Getting two-thirds of the Senate to agree on anything is a daunting task. So it was no small feat when the Senate approved New START, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, during its December lame duck session. New START was the first major international agreement passed by the Senate since the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1997.

The United States is a bit schizophrenic when it comes to treaties. The U.S. government does a great job negotiating them. From the International Criminal Court to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, U.S. diplomats have forged very constructive compromises on major human rights and security agreements. Unfortunately, the U.S. Senate has a history of letting these accords molder.  The Senate and the White House still have a long list of treaties that are overdue for ratification.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has ordered the conditional release of Congolese ex-Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba ahead of his war crimes trial.

An ICC statement said a pre-trial chamber had found that Mr. Bemba's continued detention was not necessary to ensure his appearance at his trial, to ensure he did not hamper court proceedings or to prevent him "from continuing with the commission of the same or related crimes".

He is to face trial on three counts of war crimes and two of crimes against humanity.

Yesterday Pew Charitable Trusts ran this ad in the Washington Post and Politico, showing once again that the Law of the Sea convention has the largerst, broadest, extremely odd-bedfellow group of supporters of any issue moving forward inside the Beltway.  Where else can you see the American Petroleum Institute and the World Wildlife Fund sandwiching the likes of former Secretary of State Jim Baker, Lee Hamiliton, John Warner, the US Chamber of Commerce, Verizon, not to mention Citizens for Global Solutions. 

Trial Begins in Miami for Torture Committed in Liberia

September 23, 2008 - The upcoming trial for the ex-Liberian president's son, Charles 'Chuckie' Taylor, Jr., marks the first remarkable step towards prosecuting human rights offenders who commit their abuses abroad.

Chuckie Taylor is accused of ordering torture during his father's presidency in Liberia between 1997 and 2003 as head of the nation's Anti-Terrorist Unit (ATU). Mr. Taylor is an American citizen, and was born in Massachusetts.