Thread by @reveal

1/ NEW: The FBI is dismantling a special unit charged with investigating war crimes and hunting down war criminals living in the U.S.

Human rights advocates are worried scrapping this unit will jeopardize prosecutions. revealnews.org/blog/fbi-is-di…

2/ The unit, which was created a decade ago and has its roots in federal efforts to hunt Nazis living in the United States after World War II, has had a hand in many high-profile prosecutions.

3/ One of these was the Liberian warlord Thomas Woewiju, who agents found living a quiet life in Philadelphia:

philly.com/philly/news/pe…

4/ In a statement, the FBI confirmed the shuttering of the war crimes unit but argued its dissolution "in no way reflects a reduced commitment by the FBI" to enforce human rights law.

5/ Yet sources told reporter @Aaron_Glantz that many of the agents previously tasked with human rights issues could be moved to other assignments.

6/ In addition to international war criminals living in the United States, the FBI’s human rights unit has also been tasked with investigating and apprehending the perpetrators of war crimes against Americans abroad.

These efforts, too, could fall through the cracks.

7/ Human rights advocates, who have become increasingly concerned with Donald Trump’s embrace of ruthless autocrats like Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, fear that the move could be political.

8/ “We worry when we see something go from a tweet that is very hostile to a policy that is very hostile,” said Dixon Osborne, executive director of the Center for Justice and Accountability, a legal non-profit that brings human rights cases in civil court.

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