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Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2011
Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2011
Population
China, ...
This volume provides a historical record of developments occurring during calendar year 2011, when the State Department's Office of the Legal Adviser marked its 80th birthday since its creation as a statutory entity.1 For the first time, the State Department is publishing the official version of the Digest exclusively on-line. By publishing the Digest on-line, we seek to make U.S. views on international law more quickly and readily accessible to our counterparts in other governments and international organizations, scholars, students, and other users, both within the United States and around the world. The Arab Awakening presented a variety of challenges for the practice of international law in 2011. In addressing events in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, and elsewhere, the United States government carefully applied what Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has called "smart power," utilizing a wide array of foreign policy tools to fit the needs of the particular circumstance. In Libya, the U.S. took a multilateral approach, acting quickly at the UN Security Council to pass historic resolutions that established an arms embargo and sanctions regime and made the first ever unanimous referral to the International Criminal Court. Based on Security Council Resolution 1973's authorization for "all necessary measures" to enforce a no-fly zone, and consistent with the War Powers Resolution, the United States was part of a limited, NATO-led military mission in Libya. Various additional legal issues arose during the U.S. response to the situation in Libya, including those related to securing a protecting power, addressing the situation at the United Nations Human Rights Council, recognizing the new Libyan government, and arranging for funds to be made available to the new government using assets of the former regime that had been frozen pursuant to Security Council resolutions. These issues form a significant part of the discussion in several chapters of the 2011 volume of the Digest. In our approach to counterterrorism, applying smart power has meant a continued commitment to the rule of law. In May 2011, the United States completed a lawful operation that resulted in the death of Usama bin Laden, a legitimate target in our conflict with al-Qaida. The United States continued to pursue other leaders of al-Qaida, while ensuring, consistent with President Obama's direction, that all our actions-even when conducted out of public view-comply with our laws and values. The U.S. government's counterterrorism efforts outside of Afghanistan and Iraq have focused on those individuals who present a significant threat to the United States and whose removal would cause a significant disruption of the plans and capabilities of al-Qa'ida and its associated forces. We have worked to uphold our values and the rule of law in our detention and interrogation policies with regard to terrorism suspects, including pursuing prosecution of detainees through Article III courts and reformed military commissions. In 2011, the United States government repeatedly brought international law to bear in the domestic law context. For example, the Office of the Legal Adviser continued in 2011 to pursue compliance with the International Court of Justice judgment in Avena, by promoting legislation-the Consular Notification Compliance Act-and supporting the request for a Supreme Court stay in a death penalty case involving an Avena defendant. We encouraged domestic courts to weigh international law and foreign policy considerations with suggestions or statements on behalf of the State Department in cases involving the immunity of foreign officials; cases considering the constitutionality of legislation implementing international treaty obligations; cases challenging U.S. state laws concerning immigration; and cases seeking relief outside of the compensation arrangements the United States agreed to with Germany and Austria for claims arising out of World War II. In our initial amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, we argued that a corporation can be held liable under the Alien Tort Statute for violations of the law of nations. In the Zivotovsky case, we asked the Supreme Court to respect our long-standing policy to recognize no state as having sovereignty over Jerusalem as a crucial part of our efforts to further the Middle East peace process. Negotiating, joining, and implementing treaties and international agreements remained an important part of U.S. efforts to promote international law in 2011. We secured advice and consent to the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with Bermuda and the Bilateral Investment Treaty with Rwanda. In October, we used congressional-executive agreements to adopt free trade agreements with the Republic of Korea, Colombia, and Panama. Also in 2011, the United States signed maritime law enforcement cooperation agreements with Senegal, Nauru, Tuvalu, and Gambia