The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today sent a response letter to U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon renewing its call on the DOJ to reverse its position and exercise its clear statutory and treaty-based authority to investigate and prosecute Israeli soldiers and illegal settlers responsible for the unlawful killings of U.S. citizens in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza.
CLICK HERE: READ CAIR’S LETTER TO THE DOJ
In its letter, CAIR challenges the DOJ’s April 15 response to its September 6, 2024, inquiry, which claimed the Department lacks jurisdiction to investigate crimes committed abroad, even when U.S. citizens are the victims. CAIR argues that this interpretation is both legally flawed and morally indefensible.
The letter emphasizes that U.S. law – specifically 18 U.S.C. §§ 2332(a) and 2332(b) – grants the DOJ jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute foreign nationals who kill or conspire to kill U.S. nationals overseas. As former Attorney General Merrick Garland affirmed in a September 3, 2024, statement announcing charges against Hamas leaders, the DOJ has relied on these very statutes to pursue accountability for Americans killed abroad. CAIR notes that the Department has failed to apply these same legal tools when the alleged perpetrators are Israeli soldiers or settlers.
CAIR also argues that the U.S.-Israel Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), in force since 1999, obligates the DOJ to request investigative assistance from Israel in these cases. Despite this clear treaty framework, the Department has never invoked the MLAT to investigate the killing of U.S. citizens by Israeli forces or settlers.
The DOJ’s failure to act, CAIR warns, creates a double standard that devalues the lives of American citizens based on who kills them and undermines the rule of law.
In the letter, CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert S. McCaw wrote in part:
On behalf of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, I want to thank you for your April 15 response to our September 6, 2024, letter regarding the Department’s role in pursuing justice for American citizens killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers.
While we appreciate the Department’s engagement on this matter, we must respectfully but firmly challenge the legal conclusions presented in your reply, particularly the claim that the Justice Department lacks jurisdiction to address the murder of U.S. citizens overseas.
You wrote, “the Department simply does not have jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute crimes that occur entirely in another country, even where a victim is a U.S. citizen” and “Accordingly, we cannot authorize an investigation into these allegations.”
However, the Department has both the statutory authority under 18 U.S.C. § 2332(a) and (b), and the treaty-based obligation under the U.S.-Israel Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), signed in 1998 and entered into force in 1999, to investigate and prosecute foreign nationals and soldiers responsible for killing U.S. citizens abroad, including Shireen Abu Akleh, Omar Mohammad Rabea, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, and others…
The Department of Justice has the legal authority, the treaty mechanisms, and the public mandate to act. There is no legitimate justification for continued inaction.
We urge the Department to:
- Invoke the U.S.-Israel MLAT to collect evidence, seek testimony, and facilitate cooperation;
- Open criminal investigations into the deaths of U.S. citizens at the hands of Israeli soldiers and illegal settlers;
- Affirm publicly that U.S. law protects all citizens equally, regardless of who kills them.
We are prepared to assist in any way and request a meeting with your office to discuss these matters further.
END
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