In a two-paragraph letter dated March 7, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice informed U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan that the United States "hereby withdraws" from the Optional Protocol to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. The United States proposed the protocol in 1963 and ratified it -- along with the rest of the Vienna Convention -- in 1969.
The protocol requires signatories to let the International Court of Justice (ICJ) make the final decision when their citizens say they have been illegally denied the right to see a home-country diplomat when jailed abroad.
What this says to me is that Bush nd Company are more concerned with preserving their ability to imprison, torture and murder foriegners suspected of not agreeing with the United States than they are with protecting the rights of American citizens detained in foriegn countries. Since I spend a lot of time outside the U.S. this, for some silly reason, is causing me some concern.
was this treaty ratified by Congress? If it was can Bsuh withdraw without Congressional approval? Just asking.
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