and an agreement with the members of the Arctic Council on aeronautical and maritime search and rescue. The United States actively assisted the 17th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Durban in launching a process to develop an agreement by 2015 that will apply beginning in 2020. The Obama administration also sought Senate advice and consent for several important treaties in 2011, including protocols to two nuclear weapon free zone agreements; an agreement on preventing illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; and Additional Protocol II to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which contains detailed humane treatment standards and fair trial guarantees that apply in the context of non-international armed conflicts. We continued our active engagement with international bodies that promote greater understanding of customary international law. We commented on and commended the work of the International Law Commission, including its approval of draft articles on the effects of armed conflict on treaties. In 2011, Professor Sean Murphy of the George Washington Law School was elected a Member of the International Law Commission, restoring U.S. membership after several years' absence. We remained a strong supporter of the UN Commission on International Trade Law, which adopted a revised model law on public procurement and a judicial deskbook on cross-border insolvency in 2011. In the area of human rights, the United States continued its active participation in UN processes to review states' records on human rights, including the record of the United States. I had the privilege of making the U.S. presentation to conclude our first Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council. The United States also submitted its Fourth Periodic Report to the UN Committee on Human Rights Concerning the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Our own report on trafficking in persons included for the first time an evaluation of U.S. anti-trafficking efforts. We also achieved some milestones in 2011 in promoting Secretary Clinton's human rights agenda, including passage of landmark Human Rights Council resolution 16/18 on combating discrimination based on religion without limiting freedom of expression, following up by hosting the first meeting of the "Istanbul process" for implementing that resolution. The United States also led the way with initiatives and a Human Rights Council resolution to protect the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, which was echoed in Secretary Clinton's landmark speech on that subject before the Council on Human Rights Day 2011. The release of the U.S. National Action Plan on women, peace, and security and passage of a UN General Assembly resolution introduced by the United States on women's political participation further exemplified the U.S. commitment to promoting human rights. The Office of the Legal Adviser worked closely with colleagues in other bureaus and departments on a broad array of resolutions considered and adopted during the year by the Security Council, the General Assembly, and other UN bodies, including the adoption and implementation of a range of critically important resolutions related to peacekeeping missions and sanctions programs in various countries around the world, including Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, and CÃ'´te d'Ivoire. In April, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1977, extending the mandate of the 1540 Committee which promotes implementation of member states' obligations under resolution 1540 to enforce effective measures to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. In November, the United States joined in a successful General Assembly resolution condemning an Iran-supported terrorist plot against the Saudi ambassador to the United States.
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U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services
U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services
Foreign Commerce and Aid
Oakland-Pontiac, Harlingen, Meadows, Oklahoma, ...
Monthly report that provides national trade data including imports, exports, and balance of payments for goods and services. Statistics are also reported on a year-to-date basis. Data are continuously compiled and processed. Documents are collected as shipments arrive and depart, and are processed on a flow basis. The BEA uses the data to update U.S. balance of payments, gross domestic product, and national accounts. Other federal agencies use them for economic, financial, and trade policy analysis (such as import/export promotion studies and import/export price indexes). Private businesses and trade associations use them for domestic and overseas market analysis, and industry-, product-, and area-based business planning. Major print and electronic news media use them for general and business news reports.
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Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2009
Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2009
Population
China, psychotropic, Pan Am Flight 103, Montenegro, ...
