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Nina Moraitou-Politzi

@ninamorpol

Human rights lawyer @humanrightsfirst.org, #Magnitsky sanctions, anti-corruption and int’l justice & accountability | Formerly RFK Human Rights and Refugee Council. Opinions my own.

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15.11.2024
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Latest posts by Nina Moraitou-Politzi @ninamorpol

Jailed Vietnamese climate activist/lawyer Dang Dinh Bach wins the Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty
Jailed Vietnamese climate activist/lawyer Dang Dinh Bach wins the Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty YouTube video by Human Rights First

Watch as our CEO, @uzraz.bsky.social , introduces Bach's vital contributions to the fight for climate justice in Vietnam and hear from Bach's wife, Thao, as she accepts the Baldwin Medal of Liberty on his behalf. #FreeBach #StandwithBach #4YearsTooLong
youtu.be/08l6GHZw7BE

01.07.2025 17:34 👍 1 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0
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The Leahy Laws and Their Relationship With Global Magnitsky Sanctions - Human Rights First The “Leahy Laws,” named after former U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, refer to two statutory provisions that prohibit the U.S. government (USG) from providing assistance to any unit of a foreign country’s ...

First up in the series is an explainer on the #Leahy Laws, with an emphasis on how they compare to #GlobalMagnitsky sanctions and the role civil society can play in triggering action under both programs.
Read our explainer below👇

25.04.2025 15:12 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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100+ civil society organizations are calling on @USDOL to restore $500M in funding to combat forced labor & child labor. These funds are essential to protect children and to end #humantrafficking. These cuts put lives at risk. #ForcedLabor #ChildLabor stopchildlabor.org/civil-societ...

23.04.2025 15:52 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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What abuses and corrupt acts can be sanctioned in different Magnitsky jurisdictions? - Human Rights First By Nina Moraitou-Politzi Targeted financial sanctions have become a key tool in holding perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and acts of corruption to account, while also helping deter others fr...

Today @humanrights1st launched a new comparative chart on how Magnitsky-style sanctions are used to hold human rights abusers & corrupt actors accountable in the U.S., U.K., EU, Canada, and Australia. Learn more: humanrightsfirst.org/library/what...

17.04.2025 19:56 👍 1 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0
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Human Rights First and Transparency International U.S. Condemn U.S. Corruption Sanctions Relief for Hungarian Official - Human Rights First Press contacts: Human Rights First: press@humanrightsfirst.org Transparency International U.S.: sgreytak@us.transparency.org Washington, D.C. — Today, Human Rights First and Transparency International...

.@humanrightsfirst.org & @transparencyusa.bsky.social condemn the Trump admin for lifting Global Magnitsky sanctions on sr Hungarian official Antal Rogán. This delisting raises grave concerns that the US is undermining an important corruption accountability tool. humanrightsfirst.org/library/huma...

15.04.2025 21:48 👍 7 🔁 8 💬 0 📌 2

"but instead the Trump administration is cozying up to and copying Bukele’s authoritarian playbook — rounding up people with no evidence, denying them any due process and disappearing them in abusive Salvadoran prisons indefinitely.”

14.04.2025 20:38 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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El Salvador’s President Says He Won’t Return Maryland Man Who Was Wrongly Deported An Oval Office meeting between President Trump and President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador was a blunt example of Mr. Trump’s defiance of the federal courts.

@amandalstrayer.bsky.social: “Human rights, democratic norms and the rule of law have all but disappeared in #ElSalvador. The United States should be holding Bukele’s government accountable for these serious violations..." www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/u...

14.04.2025 20:38 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
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Pressed for evidence against Mahmoud Khalil, government cites its power to deport people for beliefs The U.S. government has submitted a two-page memo from Secretary of State Marco Rubio as its main evidence in its deportation case against Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil.

"The two-page memo, which was obtained by The Associated Press, does not allege any criminal conduct by Khalil"

"Rather, Rubio wrote Khalil could be expelled for his beliefs."

Free this man immediately.

apnews.com/article/mahm...

10.04.2025 18:13 👍 3941 🔁 1490 💬 109 📌 220

Read our factsheet here. It discusses key arguments against the sanctions and what they do & do not cover, and includes perspectives condemning the sanctions from human rights activists in countries the #ICC has ongoing investigations. humanrightsfirst.org/library/u-s-...

