22 Aug The Geneva Conventions Achieve Universal Acceptance
22.08.06
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6 Comments
This is a landmark month in the history of international law: with the accession of the Republic of Montenegro on August 2, the 1949 Geneva Conventions have become the first international treaty in modern history to achieve universal acceptance.
Montenegro also acceded to the two 1977 Additional Protocols, bringing the number of States party to Additional Protocol I to 166 and Additional Protocol II to 162.
Wonderful news, and I hope I can be pardoned for seeing this as a portent of further ethical and legal progress for humanity, as there are so many signs to the contrary these days….
Just in time for them to become completely meaningless in the coming years as terrorist push on with their war against the west.
To Cassandra: delve into causes and motivations for terrorism and you’ll find some surprising things… such blanket statements as yours actually play into “their” hands and facilitate recruiting and propaganda to build social and economic support networks. One of the JAGs at Congress noted we cannot win this war unless we uphold and adhere to the GCs.
On the Geneva Conventions achieving Universal Acceptance, I’m not as excited as the UN is still not a party to the GC. Blue Helmets are not, according to UN’s own OLC and as periodic statements from the Secretary General continue to affirm (usually in the form of some prescriptive suggestion to support and adhere to it), party as the UN is not a state nor a signatory.
In that light, can we still say “Universal” acceptance? Is it moot as the UN becomes increasingly marginalized or will it rise again through a variety of new tools for Peacemaking and Peacekeeping?
Mountain Runner: While I agree that we must abide by international law in order to not make things worse, Cassandra is correct that terrorists do not abide by treaties and that terrorism is being used more as time goes on. Additionally, the line between government and terrorist organizations is blurring — even Sinn Fein and the IRA were seperated in name, whereas Hamas and Hezbollah in large part directly control their countries’ foreign policy / terrorism.
First treaty in modern times to gain universal acceptance? Were there pre-modern treaties that gained universal acceptance?
anon: Cassandra was not saying terrorists don’t abide by treaties. C was saying the treaties are to “become completely meaningless”, which is something wholly different. In our defense and offense in the “War on Terror” are we to rely wholly on killing them all or do we accept the reality that not all people (ie. terrorist support networks) are fully behind the means while they may support the goal. Hamas and Hezbollah have outstanding local support and for very good reasons– plural. These include providing basic services and order that the populations needs (saftey, clean streets,etc). The distinction you draw between Hamas and gov’t, or Hez and local authority is nearly identical to the Cali Cartel of Columbia years back, the Poppy Druglords in Afghanistan, and similar. This is more than ideology and more than the means of terror. In short, do we stand for justice and democracy? If so, we must practice it. The social networks of economic and moral support are not what many seem to imagine they are. Scholars such as Marc Sageman, Robert Pape, and others break the Clash (of Civilizations) argument with real analysis. You’re right about the loss of state autonomy and capacity, but… Read more »