaganda for war shall be prohibited by law.
2. Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.”
The fact is that in the United States the population lives in an artificial world shaped by public relations and relentless propaganda. The population is brainwashed and gaslighted. We are taught to believe that we are the “good guys” by definition, which implies that there are a lot of “bad guys” out there – especially the Chinese and the Russians. We in the United States have not realized that our neighbours are not a priori enemies, but that they can be potential partners even friends in a win-win joint venture.
The US paranoia demonstrated by President Donald Trump and most of his predecessors with the exception of President Jimmy Carter is a disservice to the American people and constitutes a threat to international peace and security.
If there is something where the United States has truly excelled, it is in the field of propaganda. No country has ever succeeded in controlling the narrative like the United States. Indeed, the mainstream media is an echo chamber of the Pentagon and the State Department. We Americans are the world champions in the manipulation of public opinion by means of pervasive public relations campaigns. We are told whom to like and whom to dislike. The sad thing is that most people believe the propaganda. We live in an Orwellian dystopia.
The pre-history of US hegemonial mentality
US hubris is not a recent phenomenon. It goes back to the origins of the 13 US colonies and the genocide against some ten million indigenous Americans, the Algonquins, Cherokees, Crees, Dakotas, Hopis, Iroquois, Lakotas, Mohawks, Navahos, Pequots, Pueblos and Squamish. Not without reason Dr. Martin Luther King wrote in his 1964 book “Why we can’t Wait”:
“Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. Even before there were large numbers of Negroes on our shores, the scar of racial hatred had already disfigured colonial society. From the sixteenth century forward, blood flowed in battles over racial supremacy. We are perhaps the only nation which tried as a matter of national policy to wipe out its indigenous population. Moreover, we elevated that tragic experience into a noble crusade. Indeed, even today we have not permitted ourselves to reject or to feel remorse for this shameful episode. Our literature, our films, our drama, our folklore all exalt it.”[4]
These words are tough to hear, but unfortunately true. That is perhaps why this aspect of Martin Luther King’s legacy is systematically ignored by the media, why it is not taught in high schools and universities.
The United States hegemonial mindset goes back to the transatlantic slave trade, to chattel slavery, to concepts like the “Monroe doctrine” and “Manifest Destiny”, “regime change” operations worldwide, including the overthrow of the democratically elected prime minister of Iran, Mohammad Mosaddegh, in 1953 during the Administration of Dwight Eisenhower, and the atrocities of the Vietnam War under presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon.
This aggressive mindset is reflected in the primitive arguments propounded by Francis Fukuyama in his triumphalist book The End of History[5].
United States human rights record internationally
Bearing in mind that the core obligation under the UN Charter is to refrain from the threat and the use of force. It is evident that the United States is in permanent violation of the Charter, that NATO aggressions against Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Iran entail breaches of the UN Charter and of Articles 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the Statute of Rome.
Pursuant to Article 103 of the UN Charter, the supremacy clause, the Charter takes precedence over all other treaties and arrangements including the Treaty of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Alas, NATO has morphed from a defensive alliance to a war coalition that pursues goals that are totally incompatible with the UN Charter. Article 103 stipulates:
“In the event of a conflict between the obligations of the Members of the United Nations under the present Charter and their obligations under any other international agreement, their obligations under the present Charter shall prevail.”
Pursuant to Article VI of the US Constitution: “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby…”[6]
This means, among other things, that the UN Charter, the Genocide Convention, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights are part of the “Law of the Land”. Someone should remind Donald Trump of this legal consideration.
Bearing in mind that Peace is a human right[7], the US and NATO’s provocations in Europe, the Arctic, the Asia-Pacific region, the Caribbean and the installation of more than 800 US military bases throughout the world constitute a threat to international peace and security. The United States engineering of “colour revolutions” in many countries, in particular the Maidan coup d’état against the democratically elected President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovich, ushered in the Russia-Ukraine war that has already claimed more than one million lives. The US commando action in Venezuela to kidnap its elected President Nicolas Maduro, belongs in the long list of US crimes against Latin American leaders.
