MAIN EVENT. A Good Place to Get Started --- a.k.a "Table of Contents"
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MAIN EVENT. A Good Place to Get Started --- a.k.a "Table of Contents" |
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INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE? - For a true-blue American patriot like me the whole idea of bringing war criminals to trial before the International Court of Justice is mind-boggling. First, though, we need a little background.
On April 9, 1984, the Government of Nicaragua brought suit against the United States before this Court. Nicaragua said that the United States had violated the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation that was signed in Managua on January 21, 1956. The United States Government alledgedly carried out military and para-military actions against the Government of Nicaragua by blowing up ships and killing maritime personnel and dockside workers. The acts themselves were never disputed. The United States Government carried out violent, terrorist, subversive, criminal acts in the territorial waters of Nicaragua and never claimed otherwise. The International Court of Justice found for the Government of Nicaragua and against the Government of the United States on November 26, 1984.
So, did the Government of the United States apologize to the Government of Nicaragua, pay for the damages inflicted and make restitution of some sort to the survivors? Nothing of the sort!
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Secretary of State George Shultz notified the International Court of Justice three days before the Government of Nicaragua brought suit --- i.e., April 6, 1984 --- that the United States would invoke its special provision that was brought to the United Nations in 1946, that the United States̀ agreement to abide by the decisions of the court "... shall not apply to disputes with any Central American State or arising out of or related to events in Central America." Such disputes would be negotiated privately between the parties. Sure it would. Ah, but that special provision of 1946 was to last for two years and two years only.
What a fox, that George Shultz: he forgot to mention the two-year limit.
That was not the end of it. The U.S. State Department trucked out four more reasons why the International Court of Justice did not have jurisdiction --- just as specious and just as time-consuming.
In the end, the court did find in favor of the Government of Nicaragua and the Government of the United States ignored the decision.
Now the Government of the United States wants a trial by the International Court of Justice whose defendants are officers of sovereign states --- in the Serbian-Bosnian-Croatian-Albanian mess. If the Government of Serbia were to bring suit against the Governments represented in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for bombing the hell out of them, you can rest assured that such a suit would be ignored also, based on the precedents of the United States in 1984.
In fact, in a recent symposium on international law, the actions of the United States in dealing with the International Court of Justice in the matter of terrorism against Nicaragua were deemed the gravest setback to international law in our lifetime.
Does the Government of the United States rely on Americans --- and the rest of the world, too --- to be forgetful, stupid and ignorant of our illustrious history? This is an incredible mess, made messier and dirtier by the actions of our own government. The posturing and positioning of our diplomats and State Department authorities are more than one should be expected to tolerate. And for all of it, the suffering goes on and on and on.
RON DIENER is a library scientist and historian who lives in Wendell, North Carolina. He contributes frequently to the G21.
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