The 2009 Digest provides a historical record of key legal developments in 2009. Legal Adviser Harold Hongju Koh summarized the contents of the 2009 Digest, stating in part: In 2009, as this volume reflects, a new United States administration, under the Presidency of Barack Obama, took office and pursued important initiatives demonstrating its respect for the rule of law. For instance, the United States has sought to ensure its detention operations, detainee prosecutions, and uses of force are all consistent with the laws of war. In one of his first actions after taking office, President Barack Obama unequivocally banned the use of torture as an instrument of U.S. policy and instructed that all interrogations of detainees be conducted in accordance with Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and with the revised Army Field Manual. The executive branch also articulated a revised, narrower legal basis for its authority to detain individuals, based on the 2001 statutory Authorization for the Use of Military Force ("AUMF"), and made clear that its interpretation of the AUMF would be informed by the law of war. The administration also worked with Congress to improve the legal framework governing military commissions. Finally, as the President made clear in his Nobel lecture, "[w]here force is necessary, we have a moral and strategic interest in binding ourselves to certain rules of conduct. . . . [E]ven as we confront a vicious adversary that abides by no rules . . . the United States of America must remain a standard bearer in the conduct of war. The United States also resumed our multilateral engagement in many different diplomatic fora, while remaining fully engaged in others. With the International Criminal Court, the United States participated for the first time as an observer in the Eighth Session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute. With the Human Rights Council, the United States became a member of the Council for the first time. With the climate change negotiations, the United States engaged at the highest level, and President Obama and the leaders of key major economies reached consensus on the Copenhagen Accord in December 2009. The United States submitted a written statement and written comments to the International Court of Justice concerning the UN General Assembly's request for an advisory opinion on the question "Is the unilateral declaration of independence by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo in accordance with international law?" and I was privileged to deliver an oral statement of the U.S. views to the Court in December. Promoting the development of international law also played a key part in the United States' economic diplomacy agenda, including in the areas of trade, sanctions, claims settlement, and private international law. Arbitral tribunals issued awards in favor of the United States under the Softwood Lumber Agreement and the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2009, and the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal issued a partial award in favor of the United States. The United States also continued to participate actively in the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement mechanism and received favorable decisions in a number of disputes in that forum. In the area of private international law, the United States signed the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods, Wholly or Partly by Sea ("Rotterdam Rules") and the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements ("Choice of Court Convention") and participated actively in the negotiations concluding the Convention on Substantive Rules for Transfers of Intermediated Securities ("Geneva Securities Convention"). The United States also pursued initiatives to renew the rule of law by reviving our treaty and agreement making process. For example, in 2009, we deposited or exchanged instruments of ratification to bring into force more than 70 advice and consent treaties, which is an all-time annual record for the United States. Among these treaties were crucial law of war instruments, tax treaties, an environmental treaty, and law enforcement treaties, including landmark agreements with the European Union on extradition and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, which entered into force in early 2010. In addition, we negotiated a new treaty to replace the Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms ("START"), signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities-the first new human rights convention of the twenty-first century, and supported the negotiation of a new multilateral agreement to reduce mercury pollution. In 2009 the United States also sought legal and policy-based solutions to a range of other pressing international problems. For example, the United States took the lead on a Security Council resolution concerning sexual violence in situations of armed conflict, which the Council adopted unanimously on September 30, 2009. The year also marked several important developments relating to the privileges and immunities of foreign states and foreign officials in the United States. The Supreme Court issued one opinion concerning the effect of Presidential and congressional action on a state's immunity from jurisdiction in the United States (Iraq v. Beaty). The Court issued another opinion holding that a U.S. victim of terrorism could not enforce a judgment against Iran by attaching, under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, certain Iranian property that was unblocked at the time of the lower court decision, and that, in any event, the victim had relinquished any right to attach the property by having already accepted payment under the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (Ministry of Def. & Support v. Elahi). Within the executive branch, the State Department announced two significant decisions relating to privileges and immunities of foreign diplomatic or consular missions and their personnel: (1) the Department began accepting the accreditation of same-sex domestic partners of foreign diplomatic or consular personnel assigned to official duty in the United States, meaning that accredited same-sex domestic partners now have the same privileges and immunities as other accredited family members whom the Department recognizes as forming part of a diplomat's household; and (2) the Department also extended exemptions from real property taxes to residences owned by foreign governments and used to house staff of diplomatic missions to the United Nations and the Organization of American States and consular posts. . . .
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Digest of United States Practice in International Law 1991-1999
Digest of United States Practice in International Law 1991-1999
Population
China, psychotropic, El Salvador, ...
