International Human Rights and State Crime 8 28 14 International Law Governs relationships between nations Gives rights to nations but not to individuals Treaties written contracts between states If it involves 2 countries bilateral treaty If it involves more than 2 countries multilateral treaty Protocols amendments to treaties Public International Law Diplomacy The sea Space Sale of goods Transportation Human Rights Two Sources of International Law 1 Treaty Law Contracts between nations How treaties are made 1 Proposed Immunity for diplomats to abide by laws in another country cannot get arrested Any country in the UN can propose a treaty 2 Negotiated 3 Adopted minimal obligation 4 Ratified by national legislative bodies 5 Implementing legislation if necessary The countries leader signs the treaty but still not enforceable at thispoint Most countries only have the first 4 steps except US Only country in the world that requires implementing Congress has to vote a national law to match the treaty law Can be a lengthy process Treaty process is consensual not forced on countries Treaties enter into force after a prescribed number of countries have ratified them Countries that ratify a treaty become a State Party to that treaty States can ratify a treaty with reservations wont be bound by certain reservations in the treaty US always has reservations that allow hate speech based on 1st amendment States can ratify a treaty with understandings Ex different meanings of when right to life begins abortion Reservations dont agree at all 1 Understandings differing defintions Pacta Sunt Servanda treaties must be observed in good faith Cant agree to a treaty then enter 500 reservations US Last in Time Rule Treaties are the equivalent to federal law Because laws can change if congress passes a new law that contradicts a treaty that law has power but if a treaty is signed after a law that contradicts that law the treaty has power Whatever is last in time governs 1870 Cherokee Tobacco Case US had a treaty that we would not tax their tobacco products Became very lucrative for Cherokee s Congress passed a law to tax them Supreme Court said last in time rule applied to the case so lawnprevailed 2 Customary International Law Customs that ripen into law Practices that evolve over time into laws Must be practices that countries undertake out of a sense of legal obligation Things that countries do out of a sense of obligation Ex Child labor If the country objects and wants child labor they have to show that they have always allowed this practice CIL binds all countries except those which persistently object Few things fall under this type of law Genocide Slavery Racial Discrimination Torture Requirements for demonstrating that CIL is binding upon a country If another country wants to show another country is violating CIL 1 Defendant state has recognized the rule in its own practice or 2 The rule has been accepted by almost all other states and defendant state has never expressly and consistently rejected it The Beginning of International Law End of the 30 Years War 1648 Protestants vs catholics People were massacred and tortured brutally Wanted to ensure that countries would not do this again to each other Treaty of Westphalia The birth of international law Prior to this there was no law that required countries to abide by Introduced the concept of sovereignty every country has 3 rights Sovereignty 1 Political Independence 2 Every country gets to decide for itself what kind of political government it will have 2 Territorial Integrity The right not to be invaded by other countries 3 Treat your citizens however you want The cornerstone to international law Countries can do whatever they want to their own citizens It is none of our business what other countries do to their citizens Eventually was shown as a failure of international law to protect people The Failure of International Law Armenian Genocide 1915 Turkey killed over a million million and half Armenians by hand for being christian In Turkey it is illegal to call it the Armenian Genocide US attempts to pass laws to claim it as a genocide but Turkey threatens to close all US military bases in Turkey if the US does this Marked a signature failure of international laws Turkey claims that they are their own citizens so they can do what they want Rape of Nanking 1937 Nanking was an ancient capital of China Japan raided Nanking and killed over 15 000 people 80 000 women were raped A reminder that civilians need protection Liberation of Buchenwald 1945 The first Nazi concentration camp to be liberated by the US US finally could see what was actually happening in the concentration camps The Young United Nations The Big 3 Dumbarton Oaks Conference 1944 Countries that looked like they were going to win WWII gathered allies Debated what the post war UN would look like Big 3 USSR US and Great Britain Proposal of the Big 3 for the UN Charter They would make up the Security Council Each would have veto power Weak General Assembly meet 1x each year Emphasis on states rather than individuals No mention of human rights Skeletons in their closets Big 3 3 USA USSR Did not want to see any mention of nondiscrimination in a charter History of racism and genocide Jim Crow laws No mention of nondiscrimination Stalin s gulags and mass murders Stalin may have killed twice as many people as hitler for speaking out against govt Gulags massive prison camps picked up by Stalin s secret police and taken to gulags where you die No mention of civil and political rights Britain UK Centuries of colonial exploitation Made millions of dollars off their colonies and would not allow them independence No mention of self determination independence The Revolt Small countries of the world feel betrayed by the Big 3 s proposal for UN insistence on new version of the Charter UN Conference April 1945 in San Francisco NGO s nongovernmental organizations invited to San Fran NAACP ABA NGO contribution women and minorities European countries refuse to support Big 3 France Belgian Netherlands etc Instead they supported the position of the smaller countries of the world since they knew what it was like to live under a dictator and were sympathetic The UN Conference in San Fran The compromise UN charter Mentioned human rights but no definitions Speaks for 1st time of rights of individuals instead of nations Security council General assembly General assembly is made up of all of the countries and
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