Amnesty International’s U.S. affiliate called on Senate Republicans Monday to delay a vote on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination to allow for a review of his “possible involvement in human rights violations,” referencing the sexual misconduct allegations made against him.
“As sexual assault also implicates a number of human rights, including the right to be free from gender-based discrimination and violence, we also call for a thorough vetting in regard to any allegations made against Kavanaugh to this effect, including those by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez,” Executive Director Margaret Huang wrote in an open letter to senators.
Huang also raised the fear that Kavanaugh could use his appointment “to either prevent accountability for these crimes or to continue perpetration.”
To justify the warning, Huang referenced Kavanaugh’s role as an attorney in George W. Bush’s White House, saying that the vote should be postponed until a review of the details of any role he played in the U.S. policy on “torture and other forms of ill-treatment” of suspected terrorists. But she cited the two women who have accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct to conclude the case for delaying his confirmation vote.
Ford has alleged that Kavanaugh held her down at a party in high school and tried to take her clothes off. Huang has backed Ford.
“We all have the right to be free from gender-based discrimination and violence #BelieveSurvivors,” she wrote on Twitter.
Kavanaugh denies all the allegations. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., promised Monday to hold a vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination, after the judge and Ford testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.
Senate Democrats called for that hearing to be postponed after The New Yorker published Ramirez’s allegation that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during their freshman year of college. “It is time to set politics aside,” California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, wrote Sunday. “We must ensure that a thorough and fair investigation is conducted before moving forward.”
McConnell was dismissive of Ramirez’s allegation, noting that the New York Times declined to publish it because it could not corroborate her account.