27.03.2025 21:31 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Trump administration moves to cut programs that fight child labor abroad The Labor Department is canceling $500 million allocated to programs that combat child labor, forced labor, human trafficking and abusive practices in more than 40 countries.

“These cuts mean that [more] children will be forced to work in extremely hazardous conditions in brick kilns, slave-like conditions in seafood processing centers and palm oil processing, and in forced online sex exploitation...” www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

27.03.2025 14:31 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

They are disappearing people off the streets
They are disappearing people off the streets
They are disappearing people off the streets
They are disappearing people off the streets
They are disappearing people off the streets

27.03.2025 14:29 👍 16372 🔁 5088 💬 378 📌 196
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Survivors Bring Case to End Japan’s ‘Hostage Justice’ Four survivors of Japan’s “hostage justice” filed a lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court on March 24, contending that the Code of Criminal Procedure provisions allowing prolonged pretrial detention and...

Four survivors of Japan’s “hostage justice” filed a lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court on March 24.

This lawsuit marks a courageous stand by survivors seeking an end to the abusive practice of hostage justice, a first of its kind in Japan.

25.03.2025 08:39 👍 72 🔁 18 💬 0 📌 1
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Questions and Answers: U.S. Sanctions on the International Criminal Court - Human Rights First This resource – which should not be considered legal advice – is meant to answer key questions about the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the U.S. sanctions targeting it. On February 6, 2025, th...

humanrightsfirst.org/library/u-s-...

19.03.2025 22:51 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Trump authorized sanctions against the #ICC, but what does this mean? @humanrightsfirst.org, @adamofkeith.bsky.social and I explain what the sanctions do & do not cover and why they threaten the court's vital work in supporting justice & accountability for the world's worst int'l crimes. Link below⤵️

19.03.2025 22:51 👍 0 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0

This is going to have significant consequences for immigration law. The State Department Human Rights Report is presumptively reliable and cited in asylum decisions all the time. If it's gutted completely (it was moderately gutted under Trump), it'll erase a major evidentiary tool for asylum cases.

19.03.2025 17:11 👍 444 🔁 211 💬 10 📌 8
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U.S. GLOBAL MAGNITSKY AND RELATED SANCTIONS End of Year Update 2024 - Human Rights First This briefing provides an overview of recent developments in the U.S. government’s use of its targeted human rights and anticorruption sanctions programs from July 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024. Downl...

In our latest periodic report, @humanrights1st.bsky.social tracked how the U.S. gov't used #Magnitsky-style sanctions and visa restrictions to hold human rights abusers and corrupt actors accountable in the second half of 2024. humanrightsfirst.org/library/us-g...

12.03.2025 21:57 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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Human Rights First Welcomes Arrest of Former Philippines President on International Warrant - Human Rights First Human Rights First welcomes the reported arrest of former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on an International Criminal Court arrest warrant as a major step toward justice for the victims and sur...

We @humanrights1st.bsky.social welcome the news that former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has been arrested on an International Criminal Court warrant for extrajudicial killings in the country’s so-called “war on drugs.” humanrightsfirst.org/library/huma...

11.03.2025 16:38 👍 0 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0
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Immigration agents arrest Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University protests A prominent Palestinian activist who helped lead last spring's protests at Columbia University has been arrested by federal immigration agents.

Utterly outrageous. This is un-American.

The forced disappearance of Mahmoud Khalil for nothing more than constitutionally protected speech is a clear assault on first amendment rights and a blatant act of authoritarianism.

Khalil must be released.

apnews.com/article/colu...

10.03.2025 16:28 👍 1803 🔁 438 💬 53 📌 29

“Soon after the press conference finished last night, the city was rocked by a series of large explosions. A hospital was hit, along with a supermarket and various residential buildings. Local news reported a dozen casualties.”

01.03.2025 23:20 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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What’s Different about the new ICC Sanctions? Still Appalling, Not Much Narrower | Human Rights First The new U.S. sanctions program targeting the International Criminal Court (ICC) that was announced by executive order on February 6 differs in only minor respects from the sanctions program created in...

