Guardian: Global sheriff is slowly gaining on the US…

[kskiska]

and its cavalier way with the law

Simon Tisdall

In the opinion of many legal experts, the US government broke international law when it waged war on Iraq without explicit UN backing. Unrepentant, it has reserved the right to take similar action again, unilaterally if need be.

But another key pillar of global jurisprudence - laws concerning individual liberty, dignity and human rights - is proving harder for Washington to ignore: like a sheriff with a posse of deputies, international law is slowly catching up with the Bush administration.

Despite its hostility to the international criminal court, the US may soon be forced by a UN security council majority to refer war crimes prosecutions in Sudan to the ICC. Diplomats say that would represent a big boost for supranational criminal justice.

Last week's US supreme court decision to abolish the death penalty for offenders under the age of 18 was partly a response to global opposition to capital punishment which the Bush administration has refused to heed. But from an internationallegal standpoint, the ruling in effect dragged the US into line with a key provision of the 1990 UN convention on the rights of the child.

(snip)

But as human rights law continues to develop beyond the reach of executive power, the future waging of unjust or illegal wars could become an increasingly problematic and costly forensic business.

more…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldbriefing/story/0,15205,1435317,00.html

[struggle4progress]

1. kick

[Vitruvius]

2. Another kick for Chris Floyd --

his articles are always a delight :kick:

[Mist]

3. Just came across this this morning -

It's humiliating how *'s America has to be dragged unwillingly to conform w/global human rights and justice issues.