International Justice and Impunity : The Case of the United States

Is the US leading humanity back to a future without rules or values, based only on the will of the strongest? A conference held at the Palais Bourbon in Paris, chaired by UN Special Rapporteur Theo Van Boven, and renowned French scholar Pierre Vidal-Naquet, and welcomed by President Jimmy Carter, addressed the case of the United States, in the context of international humanitarian law, the UN Charter, and the new International Criminal Court. Once the champion of the UN, the US now: disregards the Geneva Conventions uses international humanitarian law as a pretext for intervention actively opposes the International Criminal Court creates no-law zones such as Guantanamo forces states to sign bilateral agreements granting immunity to US citizens. With a damning indictment of current US foreign policy, the presenters suggest action against the new wave of US empire building. Presenters include former Attorney-General Ramsey Clark, Tadatoshi Akiba, Mayor of Hiroshima, Les Roberts, Amy Bartholomew, Robert Charvin, William Bourdon, and many other distinguished international figures.