Complaint Filed by Taxpayers Against Genocide (TAG), National Lawyers Guild International Committee (NLG), and Palestinian-American Petitioners, Endorsed by CAIR and Leading Human Rights Groups
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 10/8/25) — The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today said it joined in an expanded legal complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) accusing the United States of complicity in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
That complaint, filed by Taxpayers Against Genocide (TAG), the National Lawyers Guild International Committee (NLG), and Palestinian-American petitioners, and endorsed by CAIR, names the Biden and Trump administrations and Congress as responsible for aiding and abetting genocide, famine, and systematic violations of international law.
Filed on October 7, 2025, the nearly 200-page complaint asserts that the U.S. government, through actions by both the Biden and Trump administrations and by Congress, has been complicit in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, violating binding obligations under the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. The petition requests precautionary measures due to ongoing mass civilian casualties, famine, and destruction of Gaza’s health system.
In a statement, CAIR Director of Government Affairs Department Robert S. McCaw said:
“CAIR commends the petitioners, TAG, NLG, and the legal team for pursuing accountability through the Inter-American human rights system. This complaint highlights what countless Palestinian families have endured: genocide, mass bombings, forced starvation, and displacement enabled by U.S. weapons and political cover. The IACHR’s determination that the United States is violating its human rights obligations would be a powerful, urgently needed step toward ending complicity and saving lives. If we do not hold our government accountable, we will be complicit through silence.”
The petition is supported by nearly 3,800 U.S. taxpayers and endorsed by major civil society groups, including the Center for Constitutional Rights, US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), Black Alliance for Peace, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), Global Exchange, and CODEPINK, as well as public figures Mahmoud Khalil, Dr. Jill Stein, and Dr. Cornel West. The IACHR, a body of the Organization of American States (OAS), can issue findings that the U.S. is violating human rights obligations and grant precautionary measures to prevent further harm.
In May 2025, CAIR attended a TAG press conference in Washington, D.C., announcing the original complaint. According to TAG’s advisory, the filing included notarized affidavits from Palestinian-American plaintiffs such as Monadel Herzallah, who lost 43 family members, and Susan Abulhawa, who described witnessing “unfathomable horrors” in Gaza. The filing was endorsed by numerous organizations, including CAIR, the Arab Resource Organizing Center, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Black Alliance for Peace, Doctors Against Genocide, and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.
In September 2025, CAIR-NY joined TAG and NLG at a Foley Square press conference in New York City announcing the expanded complaint. Participants included legal counsel Huwaida Arraf and Maria Kari, petitioners, and civil society leaders such as Afaf Nasher, Dr. Jill Stein, and Jacqueline Luqman. The event concluded with a march to the Irish Hunger Memorial Park calling attention to U.S. and corporate complicity in Israel’s atrocities.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com