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A collage of images from articles of the past week.

Democracy, Rule of Law, Justice: Lessons from 2021 for the Year Ahead?

A curated selection of Just Security articles offers insights for 2022 on issues of racial justice, democracy and the rule of law, diplomacy, foreign policy, and more.

Dec. 24, 2021 Just Security

Members of the DC National Guard are deployed outside of the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 6, 2021. The troops are in formation with the words "DC National Guard" written clearly on the back of their bullet proof vests. It's nighttime.

Crisis of Command: The Pentagon, The President, and January 6

Pentagon restrained National Guard on Jan. 6 out of concern Trump would invoke Insurrection Act.

Dec. 21, 2021 Ryan Goodman and Justin Hendrix

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 13: In this screenshot taken from a congress.gov webcast, the articles of impeachment are read on the floor ahead of the vote on the fifth day of former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial at the U.S. Capitol on February 13, 2021 in Washington, DC. House impeachment managers had argued that Trump was “singularly responsible” for the January 6th attack at the U.S. Capitol and he should be convicted and barred from ever holding public office again. (Photo by congress.gov via Getty Images)

Don’t Fire the (Senate) Umpire

The Senate Parliamentarian's ruling on immigration reform should not be disregarded because it would undermine the rule of law.

Dec. 13, 2021 Ronald Weich

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to representatives of more than 100 countries, as Secretary of State Antony Blinken looks on, during a virtual democracy summit at the White House in Washington DC on December 9, 2021. (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden’s `Initiative for Democratic Renewal’ — Analysis from Diplomats, Top Experts

The $424.4 million plan focuses on media, corruption, reformers, technology, and political processes like elections.

Dec. 10, 2021 Viola Gienger

This picture shows detainees inside the soundproof glass dock of the courtroom during the trial of 700 defendants, including Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, widely known as Shawkan, in the capital Cairo, on Sept. 8, 2018. Shawkan, who earlier that year received UNESCO's World Freedom Prize, was sentenced to five years in prison. He had been arrested in 2013 while covering a demonstration. Including time served, he was finally freed in March 2019, but required to be under police supervision for five more years.

When US Security and Democracy Interests Clash

How to break six common and unhelpful patterns in US engagement with security partners that abuse rights or democratic standards.

Nov. 18, 2021 Thomas Carothers and Benjamin Press

A letter dated October 29, 2021. It reads, “From: Panel ICO U.S. vs. Khan; To: Convening Authority; The panel members listed below recommend clemency in the case of Majid Shoukat Khan. Mr. Kahn committed serious crimes against the U.S. and partner nations. He has plead guilty to these crimes and taken responsibility for his actions. Further, he has expressed remorse for the impact of the victims and their families. Clemency is recommended with the following justification: 1) Mr. Khan has been held without the basic due process under the U.S. Constitution. Specifically, he was held without charge or legal representation for nine years until 2021, and held without final sentencing until October 2021. Although designated on ‘alien unprivileged enemy belligerent,’ and not technically afforded the rights of U.S. citizens, the complete disregard for the foundational concepts upon which the Constitution was founded is an affront to American values and concept of Justice. 2) Mr. Khan was subjected to physical and psychological abuse well beyond approved enhanced interrogation techniques, instead being closer to torture performed by the most abusive regimes in modern history. This abuse was of no practical value in terms of intelligence, or any other tangible benefit to U.S. interests. Instead, it is a stain on the moral fiber of America; the treatment of Mr. Khan in the hands of U.S. personnel should be a source of shame for the U.S. government. 3) Mr. Khan committed his crimes as a young man reeling from the loss of his mother. A vulnerable target for extremist recruiting, he fell to influences furthering Islamic radical philosophies, just as many others have in recent years. Now at the age of 41 with a daughter he has never seen, he is remorseful and not a threat for future extremism. It is the view of the penal members below that clemency be granted based on the points above, as well as Mr. Khan’s continued cooperation with us efforts in other, more critical, prosecutions. Panel #1, Panel #8, Panel #5, Panel #9, Panel #12, Panel #4, Panel #11.”

Military Officers’ Handwritten Clemency Letter at Guantanamo – What It Says About Who We Are

"A long step toward the ultimate freedom: the realization that there is no them, there is only us."

Nov. 8, 2021 Joseph Margulies

Air Force Inspector General Lt. Gen. Sami D. Said speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon, Washington D.C., November 3, 2021. An American flag stands beside him.

The Missing Kabul Drone Strike Report

"It is simply not credible that the entire investigative report must be withheld in order to protect (as one imagines the claim) sources and methods of intelligence-gathering."

Nov. 5, 2021 Eugene R. Fidell

Sudan's top army general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan holds a press conference at the General Command of the Armed Forces in Khartoum on October 26, 2021.

Sudan’s Constitutional Crisis: Dissecting the Coup Declaration

Suspending certain articles while retaining parts of the transitional deal cloaks a unilateral power-grab as merely a course correction.

Nov. 3, 2021 Sami Abdelhalim Saeed

National Counterterrorism Center Director Matthew Olsen, FBI Director James Comey, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan, Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn testify during a hearing before Senate (Select) Intelligence Committee January 29, 2014 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

20 Years After the Patriot Act, America Must End Secret Law

Of the many abuses that sprung from the Patriot Act’s toxic soil, the most pernicious and enduring is the growth of secret laws. The insistence that the government must not only…

Oct. 26, 2021 Senator Ron Wyden

A view of the supreme court building in Victoria on March 5, 2012. A sign reads “The Judiciary: Supreme Court of Sychelles.” The building is characterized by white brick and dark wooden trimmings.

Amnesty & Accountability in Seychelles

The Seychelles' truth commission has the unusual power to grant - not just recommend - amnesties. What is their status in international law, and role in transitional justice?

Oct. 22, 2021 Justin Loveland