The Office of the Legal Adviser publishes the annual Digest of United States Practice in International Law to provide the public with a historical record of the views and practice of the Government of the United States in public and private international law. In his introduction to the Digest covering 1991-1999, then Legal Adviser John B. Bellinger, III, summarized its contents, stating in part: "During this period, for instance, the United States became party to important human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. International terrorist acts such as the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, posed new challenges, to which the United States responded through negotiation of new international terrorism conventions, efforts in both the UN Security Council and the International Court of Justice, and changes in U.S. domestic laws . . . . "Legal issues involving the use of force arose with U.S. participation in the Gulf War and the military intervention in the territory of the Former Yugoslavia, and were addressed in several instances before the International Court of Justice. U.S. participation in the peace process and in peacekeeping in areas as diverse as the Middle East, Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia, and Haiti gave rise to both international and domestic legal issues. Major efforts were pursued in arms control and nuclear non-proliferation, including the establishment of the Korean Energy Development Organization. "The 1990s were an era of new international institutions and political structures. The United States was actively engaged, for instance, in the Security Council's creation of the international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda and the UN Mission in Kosovo, and in the negotiation stage of the establishment of the International Criminal Court. In the area of trade, the United States was deeply involved in the establishment of the World Trade Organization and the conclusion of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The breakup of the Soviet Union was only the biggest example of geo-political changes with a wide range of legal implications for the United States and other countries. In other fields, to list only a few examples, after completion of the 1994 Agreement Relating to the Implementation of Part XI, the President transmitted both the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention and the 1994 Agreement to the Senate for advice and consent. Maritime interdiction of aliens and other aspects of immigration and naturalization generated important legal issues. Cases concerning the right of aliens in the United States to consular notification arose in U.S. courts and the International Court of Justice. . . ."
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Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2000
Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2000
Population
China, capital punishment, psychotropic, ...
The Office of the Legal Adviser publishes the annual Digest of United States Practice in International Law to provide the public with a historical record of the views and practice of the Government of the United States in public and private international law. The 2000 volume covers significant legal developments that occurred during 2000. The edition provides documentary excerpts and other information concerning developments in the areas of nationality, citizenship, and immigration (chapter 1); consular and judicial assistance and related issues (chapter 2), international criminal law (chapter 3); treaties and other international agreements (chapter 4); federal foreign affairs authority (chapter 5); human rights and humanitarian law (chapter 6); international organizations and multilateral institutions (chapter 7); international claims and state responsibility (chapter 8); diplomatic relations, continuity and succession of states (chapter 9); immunities and related issues (chapter 10); trade, commercial relations, investment and transportation (chapter 11); territorial regimes and related issues (chapter 12); environment and other transnational scientific issues (chapter 13); private international law (chapter 14); sanctions (chapter 15); and use of force and arms control (chapter 16). In his introduction to the 2000 Digest, then Legal Adviser William H. Taft IV provided an overview of the methodology used in preparing the volume and the history of the Digest.
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Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2002
Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2002
Population
China, capital punishment, psychotropic, ...
The Office of the Legal Adviser publishes the annual Digest of United States Practice in International Law to provide the public with a historical record of the views and practice of the Government of the United States in public and private international law. "In his introduction to the 2002 volume, then Legal Adviser William H. Taft IV stated in part: "Calendar year 2002 gave rise to a broad range of significant and sometimes novel issues of international law. Many developments again highlighted the need to protect our national security against a different kind of enemy through the use of force in self-defense, non-proliferation and arms control efforts, the detention of unlawful enemy combatants and establishment of military commissions, continued counter-terrorism efforts, the imposition of sanctions, and the freezing of governmental assets, sometimes made available for payment of claims by individuals against terrorist states. At the same time, there were notable developments in non-confrontational contexts, including the fields of human rights, trade and investment, law of the sea, international claims and state responsibility, treaty practice, and international crime. . . ."
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Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2003
Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2003
Population
China, capital punishment, psychotropic, ...
