When someone declares for whatever reason there is a rules-based international order, I used to wonder who was going to die next.
These days when I hear someone refer to the rules-based international order, I wonder which rules they are proposing to change to justify their actions.
After yesterday I am stating that the rules-based international order is a crock of shit and hilariously tragic.
Perhaps I am a bit slow, stupid even, but I will state once again, that words matter.
Now, it is widely agreed that the arbiter of these “rules” is the UN and that this is the place where decisions should be made it was the whole reason for its existence. When severe breaches of these laws are suspected it has the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court to judge what rules if any have been broken.
The issue of “warrants of arrest” does not draw equivalences between parties accused of breaking the law. The accusations are not secret and the defendants are given the right to defend themselves. The bar of proof is high, as in beyond all reasonable doubt. Nobody will whisked away via extraordinary rendition to some offshore hell hole or even held under some rolling form of administrative detention. It must also be noted as a reminder that torture for whatever reason is strictly forbidden.
When nations declare any form of exceptionalism in that only they can judge their own actions, I become deeply skeptical, and justifiably so. Let's move on.
We should know the charges.
We should see the evidence
We should hear the defense.
Anything less is pure malarkey.
Oh and less of the whining and downright threats_ Link to the OHCHR
GENEVA (10 May 2024) – UN experts* today expressed utter dismay over statements made by United States and Israeli officials threatening to retaliate against the International Criminal Court (ICC), its officials and members of their families.
“At a time when the world should unite to end the terrible bloodshed in Gaza and seek justice for those unlawfully killed, injured, traumatised, or taken hostage, since October 7, it is distressing to see State officials threatening to retaliate against a Court for pursuing international justice,” the experts said.
The warrants haven’t even been issued yet.
The rules-based international order is rapidly becoming as common as the unicorn.
