Neither
the United States nor Russia is a party to the International Criminal
Court – and the United States punishes other governments for
supporting the ICC.
Both the United States and Russia defy
the rulings of the International Court of Justice.
Of 18
major human rights treaties,
Russia is party to only 11, and the United States to only 5, as few
as any nation on Earth.
Both nations violate treaties at
will, including the United Nations Charter, Kellogg Briand Pact and
other laws against war.
While most of the world upholds
disarmament and anti-weapons treaties, the United States and Russia
refuse to support and openly defy major treaties.
There is
a problem in world leadership.
Russia’s horrific
invasion of Ukraine – as well as the previous years of
U.S./Russian struggle over Ukraine, including U.S.-backed regime
change in 2014, Russia's annexation of Crimea, and the mutual arming
of conflict in Donbas -- highlight this problem in global
leadership.
Russia and the United States stand as rogue
regimes outside the Landmines Treaty, the Arms Trade Treaty, the
Convention on Cluster Munitions (prohibiting their use, production
and transfer), and many other treaties. Russia stands accused of
using cluster bombs in Ukraine today, while U.S.-made cluster
munitions have been used by Saudi Arabia near civilian areas in
Yemen.
The United States and Russia are the top two
dealers of weaponry to the rest of the world, together accounting for
a majority of weapons sold and shipped. Meanwhile most places
experiencing wars manufacture no weapons at all. Weapons are imported
to most of the world from a very few places.
Neither the
United States nor Russia supports the Treaty on the Prohibition of
Nuclear Weapons. Neither complies with the disarmament requirement of
the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and the United States actually
keeps nuclear weapons in five other nations and considers putting
them into more, while Russia has talked of putting nuclear weapons in
Belarus and recently seemed to threaten their use over the war in
Ukraine.
The United States and Russia are the top two
users of the veto power at the UN Security Council, each frequently
shutting down democracy with a single vote.
There are
about 200 other governments on Earth, and they shouldn't stand for
this.
We appeal to the world's non-imperial governments to
democratize the United Nations, the International Court of Justice,
and the International Criminal Court -- and to impose the rule of law
by super-majority consensus on the planet's rogue states.