The Office of the Legal Adviser publishes the annual Digest of United States Practice in International Law to provide the public with a historical record of the views and practice of the Government of the United States in public and private international law. In his introduction to the 2003 volume, then Legal Adviser William H. Taft IV stated in part: "The year 2003 witnessed a number of significant developments in the field of international law. The military campaign to oust Saddam Hussein and his regime in Iraq and the continuing effort to locate Osama bin Laden and his supporters gave rise to many important legal issues, including those related to the lawful use of force, the response to international terrorism, and compliance with international humanitarian law. Beyond Iraq and Afghanistan, of course, many other situations affecting international security and stability generated complicated and sensitive issues for the world community and its lawyers. . . ." "The year was also marked by a series of significant cases and decisions in domestic courts and international tribunals related to international law and practice. The International Court of Justice in The Hague handed down its decision on preliminary measures in the Avena case brought by Mexico under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, as well as its judgment in the Oil Platforms case (Iran v. United States). By agreement the Lockerbie case (Libya v. United States) before the ICJ was discontinued. Ongoing litigation in our domestic courts concerned fundamental issues arising under two important U.S. statutes, the Alien Tort Statute of 1789 and the 1976 Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. Other cases began to address issues related to the status and rights of detainees in Guantanamo and the United States. Significant decisions were rendered in several cases by NAFTA tribunals. And the United States made several major submissions in government-to-government and interpretative cases pending before the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal. We were also active in bringing and defending claims under the dispute resolution mechanisms of the WTO. . . ."
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Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2004
Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2004
Population
China, capital punishment, psychotropic, ...
The Office of the Legal Adviser publishes the annual Digest of United States Practice in International Law to provide the public with a historical record of the views and practice of the Government of the United States in public and private international law. "In his introduction to the 2004 volume, then Legal Adviser John B. Bellinger, III, stated in part: "Significant legal issues arose throughout 2004 related to the response to international terrorism, compliance with international human rights and humanitarian law, and arms control and nonproliferation throughout the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan, Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, North Korea, Iran, Libya and Sudan. To provide but a few examples, the United States entered into the first agreements under the Proliferation Security Initiative, Secretary Powell testified to the commission of genocide in Darfur, and the U.S. Supreme Court issued two decisions relating to detention of enemy combatants. "The United States also continued to be actively engaged, through negotiation of treaties, arbitrations, diplomatic initiatives, and domestic litigation, in legal issues related to global challenges including international criminal law, the law of the sea, environment, trade and investment, consular functions, privileges and immunities, international claims and state responsibility, commercial and family law, treaty practice, cultural property, and sanctions. In 2004, among other things, the United States undertook to implement a judgment of the International Court of Justice in Avena and other Mexican Nationals (Mexico v. United States) concerning U.S. violations of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and the U.S. Supreme Court issued opinions concerning retroactivity of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and international law violations providing a cause of action under the Alien Tort Statute. . . ."
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Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2005
Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2005
Population
China, capital punishment, psychotropic, ...
The Office of the Legal Adviser publishes the annual Digest of United States Practice in International Law to provide the public with a historical record of the views and practice of the Government of the United States in public and private international law. In his introduction to the 2005 volume, Legal Adviser John B. Bellinger, III, stated in part: "The year included, for example, extensive U.S. engagement in further developing the international framework for protecting against terrorist acts. The United States signed the UN International Convention for the Suppression of Nuclear Terrorism the day it was opened for signature and joined in adoption of the text of amendments to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and to the UN Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation and the related Fixed Platforms Protocol. In this hemisphere, the Inter-American Convention Against Terrorism entered into force for the United States . . . . "On another front, the United States became party to the Transnational Organized Crime Convention and its important protocols on trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants. The United States submitted extensive periodic reports on its implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to the UN Human Rights Committee and of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to the Committee Against Torture. "U.S. state and federal courts were another focus of continued attention. . . . "Transnational issues played key roles in an increasingly broader spectrum encompassing challenges such as marine pollution and preservation, communications, law enforcement, and trade disputes. Legal issues related to armed conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq remained prominent . . . Elsewhere in the world, the United States engaged with the international community in efforts to contain nuclear proliferation and to preserve and restore peaceful settlements to disputes within and between countries. . . ."
