International Law

WASHINGTON -- Justice Sandra Day O'Connor yesterday extolled the growing role of international law in US courts, saying judges would be negligent if they disregarded its importance in a post-Sept. 11 world of heightened tensions. In a 15-minute speech at Georgetown law school, O'Connor made no mention of the health of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, 80, who was hospitalized this week for thyroid cancer and is expected to return to work Monday. There also were no additional details from a court spokeswoman on his condition yesterday.

NINETY-THREE years ago, at the Paris Peace Conference, Woodrow Wilson put forward a proposal for a Permanent Court of International Justice, saying, "a living thing is born. " Not quite. Fierce attachments to narrow notions of national sovereignty, especially strong in Wilson's own nation, forced a nearly century-long postponement of that birth. Recently, however, a cry of new life could be heard from The Hague, a hint that Wilson's ideal may yet be realized. The International Criminal Court issued its first verdict, finding Congolese rebel militia leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo guilty of forcing...

LONDON — America’s new cyber czar said yesterday that international law and cooperation — not another treaty — are enough to tackle cybersecurity issues for now. Christopher Painter, coordinator for cyber issues for the State Department, declined to comment on a Wall Street Journal report suggesting that the Pentagon was considering a policy to classify some cyberattacks coming from another country as acts of war. He said most of the...

The U.N.'s top human rights body on Friday sharply condemned Syria's bloody crackdown on opposition groups, and extended the mandate of a U.N. expert panel tasked with reporting on alleged abuses in the country. The 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council voted 41 to three in favor of an EU-sponsored resolution that was backed by Arab nations and the United States. China, Russia and Cuba voted against. Two countries abstained and one didn't vote. The resolution condemned "widespread, systematic and gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms perpetrated by the Syrian...

NINETY-THREE years ago, at the Paris Peace Conference, Woodrow Wilson put forward a proposal for a Permanent Court of International Justice, saying, "a living thing is born. " Not quite. Fierce attachments to narrow notions of national sovereignty, especially strong in Wilson's own nation, forced a nearly century-long postponement of that birth. Recently, however, a cry of new life could be heard from The Hague, a hint that Wilson's ideal may yet be realized. The International Criminal Court issued its first verdict, finding Congolese rebel militia leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo guilty of forcing...

GENEVA — The United States dismissed international calls yesterday to abolish the death penalty, as friends and foes alike delivered their recommendations on how Washington can improve its human rights record. Harold Koh, US State Department legal adviser, said capital punishment was permitted under international law, brushing aside longstanding appeals by European countries and others to halt temporarily or completely abolish the death penalty, which critics say is inhumane and unfairly applied.

Russia's Foreign Ministry has accused the U.S. of breaking international law by keeping terror suspects in indefinite custody without trial at the Guantanamo Bay prison. In a statement posted on its website Sunday, the ministry said the prison at the U.S. Navy base in eastern Cuba represents a "flagrant violation of international law. " The Foreign Ministry also criticized the National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama on Dec. 31, which includes a provision allowing indefinite military detention without trial.

The U.N. human rights chief says the U.S. government must close the Guantanamo Bay prison as President Barack Obama promised a year ago. Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, says "the facility continues to exist and individuals remain arbitrarily detained — indefinitely — in clear breach of international law. " Obama pledged to shutter the U.S. Naval Base prison in Cuba in his annual address to Congress last year....

A Massachusetts evangelist faces a federal lawsuit that alleges he has waged a decade-long campaign to persecute gays in Uganda. The Center for Constitutional Rights filed the suit Wednesday against Scott Lively of the Redemption Gate Mission Society in Springfield. A center lawyer said it is bringing the case on behalf of the group Sexual Minorities Uganda under a statute that allows noncitizens to file actions in US courts for violations of international law. Lively said earlier that he had not read the complaint yet, but believed the legal action was "absurd" and "completely frivolous.

WASHINGTON -- Majority leader Bill Frist said yesterday that the Senate is unlikely to take up legislation addressing the legal rights of suspected terrorists until at least after Congress's August recess. Frist said Republicans are discussing their legislative options with Democrats and the Bush administration. Because the issue falls within the jurisdiction of several committees, members also are trying to coordinate their response. "We will act legislatively," Frist told reporters.