Trump’s new EO borrows much of the language from past efforts to sanction the ICC & is the latest in a series of disgraceful attempts to shield Israel from accountability for its atrocities in Gaza. @adamofkeith.bsky.social & I break down some of its impacts: humanrightsfirst.org/library/what...

11.02.2025 03:26 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

@ninamorpol.bsky.social and I would welcome feedback on this paper.

10.02.2025 23:18 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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Trump signs order sanctioning International Criminal Court The order accuses the Hague-based body of creating a "shameful moral equivalency" between Hamas and Israel, the White House says.

Important to situate the ICC sanctions within the Trump admin's broader assault on the rule of law.

Favored groups such as Jan 6 rioters and Israeli officials should be above the law.

Whereas those who seek to hold them accountable for actual crimes should be punished.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

06.02.2025 22:34 👍 71 🔁 40 💬 8 📌 3

Follow us @humanrightsfirst.bsky.social to learn more about our work and learn how you can take action to defend civil and human rights.

03.02.2025 19:53 👍 0 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0
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Human Rights First Calls for Magnitsky Sanctions in Egyptian Bribery of Senator Menendez | Human Rights First Washington, D.C. – Human Rights First today called on the U.S. government to impose targeted financial and visa sanctions on a senior Egyptian official and a U.S. company for their apparent involvemen...

humanrightsfirst.org/library/huma...

30.01.2025 18:00 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

As ex-Sen. Menendez faces an 11-year sentence for bribery & acting as a foreign agent of Egypt, the Egyptian officials apparently involved have yet to face accountability. Human Rights First has urged the US government to impose #Magnitsky sanctions to show such corruption will not be tolerated.

30.01.2025 18:00 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
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Ukrainian CSOs` Joint Letter to Kaja Kallas: Safeguard the ICC in the Face of Potential US Sanctions - Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group To H.E. Kaja Kallas, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission We are the Ukrainian civil society organisations working on justice a...

Courageous letter from Ukrainian human rights NGOs and war crimes documenters urging @kajakallas.bsky.social and the EU to protect the ICC against U.S. sanctions.

"Imposing sanctions...would be a devastating and unacceptable act of a political attack against the system of international justice."

27.01.2025 13:19 👍 0 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0
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Jailed Vietnamese Human Rights Defender Wins Baldwin Medal of Liberty | Human Rights First NEW YORK – Human Rights First announced today that climate rights activist and lawyer Dang Dinh Bach, jailed in Vietnam since June 2021, is the winner of the 2024  Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty. T...

It is great to finally be able to announce that Dang Dinh Bach, the courageous and imprisoned Vietnamese climate rights activist and lawyer, is the winner of Human Rights First's 2024 Baldwin award for an outstanding human rights defender.

25.01.2025 17:53 👍 0 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
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Human Rights First Calls for Magnitsky Sanctions in Egyptian Bribery of Senator Menendez | Human Rights First Washington, D.C. – Human Rights First today called on the U.S. government to impose targeted financial and visa sanctions on a senior Egyptian official and a U.S. company for their apparent involvemen...

Today #HumanRightsFirst calls for #Magnitsky sanctions against an #Egyptian official & US co. allegedly involved in Egypt's shocking scheme to bribe one of the most powerful politicians in DC. Too often the US fails to hold abusive security partners to account - it must act now. tinyurl.com/y2a7aa23

14.01.2025 16:17 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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Human Rights First celebrates Local Kharkiv HRDs on HRD Day 2024 On HRD Day, we want to recognize our local human rights defenders (HRDs) in Kharkiv and their incredible work since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Our senior…

We at Human Rights First celebrate Human Rights Defenders Day today. I’m lucky to work alongside these HRDs in Kharkiv on Ukraine’s northeastern front.
vimeo.com/1037478566?s...

09.12.2024 15:27 👍 4 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
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Friends Like These: U.S. Security Partners and Selectivity in the Global Magnitsky Sanctions Program | Human Rights First U.S. Security Partners and Selectivity in the Global Magnitsky Sanctions Program To live up to its commitments to protect human rights, Human Rights First urges the U.S. government to address the seri...

Yet more can be done to improve the use of this program, including by using Magnitsky sanctions to address serious human rights abuse & corruption by security partners of the U.S. humanrightsfirst.org/library/frie...
Great to see the committee invested in using this program for accountability.

05.12.2024 20:07 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0