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Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2006
Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2006
Population
China, capital punishment, psychotropic, ...
The Office of the Legal Adviser publishes the annual Digest of United States Practice in International Law to provide the public with a historical record of the views and practice of the Government of the United States in public and private international law. In his introduction to the 2006 Digest, Legal Adviser John B. Bellinger, III, stated in part: "During 2006 my colleagues and I continued to engage our international partners in intensive discussions about the appropriate legal framework for the detention and treatment of international terrorists. . . . Armed conflicts during the year including those involving Israel, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, and Iraq raised other issues related to the law of war. "The United States welcomed the International Committee of the Red Cross' study on the customary international law of the law of war and provided what we believe are constructive initial comments on certain aspects of methodology that raise questions about the study's conclusions. "But these issues were, of course, only one facet of the office's practice during the year. The United States dispatched to Geneva two separate large, senior-level interagency delegations to present and discuss with the UN Committee Against Torture and the Human Rights Committee U.S. implementation of its obligations under the Convention Against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. . . . "The office continued to play a leading role in the development of U.S. treaty law and practice. . . . "In U.S. courts, the year saw further developments related to the applicability of the Alien Tort Statute, U.S. consular notification obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and the scope of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, including several Supreme Court decisions on consular notification and immunities. . . ."
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Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2007
Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2007
Population
China, capital punishment, psychotropic, ...
The Office of the Legal Adviser publishes the annual Digest of United States Practice in International Law to provide the public with a historical record of the views and practice of the Government of the United States in public and private international law. In his introduction to the 2007 Digest, then Legal Adviser John B. Bellinger, III, stated in part: "During 2006 my colleagues and I continued to engage our international partners in intensive discussions about the appropriate legal framework for the detention and treatment of international terrorists. . . . Armed conflicts during the year including those involving Israel, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, and Iraq raised other issues related to the law of war. "The United States welcomed the International Committee of the Red Cross' study on the customary international law of the law of war and provided what we believe are constructive initial comments on certain aspects of methodology that raise questions about the study's conclusions. "But these issues were, of course, only one facet of the office's practice during the year. The United States dispatched to Geneva two separate large, senior-level interagency delegations to present and discuss with the UN Committee Against Torture and the Human Rights Committee U.S. implementation of its obligations under the Convention Against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. . . . "The office continued to play a leading role in the development of U.S. treaty law and practice. . . . "In U.S. courts, the year saw further developments related to the applicability of the Alien Tort Statute, U.S. consular notification obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and the scope of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, including several Supreme Court decisions on consular notification and immunities. . . ."
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Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2008
Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2008
Population
China, capital punishment, psychotropic, ...
The Office of the Legal Adviser publishes the annual Digest of United States Practice in International Law to provide the public with a historical record of the views and practice of the Government of the United States in public and private international law. The 2008 volume covers significant legal developments that occurred during 2008. In his introduction to the volume, Legal Adviser Harold Hongju Koh stated in part: "This volume provides a historical record of developments occurring during the period when my predecessor, John B. Bellinger, III, served as Legal Adviser. . . . "Significant legal developments occurred throughout 2008, including ones relating to international terrorism and piracy, conflict resolution, nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, and international human rights and humanitarian law. For example, the UN Security Council, with U.S. leadership, adopted resolutions authorizing the use of force to repress piracy off the Somali coast, a resolution maintaining and strengthening the Somali arms embargo, and a resolution reauthorizing the African Union peacekeeping mission to Somalia. The United States concluded a strategic framework agreement and a status of forces agreement with Iraq, an agreement for nuclear cooperation with India, and a comprehensive claims settlement agreement with Libya. In the area of human rights, the United States made its first appearance before the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which met to consider the initial U.S. reports on U.S. implementation of the two optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child . . . . "In 2008, by negotiating and concluding treaties, pursuing other diplomatic initiatives, and participating in arbitration and litigation, the United States also remained actively engaged in the development of international law. . . ."
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