US axes website for reporting human rights abuses by US-armed foreign forces • Hacker News Board

Re: US axes website for reporting human rights abuses by US-armed foreign forces

#171

Post by rayiner » Thu, Oct 23, 2025, 3:46 PM UTC

candiddevmike wrote: post #127

cheema33 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Congress should get around to impeaching and convicting the president then! I hope you know that Congress has abdicated all of their responsibilities to the president. I don't know if the founders ever saw this coming.

> I don't know if the founders ever saw this coming. Surely there weren't any historical examples of that happening, like in the Mediterranean... I kinda dislike how folks hold the founders up with some kind of religious reverence (for some, only when it suits their agenda). These guys may have been bright at the time, but you can tell they didn't think a lot of things through and certainly didn't "plan for scale". T…

The founders came from England, which has the world's longest unbroken political tradition (apart from 11 years during the English Civil War). England has top-level cabinet positions that were established 800 years ago. So I doubt the founders would be surprised that their constitution was still in use 236 years later.

Regardless, what the founders believed is relevant because they're the ones that wrote the currently operative legal document that governs the country. We can replace that document whenever we want! But until we do that, the document, and what its authors intended it to mean, are binding on us.

Re: US axes website for reporting human rights abuses by US-armed foreign forces

#172

Post by pwarner » Thu, Oct 23, 2025, 3:46 PM UTC

mikeyouse wrote: post #5

> Tim Rieser, former senior aide to Senator Leahy who wrote the 2011 amendment mandating information gathering, told the BBC the gateway's removal meant the State Department was "clearly ignoring the law". We're in a really bad place... with a servile congress, it turns out there aren't really any laws constraining the executive branch. When everything relies on "independent IGs" for law enforcement inside executive…

it turns out there aren't really any laws

Re: US axes website for reporting human rights abuses by US-armed foreign forces

#173

Post by FranzFerdiNaN » Thu, Oct 23, 2025, 3:47 PM UTC

cheema33 wrote: post #90

selectodude wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Congress should get around to impeaching and convicting the president then!

> Congress should get around to impeaching and convicting the president then! I hope you know that Congress has abdicated all of their responsibilities to the president. I don't know if the founders ever saw this coming.

They probably also didn’t see it coming that their constitution would be considered just as sacred as the Bible, instead of a document that was to be adapted.

And they never expected that a buffoon like Trump would be elected, instead of a bunch of rich gentlemen being in charge.

Re: US axes website for reporting human rights abuses by US-armed foreign forces

#174

Post by ModernMech » Thu, Oct 23, 2025, 3:47 PM UTC

theptip wrote: post #63

LunaSea wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This mostly shows that political parties are the problem themselves rather than the political mechanics of the system themselves.

Now we are talking. And the dynamic that makes political parties so toxic IMO is “first past the post” voting. If it’s your team or the “worse” team, you tolerate any flaw in your team. If there was a pressure valve where another party can simply take over (for example see Reform vs Conservative parties in the UK, not that I am thrilled with the underlying direction) then there is an alternative: cut bait and condemn…

> If there was a pressure valve where another party can simply take over

That's exactly what happened though -- the MAGA party took over. Conservatives "cut bait" with traditional Republicans, condemned them (see how they talk about Liz and Dick Cheney or even GWB, Mitt Romney, and John McCain, their own presidential nominees), and started a new party within the rotting corpse of the old GOP. There's still some "Republican" branding around but if you pay attention they're not waving "Republican" flags or wearing "Republican" hats anymore.

Re: US axes website for reporting human rights abuses by US-armed foreign forces

#175

Post by softwaredoug » Thu, Oct 23, 2025, 3:47 PM UTC

mikeyouse wrote: post #5

> Tim Rieser, former senior aide to Senator Leahy who wrote the 2011 amendment mandating information gathering, told the BBC the gateway's removal meant the State Department was "clearly ignoring the law". We're in a really bad place... with a servile congress, it turns out there aren't really any laws constraining the executive branch. When everything relies on "independent IGs" for law enforcement inside executive…

TBH The Right in the US has such a structural advantage, that Congress's silence becomes de-facto acceptance. Congress choosing to not do oversight becomes a de-facto repeal of the law.

The only other option is to find someone with standing being harmed and sue. And that will take time to wind through the courts, with not great chances at SCOTUS.

Re: US axes website for reporting human rights abuses by US-armed foreign forces

#176

Post by rco8786 » Thu, Oct 23, 2025, 3:47 PM UTC

nla wrote: post #128

The Leahy Law requires the U.S. government to facilitate receipt of information about alleged abuses by U.S. supported forces. The State Department confirms it no longer operates the HRG, but says it is still receiving reports through other direct channels. I couldn't find any requirement in the law that requires a public website. NGOs can still submit information through established contacts or by email. I would thi…

> I would think email is a lot easier than a webform.

why

Re: US axes website for reporting human rights abuses by US-armed foreign forces

#177

Post by rayiner » Thu, Oct 23, 2025, 3:47 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #120

cheema33 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Congress should get around to impeaching and convicting the president then! I hope you know that Congress has abdicated all of their responsibilities to the president. I don't know if the founders ever saw this coming.

How do you mitigate when 2/3rd of voters support, at least tacitly, the lawlessness?

You don't. That's democracy.

Re: US axes website for reporting human rights abuses by US-armed foreign forces

#178

Post by hulitu » Thu, Oct 23, 2025, 3:48 PM UTC

wahnfrieden wrote: post #40

liampulles wrote: post #31

While there may well not have been ethical intentions behind this removal (who knows), I think reporting to the press directly is probably better than reporting it to a government, so as to avoid giving the government a chance to cover things up.

That’s next: https://www.democracynow.org/2025/9/22/headlines/trump_says_... > Trump Says It Is “Really Illegal” for Journalists to Give His Administration Negative Coverage https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/really-i... > The president concluded that when coverage of someone is “bad” 97% of the time, “that’s no longer free speech.” > “They’ll take a great story and they’ll make it bad,” he told repo…

> > Trump Says It Is “Really Illegal” for Journalists to Give His Administration Negative Coverage

This is not far away from "defamation" in western world. I'm not siding with Trump here, but every western politician seem to think that he/she/it can do whatever he/she/it wants and every criticism must be regarded as defamation.

Re: US axes website for reporting human rights abuses by US-armed foreign forces

#179

Post by bilekas » Thu, Oct 23, 2025, 3:48 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #120

cheema33 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Congress should get around to impeaching and convicting the president then! I hope you know that Congress has abdicated all of their responsibilities to the president. I don't know if the founders ever saw this coming.

How do you mitigate when 2/3rd of voters support, at least tacitly, the lawlessness?

I don't know exactly which support level you mean but https://www.economist.com/interactive/trump-approval-tracker would paint a different picture. That said, who knows how valid even these numbers are.

Re: US axes website for reporting human rights abuses by US-armed foreign forces

#180

Post by nakamoto_damacy » Thu, Oct 23, 2025, 3:48 PM UTC

an0malous wrote: post #143

nakamoto_damacy wrote: post #108

[flagged]

Careful, that’s the kind of comment that makes these posts suddenly “off topic for HN”

That PG in his opinions against the genocide stands against HN's own censorship politics (which is to protect Israel at any cost, looking at you Daniel!) is enough for me to keep going. Otherwise, I wouldn't care (I don't fight for lost causes.)