A Massachusetts evangelist faces a federal lawsuit that alleges he has waged a decade-long campaign to persecute gays in Uganda. The Center for Constitutional Rights filed the suit Wednesday against Scott Lively of the Redemption Gate Mission Society in Springfield. A center lawyer said it is bringing the case on behalf of the group Sexual Minorities Uganda under a statute that allows noncitizens to file actions in US courts for violations of international law. Lively said earlier that he had not read the complaint yet, but believed the legal action was "absurd" and "completely frivolous.

MANAMA, Bahrain - The top US Navy official in the Gulf said yesterday he takes Iran's military capabilities seriously but insists his forces are prepared to confront any Iranian aggression in the region. Vice Admiral Mark Fox, commander of the Fifth Fleet, told reporters at the naval force's Bahrain headquarters that the Navy has "built a wide range of potential options to give the president" and is "ready today" to confront any hostile action by Iran. He did not outline specifically how the Navy might answer an Iranian strike or an effort to shut the entrance to the Persian Gulf,...

The U.N. human rights chief says the U.S. government must close the Guantanamo Bay prison as President Barack Obama promised a year ago. Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, says "the facility continues to exist and individuals remain arbitrarily detained — indefinitely — in clear breach of international law. " Obama pledged to shutter the U.S. Naval Base prison in Cuba in his annual address to Congress last year....

Russia's Foreign Ministry has accused the U.S. of breaking international law by keeping terror suspects in indefinite custody without trial at the Guantanamo Bay prison. In a statement posted on its website Sunday, the ministry said the prison at the U.S. Navy base in eastern Cuba represents a "flagrant violation of international law. " The Foreign Ministry also criticized the National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama on Dec. 31, which includes a provision allowing indefinite military detention without trial.

LONDON — America’s new cyber czar said yesterday that international law and cooperation — not another treaty — are enough to tackle cybersecurity issues for now. Christopher Painter, coordinator for cyber issues for the State Department, declined to comment on a Wall Street Journal report suggesting that the Pentagon was considering a policy to classify some cyberattacks coming from another country as acts of war. He said most of the...

GENEVA — The United States dismissed international calls yesterday to abolish the death penalty, as friends and foes alike delivered their recommendations on how Washington can improve its human rights record. Harold Koh, US State Department legal adviser, said capital punishment was permitted under international law, brushing aside longstanding appeals by European countries and others to halt temporarily or completely abolish the death penalty, which critics say is inhumane and unfairly applied.

BEIJING - China responded sharply yesterday to Washington's accusations over a confrontation at sea, an incident that analysts said could become more common as Beijing strengthens its navy and asserts claims to adjacent waters. The United States accused Chinese ships of surrounding and harassing its Navy vessel in international waters, coming within 25 feet of the USNS Impeccable, stopping dead in front of it and strewing debris in its path. Some of the Chinese crew even stripped to their underwear after a blast by US fire hoses.

WASHINGTON -- Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was the Supreme Court's most frequent flier in 2004, taking 28 paid trips to England, Austria, and other places, financial reports indicate. The annual disclosures yesterday painted a picture of a well-heeled group on the nation's highest court, with at least six of the nine justices holding more than $1 million in assets: O'Connor, Stephen G. Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Antonin Scalia, David H. Souter, and John Paul Stevens. None of the justices reported receiving gifts, although three of them -- Scalia, Clarence...

GENEVA — A report by three UN-appointed human rights specialists yesterday said Israeli forces violated international law when they raided a Gaza-bound aid flotilla killing nine activists earlier this year. The UN Human Rights Council’s fact-finding mission concluded that Israel’s naval blockade of the Palestinian territory was unlawful because of the humanitarian crisis there, and described the military raid on the flotilla as brutal and disproportionate. The Israeli Foreign Ministry responded late yesterday by saying the Human Rights Council, which commissioned...

BEIJING - China responded sharply yesterday to Washington's accusations over a confrontation at sea, an incident that analysts said could become more common as Beijing strengthens its navy and asserts claims to adjacent waters. The United States accused Chinese ships of surrounding and harassing its Navy vessel in international waters, coming within 25 feet of the USNS Impeccable, stopping dead in front of it and strewing debris in its path. Some of the Chinese crew even stripped to their underwear after a blast by US fire hoses.