US Mission Geneva

The Obama Administration and International Law Harold Hongju Koh Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law Washington, DC March 25, 2010 Thank you, Dean Areen, for that very generous introduction, and very special thanks to my good friends President Lucy Reed and Executive Director Betsy Andersen for the [...]

President Obama has affirmed America’s commitment to the United Nations as an indispensable, if imperfect, institution for advancing our security and well-being in the 21st century. We know that when we fully employ our unique ability to work multilaterally through the UN and other international organizations, it results in considerable benefits to the United States and the American people.

This is an area in which the United States has been a leader from the time of Nuremberg. I can speak from personal experience as a former prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and as chief prosecutor at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, of the support given by administrations of both parties to international justice as it has been conducted at the ad hoc or temporary tribunals.

Harold Hongju Koh: “The rule of law is the cornerstone of President Obama’s approach to national security policy. As everyone here is aware, the relationship between the United States and the Geneva Conventions has been the subject of much international commentary since September 11, 2001 …Today, it is clear that individuals taken into custody by the United States must, as a matter of law, be treated humanely.”