International Law

Sunday, I attended a seminar put on by the ACLU up in Austin. The discussion was on racial profiling in the context of Human Rights.

Now, appealing to international human rights treaties is not the best way to package your human rights argument in today’s political environment in the United States – worse still in the Texan part of the United States. You know, all that “furriners tellin’ us Americans how we oughta live.”

But why the hell not appeal to human rights?? Here’s the first preambulatory clause of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,..."

That’s not Europe dictating how the United States should live – that is the American credo, inspired by OUR Declaration of Independence! That is President and Eleanor Roosevelt’s legacy. This is our native ideology of freedom being spread to the rest of the world, rather than the other way around. Oh, freedom? Heard George Bush use that term lately? Yeah, he’ll advocate it for others, and insist on other’s freedoms at the point of a gun, but what’s the real republican legacy on Human Rights?

Let’s take the most striking examples:

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women – NOT ratified by the Republicans. That puts the United States of America together with Brunei Darussalam, Iran, Nauru, Palau, Qatar, Somalia, Sudan, and Tonga. (CEDAW)

Can anyone say: Hall of Shame?

But hold on to your hat, it gets better:

Convention of the Rights of the Child – NOT ratified by the Republicans. That makes the list of countries that haven't ratified this document limited to the United States of America and Somalia. The reason for Somalia is that they do not have an internationally recognized government to ratify the Convention. The reason for the Republicans not ratifying? Article 37(a) of the Convention states:

"Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age;" (CRC)

Yup, we don’t want to have the international community tell us not to execute our kids.

Please allow me to segue into that topic:

Remember Roper v. Simmons? Last year, the Supreme Court ruled (5-4) that kids should not be executed. (Thomas, Scalia, O’Connor and Rehnquist dissenting) Writing the majority opinion, Justice Kennedy appealed to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and added:

“In sum, it is fair to say the the United States now stands alone in a world that has turned its face against the juvenile death penalty.”

Justice Stevens wrote a concurring majority opinion, joined by Justice Ginsburg, stating:

“Perhaps even more important than our specific holding today is our reaffirmation of the basic principle that informs the Court’s interpretation of the Eighth Amendment. If the meaning of that Amendment had been frozen when it was originally drafted, it would impose no impediment to the execution of 7-year-old children today.”

Justice O’Connor, writing for the minority, wrote:

"Nevertheless, I disagree with JUSTICE SCALIA’s contention... that foreign and international law have no place in our Eighth Amendment jurisprudence. Over the course of nearly a half a century, the Court has consistently referred to foreign and international law as relevant to its assessment of evolving standards of decency."

I can hear the Republicans now: 'Damn those activist judges! They ruled that we can't legally kill children anymore! Well, we'll show them - we're still not going to ratify that international liberal soft-on-kids nonsense. How are kids supposed to grow up to be good moral human beings if we can't execute them?'

Anyway, to get back on topic: International law is important - and, by and large, it is becoming more enlightened than what the Republicans are allowing our domestic laws to be.

I don’t think it’s particularly un-american to appeal to human rights and international law – America was one of the founders of universal human rights and international law as we know it today. Conversely, Republican abhorrence for the outside world (with the exception of scottish golf courses) has made America the ridicule of the world and has sold our own soul down river.

Authored by: Michael Wright, SAYDs Treasurer