45 / 350
THE ATTITUDE OF THE UNITED STATES TOWARD INTERNATIONAL LAW
a resolution in the Security Council to refer the situation in Libya to the ICC.
102
The
president voted in favor of establishing a no-fly zone over Libya and supported the
use of this to protect civilians.
103
Although Britain and France took the lead in the
Libya military operation, the Obama administration provided logistical support and
intelligence to NATO and military aid to the rebels.
The administration has participated in U.N. conferences on climate change and
has advocated for a more comprehensive treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol. Soon
after he took office President Obama lobbied for a U.S. seat on the U.N. Human
Rights Council. President Bush had alienated so many countries it made it difficult
for his administration to persuade other countries to vote for the U.S. while Bush
was still in power. President Obama has sought to bolster the role of the Council in
investigating and condemning states with a poor human rights record. The president
has called on the Senate to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). President Bush signed the Convention on the
Rights of Peoples with Disabilities in 2006, and President Obama submitted it to
the Senate for ratification. In December 2012 the Senate voted 61 to 38 against its
ratification.
104
The president has called for Senate ratification of the Law of the Sea,
but strong opposition from Senate Republicans has delayed the process. President
Obama was the first to sign the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty, despite strong
opposition from the National Rifle Association (NRA) and arms manufacturers.
The president has not sought to re-sign the Compulsory Jurisdiction Clause
of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, from which President Reagan
withdrew, or the Optional Protocol of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,
from which President Bush withdrew from. President Obama has called for an end
to the war on terror. However, he has intensified the use of drones to assassinate
suspected terrorists in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen.
105
These drone attacks have
generated a great deal of controversy, as they are carried out in complete secrecy,
with little or no judicial or Congressional oversight. More importantly, the use of
drones violates the ban on extra-judicial killing or targeted assassination. The use
of drones against suspected terrorists deprives these individuals of their right to due
process, a key provision of international human rights law.
106
The president’s human
rights record has been mixed. President Obama has resisted calls to intervene in the
Syrian conflict. He has supported sanctions against the Syrian regime, and in June he
authorized arming the Syrian rebels. But he has refused to intervene militarily in that
102
S.C. Res. 1970 (2011).
103
S.C. Res. 1973 (2011).
104
Rosalind S. Helderman,
Senate Rejects Treat to Protect Disabled Around the World,
Wash. Post (Dec. 4,
2012), at A1.
105
Leila Nadya Sadat,
America’s Drone Wars,
45 Case Western Journal of International Law, 215, 219
(2012).
106
ibid
.