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An
Appeal to International Lawyers and Law Professors
Hold the Bush Administration
Accountable for Flauting International Law
By CURTIS F.J. DOEBBLER
I just wanted to take this timely opportunity
to encourage those of you who are courageous enough, to think
about what you can do to encourage the United States to respect
international law through outside pressure on the United States.
While I laud the efforts of
those within the United States -- such as therecent effort of Ben Davis and those who supported it -- and
hope that such efforts will continue, at the same time I am every
day more and more convinced that change cannot come from within
the United States, or that if it does, it will only be after
countless people have died or suffered because of the failure
of the US to respect international law.
This belief is based on dozens
of meetings every year with senior American officials, with senior
diplomats, and with senior foreign government officials. And
it is based on meeting and representing some of the most downtrodden
people in the world and advising some of those who are among
the most persecuted by the United States, often even called terrorists
by our government.
Many, many other governments--even
friends of the United States -- at their highest levels believe
that the United States is very harmful for international law
and must be forced to change through outside pressure. Some believe
this pressure must be radical, others believe that this pressure
must be slow and careful. But that there is a significant international
consensus that recognizes the harm the United States is doing
and recognizes the need for it to change, is something that I
hope will encourage you.
If you are an honest international
lawyer--one who at least believes in the supremacy of international
over domestic law and who believes that domestic law can never
be used as an excuse for violating international law and who
believes that international law is formed and interpreted through
the consensus of all states and not unilaterally--than speak
to the diplomats in the United States or to other foreign government
officials. Speak to them cautiously and seeking to learn from
them and to understand them and I will bet that every one of
them will indicate serious problems with the United States government's
understanding of international law. And if you get close to them
they might also share with you what they are doing to correct
these problems or if you study international affairs enough you
will undoubtedly see the often weak, but constant, efforts.
More strikingly, if you can,
travel to countries like Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Ghana, Senegal,
Malawi, Mozambique, or South Africa, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia,
Palestine, Iran, or Jordan. Don't stay in the four or five star
hotels everyday, but spend a couple of nights in mosques, sleeping
on the floor with other travellers and those who have no other
shelter. Speak to them--you can usually find an English speaker--ask
them why their country is poor, ask them if they think the United
States was right to bomb Iraq and Afghanistan, ask them if they
respect George W. Bush, and most importantly, ask them if they
think the United States respects international law. Then tell
us their answers to this last question.
If you are a professor teach
abroad in Asia, Africa, or the Middle East or a semester or even
a few weeks in the summer and learn from your guests. Speak to
the government officials in the country you are in and to the
opposition figures. Ask them the same questions. Or spend a few
years at a university in Libya or even Saudi Arabia and get to
know your students better then in the mere formalities of the
classroom. Volunteer to speak with their student groups, meet
civil society, the lawyers' unions, the teachers unions, the
religious leaders. even volunteer to advise the governments.
ask them the same questions. Spend one weekend every month seeking
out the refugees and the displaced and ask them the same questions.
And even contemplate why you
feel scared as your plane must nose dives 10,000 feet to avoid
being shot down; or why you get guns pointed at you by American
soldiers; or why you cannot go home for a few hours because your
neighbour is being raided and innocent men and women and children
rounded up some to be disappeared; or why an Ethiopian living
on US$2 per day pays more for fresh water produced in the USA,
than you do; or why many people look at you with hatred when
they learn you are an American. And after you think about this,
think about what you can do.
I am asking you to please consider
making an effort to strengthen the ability to those outside the
United States to be able to pressure the
United States to respect the law. There are many, many ways that
you can do this. As international lawyers it is probably one
of our most
urgent responsibilities.
Unless international law starts
to respond to the concerns of the people who are effected by
it most, it will lose relevance. Unless you as Americans or with
an interest in America and in international law, start to understand
the problem and start to understand that the solution is not
from within but from without, the problem may continue for a
long, long time, causing misery for generations of people, and
the deaths of many people.
Please think about the truth
and gravity of the fact that the United States has violated more
peoples' human rights in more serious ways with more impunity
than any other country in the world. What does this say about
international law to the person living on 5 dollars a week in
some far off country, when he or she is offered the chance to
hurt American interests and to perhaps violate international
law?
Dr. Curtis F.J. Doebbler is an Iinternational human rights
lawyer. He can be reached at: cdoebbler@gmail.com
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