The United States and the Genocide Convention: The Sovereignty Package in Perspective

Abstract

Representatives of the United States were involved in drafting the Genocide Convention during most of the stages it passed through on its way to eventual adoption by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. This chapter is to put the sovereignty package into historical perspective and to weigh the implications it has had for the United States' subsequent ratification of human rights treaties. The tenor of the debates over the ratification of the Genocide Convention by the United States changed dramatically in the mid-1980s. In April 1984, Nicaragua instituted proceedings against the United States alleging that the conduct of military and paramilitary activities in and against Nicaragua were in violation of international law. A variety of domestic political and Cold War issues were raised repeatedly, and, even if without merit, were couched in ways that rallied opponents around the US Constitution and national sovereignty. Keywords:Cold War; domestic political issues; Genocide Convention; ratification; sovereignty package; United States