The occasion is the latest convening of the Human Rights Committee on the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). A U.S. delegation will face independent United Nations experts on the Committee, tasked with assessing compliance with the ICCPR, who will once again question U.S. treaty violations at Guantánamo Bay. The U.S. presentation provides an opportunity for President Biden to take a significant step forward and recognize the application of international law to the medical needs of an aging detainee population that is fast deteriorating from the effects of torture and harsh conditions.
Regardless of your opinion on the subject, it’s important to note that the US does not recognize international law and is a geopolitical superpower that cannot have international law forced upon them. This in essence makes this entire thing a geopolitical version of “Who’s line is it anyway?”, where the results don’t matter.
As an American, this is so painful.
It’s bad enough we say fuck you to the metric system and a bunch of other international norms.