The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the barbarism of Russian troops in committing war crimes and crimes against humanity on a massive scale does indeed constitute an all-out assault on our civilization.
Ukraine's genocide case is now before the International Court of Justice, which as you know has in an interim order mandated that Russia cease its military operations in Ukraine.
The battle between civilization and barbarism was vividly symbolized by the movement of German tanks onto the grounds of the World Court in May, 1940. Ultimately, the tanks were forced to withdraw and the Court and international law, embodied in the Judgment at Nuremberg and the United Nations Charter, prevailed.
All nations must now act to ensure that the U.N. Charter and international law prevail once more, in the perennial struggle for justice and the rights of man, for the rule of law both within and among nations, and for the triumph of civilization over barbarism.
Author's note:
Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé, whose comment appears below, is a former president of the Supreme Court of Bolivia, a former president of Bolivia (in 2005-2006, during a transitional period), a former Ambassador of Bolivia to the Netherlands, and a former Agent of Bolivia before the International Court of Justice in litigation between Bolivia and Chile.
Thanks for your inspiring article on the war in Ukraine. Adding to your personal motivation, as a former student at your Human Rights class at Harvard back some time ago and later involved in international law litigation I should agree that Russia's "special military operation" is certainly an assault on civilization. It is an abusive provocation to nations that outgrew the use of war to settle their differences.
So. We a moral obligation underneath existence, an obligation to all people to love and respect them, to help them love respect themselves and we do this by establishing laws on all levels, local, national and international.
If this moral responsibility is not felt or acknowledged by one or many then the cbligation of the rest of us is to, lead by example, and or hold everyone accountable in one way or another.
Jim, thank you for your, er trenchant explanation of your keen interest in the Ukraine drama playing out on the international stage, and for reminding us of the importance of the UN Charter and other guideposts of international law whose principles are at stake. Alas we live in a time when the principles governing our own domestic legal institutions are also at stake, as so vividly demonstrated by the Supreme Court's recent rulings.
Thanks, Eduardo, for your comment.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the barbarism of Russian troops in committing war crimes and crimes against humanity on a massive scale does indeed constitute an all-out assault on our civilization.
Ukraine's genocide case is now before the International Court of Justice, which as you know has in an interim order mandated that Russia cease its military operations in Ukraine.
The battle between civilization and barbarism was vividly symbolized by the movement of German tanks onto the grounds of the World Court in May, 1940. Ultimately, the tanks were forced to withdraw and the Court and international law, embodied in the Judgment at Nuremberg and the United Nations Charter, prevailed.
All nations must now act to ensure that the U.N. Charter and international law prevail once more, in the perennial struggle for justice and the rights of man, for the rule of law both within and among nations, and for the triumph of civilization over barbarism.
Author's note:
Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé, whose comment appears below, is a former president of the Supreme Court of Bolivia, a former president of Bolivia (in 2005-2006, during a transitional period), a former Ambassador of Bolivia to the Netherlands, and a former Agent of Bolivia before the International Court of Justice in litigation between Bolivia and Chile.
Thanks for your inspiring article on the war in Ukraine. Adding to your personal motivation, as a former student at your Human Rights class at Harvard back some time ago and later involved in international law litigation I should agree that Russia's "special military operation" is certainly an assault on civilization. It is an abusive provocation to nations that outgrew the use of war to settle their differences.
So. We a moral obligation underneath existence, an obligation to all people to love and respect them, to help them love respect themselves and we do this by establishing laws on all levels, local, national and international.
If this moral responsibility is not felt or acknowledged by one or many then the cbligation of the rest of us is to, lead by example, and or hold everyone accountable in one way or another.
Is that your point?
Jim, thank you for your, er trenchant explanation of your keen interest in the Ukraine drama playing out on the international stage, and for reminding us of the importance of the UN Charter and other guideposts of international law whose principles are at stake. Alas we live in a time when the principles governing our own domestic legal institutions are also at stake, as so vividly demonstrated by the Supreme Court's recent rulings.