Genocide is the ultimate crime[8], the gravest of all violations of human rights. The United States and Israel are committing genocide against Palestinians, but with the complicity of several EU and NATO states that provide military, political, economic, diplomatic and propagandistic support to the genocidal states[9]. Genocide is the ultimate violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The bombardment of Iran by the US and Israel in June 2025 and since February 2026 entailed the crime of aggression, aggravated by the crime of perfidy pursuant to article 37 of the First Additional Protocol to the 1949 Geneva Red Cross Conventions.
During the time of the “war of terror” under George W. Bush, thousands of persons worldwide were kidnapped, arbitrarily detained and kept in secret CIA prisons including Guantanamo[10], where they were subjected to torture and ill-treatment. Extraordinary renditions were repeatedly condemned by the UN Special Rapporteurs on Counterterrorism[11].
The voting record of the United States in the UN General Assembly and Human Rights Council confirms that the United States rejects the international consensus and pretends to impose its interpretations of international law on the rest of the world[12]. It is crucial that the Global Majority pushback against this deliberate attack on international law and its enforcement mechanisms.
With regard to unilateral coercive measures[13], which. nota bene, are not legal sanctions, but constitute the unlawful use of force[14], contrary to General Assembly Resolution 2625 and countless other UN resolutions, the United States and Europe bear responsibility for hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide[15]. UCMs are collective punishment and kill indiscriminately, just like hot wars and drones do[16]. The General Assembly has adopted by overwhelming majorities 33 resolutions demanding that the United States lift its economic and financial embargo against Cuba. The US has ignored these resolutions. A 34th resolution is on the agenda of General Assembly’s 81st session, and it is expected that it will be adopted late October 2026.
Conclusion
Grave violations of human rights must be investigated and those responsible must be held to account. The victims are entitled to reparation and rehabilitation. Hitherto the United States has escaped justice by refusing to recognize the judgments of international tribunals and refusing to submit itself to the jurisdiction of the Human Rights Committee, Committee against Torture and other expert quasi-judicial organs.
The United States has even imposed unilateral coercive measures against judges and prosecutors of the International Criminal Court[17], has sanctioned the UN Rapporteur on Palestine, Francesca Albanese[18]. It is clear that the US is out of control and that it is waging war against the UN Charter and civilization.
A question for all of us is why the General Assembly has thus far failed to adopt a “Uniting for Peace” Resolution to enable it to take action against a rogue P-5 member, why the General Assembly has not called for boycott-disinvestment-sanction against both the United States and Israel.
As we witness the prevailing culture of impunity, we call on the Global Majority, on the BRICS countries, on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, to take measures of retorsion and countermeasures against the United States and Israel: cease purchasing F-35, F-16, Boeing, Lockheed/Martin, Raytheon. See off US Treasury Bonds. Stop selling “rare earths” to the US and its vassals. The world would be well advised to BDS both the US and Israel.
The moment of truth is now.
Notes.
[1] https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/17/a-rebellion-against-law-and-civilization-genocide-and-its-accomplices/
[2] https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/fact-sheet/ice-cbp-legal-analysis/
[3] Nils Melzer, The Trial of Julian Assange, Verso books, New York, 2022.
[4] “Why we can’t Wait”, New American Library, Signet Book, New York, p.120, new edition Beacon press, Boston, p. 141.
[5] Simon and Schuster, New York, 1992. See also https://www.jstor.org/stable/24027184
[6] https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/full-text
[7] https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/11/11/peace-as-a-human-right/
[8] https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/11/05/the-normalization-of-genocide/
[9] https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/17/a-rebellion-against-law-and-civilization-genocide-and-its-accomplices/
[10] https://opil.ouplaw.com/display/10.1093/law:epil/9780199231690/law-9780199231690-e301
[11] https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/1287357?v=pdf
[12] https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/04/01/the-track-record-of-the-collective-west/
[13] https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-unilateral-coercive-measures
[14] https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/03/27/un-charter-un-credibility-and-unlawful-unilateral-coercive-measures/
[15] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(25)00278-5/fulltext
[16] https://cepr.net/publications/economic-sanctions-as-collective-punishment-the-case-of-venezuela/
[17] https://www.state.gov/icc-sanctions/
[18] https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2025/07/sanctioning-lawfare-that-targets-u-s-and-israeli-persons
This is the text of de Zeyes’ presentation at a side panel event during the 63rd session of the Human Rights Council.
