Revealed: Trump’s Board of Peace plots 'sweeping immunity' for members

President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace" initiative has been exposed as a plot to grant its member states "sweeping immunity," per a report from The Guardian, protecting them from "any arrest, detention or legal proceedings in the courts," among other things, as a result of its most contentious goal.

The Board of Peace initially began as part of Trump's plan to carry out a peace deal in Gaza and to facilitate the rebuilding of the region. By the time it was formally established, it had expanded into a more generalized international peacekeeping organization, with critics expressing concern that Trump, who would remain chairman even after leaving the White House, was using the group to try and replace the United Nations. Among the nations that accepted the invitation to join the board, many are considered to be authoritarian states or dictatorships, with prominent democratic U.S. allies declining to join.

On Saturday, The Guardian obtained a "sensitive but unclassified" four-page resolution, in which the Board of Peace plotted a "sweeping grant of legal immunity for itself," specifically for its actions in Gaza. The resolution would also permit the board to obtain property in the region "free of charge."

As the report noted, it remains unclear how broad the scale of this proposed immunity is planned to be.

"The four-page resolution, labeled 'sensitive but unclassified', extends broad protections to every member of the Board of Peace and its administrative affiliate, the office of the high representative (OHR), as well as to the Palestinian technocrats, international military forces and nonresident contractors lined up to perform work in Gaza," The Guardian explained. "It defines legal processes from which they would have immunity as 'any arrest, detention or legal proceedings in the courts or other entities in Gaza.'"

The report added later: "It is unclear if the document is attempting to relieve the Board of Peace and its affiliates from prosecution in international courts, in addition to potential claims in Gaza."

As the chairman, Trump would retain the ability to override this immunity, "pending majority support from his peace board." A representative for the board dismissed concerns about the intentions of the resolution.

"There is no operative resolution or immunity framework of the kind described in your questions," the representative told The Guardian. "Any suggestion that this process is designed to create lawlessness or impunity is wrong, misleading and gets the issue entirely backwards."

"Six lawyers specializing in US contracting law and international armed conflict reviewed the draft resolution for the Guardian," the report added. "If the resolution goes into force, they said, it is unclear how Board of Peace officials, soldiers, and contractors would be held accountable if there are shootings or accidents that affect Gaza residents, or even how the group might resolve routine disputes over business or land use there."

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