Bono Awarded US Presidential Medal of Freedom and Writes About Gaza for The Atlantic
Bono: The Gorgeous, Unglamorous Work of Freedom – The Atlantic
Read More »Tag: Kofi Annan
[2002] U.S. Announces Intent Not to Ratify International Criminal Court Treaty
U.S. Announces Intent Not to Ratify International Criminal Court Treaty
On May 6, 2002, the Bush Administration announced that the United States does not intend to become a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. John Bolton, the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, sent a letter to Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, stating that “the United States does not intend to become a party to the treaty,” and that, “[a]ccordingly, the United States has no legal obligations arising from its signature on December 31, 2000.” [1]
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While the policy merits of the Bush Administration’s announcement are of course open to debate, the announcement appears to be consistent with international law. There is nothing in international law that obligates a signatory to a treaty to become a party to the treaty, [6] and the Rome Statute itself (in Article 125) states that it is “subject to ratification, acceptance or approval by signatory States.” In addition, Article 18 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties provides that, upon signing a treaty, a nation is “obliged to refrain from acts which would defeat the object and purpose” of the treaty “until it shall have made its intention clear not to become a party to the treaty.” The Vienna Convention thus contemplates that nations may announce an intent not to ratify a treaty after signing it.
Related:
International Criminal Court: Letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
Secretary Rumsfeld Statement On The ICC Treaty
American Foreign Policy and the International Criminal Court
President Clinton Statement on Signature of the International Criminal Court Treaty
We Didn’t Stop the Invasion of Iraq, But We Did Change History
The global protests proved the war’s clear illegality and demonstrated the isolation of the Bush administration’s policies—and later helped prevent war in Iran in 2007 and the bombing of Syria in 2013. And they inspired a generation of activists.
20 Years Ago Today: We Didn’t Stop the Invasion of Iraq, But We Did Change History
Human Beings Disassembled “Like Legos”
Part 2 of an investigative report on human trafficking in Ukraine
Human Beings Disassembled “Like Legos”
Related:
A cruel harvest of the poor’: Israeli allegedly behind human organ black market arrested in Cyprus
How Canada Created the R2P Doctrine, with Myanmar as its Next Potential Victim
By Daniel Xie – September 2, 2022
On September 21, 2021, Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG), a government-in-exile formed by supporters of former state counselor Aung San Suu Kyi declared a “people’s defensive war” against the Tatmadaw (another name for the armed forces of Myanmar). Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), was overthrown by the Tatmadaw in February 2021. On a video broadcast on Facebook, NUG acting president Duwa Lashi La declared a “public revolution” against military “terrorists”. This declaration of open war comes after months of sporadic armed resistance by various anti-government civilian militias and ethnic militias.
How Canada Created the R2P Doctrine, with Myanmar as its Next Potential Victim
Selling Albright as a ‘Feminist Icon’: Was the Price Worth It?
BY BRYCE GREENE | FAIR | APRIL 13, 2022
When Clinton-era Secretary of State Madeleine Albright died of cancer last month, a stream of fawning obituaries hailed her as a hero of NATO, a feminist icon and a “champion of human rights and diplomacy”
Selling Albright as a ‘Feminist Icon’: Was the Price Worth It?
Russia, Ukraine and the Law of War: War Crimes
Scott Ritter, in the second and final part of this series, lays out what the law says about war crimes and how it applies to the conflict in Ukraine.
Russia, Ukraine and the Law of War: War Crimes
Related:
Washington Post Admits that Ukraine’s Military is Using Civilians as Human Shields
Russia, Ukraine & the Law of War: Crime of Aggression (Part 1)
NATO as religion
By: Alfred de Zayas January 24, 2022
Link to original article: https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/24/nato-as-religion/
The US/NATO/Ukraine/Russia controversy is not entirely new. We already saw the potential of serious trouble in 2014 when the US and European states interfered in the internal affairs of Ukraine and covertly/overtly colluded in the coup d’état against the democratically elected President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, because he was not playing the game assigned to him by the West. Of course, our media hailed the putsch as a “colour revolution” with all the trappings of democracy.
NATO as religion
Counterpunch: The Rule of Law Must Finally Evolve Into the Rule of Justice
BY ALFRED DE ZAYAS JANUARY 14, 2022
Many politicians, academics, media pundits are wont of invoking the “rule of law”, a “rules-based international order”, “values diplomacy” etc. But what do all these benevolent-sounding slogans actually mean in practice? Who makes the rules, who interprets them, who enforces them? What transparency and accountability accompany these noble pledges?
Counterpunch: The Rule of Law Must Finally Evolve Into the Rule of Justice
Resolution for 2022: Dare to Build Your Own Opinions and Then Defend Them!
BY: ALFRED DE ZAYAS
Anyone who has followed the political culture in the US, Canada, UK, EU over the past twenty years must have realized that a war on epistemology, on truth, on semantics is going on. We witness the hijacking of concepts like democracy, freedom, peace, patriotism, human rights — and their instrumentalization for domestic and geopolitical purposes. We observe a process of language destruction not unlike what Orwell foresaw in his sadly visionary book 1984. “Newspeak” is not the future, it is now, hic et nunc. We recognize it in the jargon of political correctness, the language and practice of the “cancel culture”.
COUNTERPUNCH: Resolution for 2022: Dare to Build Your Own Opinions and Then Defend Them!
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