The US ought to submit to an international court designed to prosecute crimes against humanity.

Since this is a debate on the current LD topic, I would like to debate someone who is familiar with how LD debate works. I wish whoever accepts this topic a good round, and best of luck! "With great power becomes great responsibility." Because I agree with the words of Uncle Ben, I affirm the resolution, The United States ought to submit to jurisdiction of an international court designed to prosecute crimes against humanity." My value for today's round is… V. Justice Because the resolution states, The United States "ought", making it a moral debate. This debate also speaks of joining an international court, and a court is a justice system. My value criterion for the round is… VC. Protection of Human Rights This is a fitting value criterion because an infringement on human rights would not uphold justice. The resolution talks about "prosecuting crimes against humanity", which would be a violation of human rights. In order to uphold justice, we need to protect our basic human rights, which are displayed in prosecuting crimes against humanity. Because justice cannot be upheld Definitions: Crimes Against Humanity: Defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum, "are particularly odious offences in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of ore or more human beings. They are not isolated or sporadic events, but are part either of a government policy or of a wide practice of atrocities tolerated or condoned by a government or a de facto authority." Justice: The administering of deserved punishment or reward. Random House Dictionary Jurisdiction: The extent of range of judicial, law enforcement, or other authority. Observation 1. The resolution calls for the use of an international court, and for this debate, we will be talking specifically of the ICC. The ICC is already in place, and is the international court with the most global credibility. 1. The United States could make a substantial contribution to preventing crimes against humanity. A. The United States involvement into the ICC would further legitimize the court. The United States is arguably the most powerful nation in the world. The United States has done what it thought right in other countries like Iraq, Vietnam, Germany. The United States has historically invaded other countries in order to spread what they thought to be "justice", and it would only further legitimize the court if the United States were to join. A Professor at University of Montevallo, Scott Turner says, "To be sure, it may be difficult to proceed without the United States, whose support was crucial to the administration of international justice in the 1990's. The effectiveness of international institutions is highly dependent upon cooperation and assistance from the world's most powerful country. The ICC's legitimacy would be undermined severely by an institutionalized double standard that effectively excluded the United States and its client states from the court's jurisdiction." The United States not joining would merely make us be viewed as, "hypocritical." The United States would lose soft power if we didn't join, and we would further legitimize the court if we would join. B. The United States has the global firepower to get things done. According to the CIA World Fact Book, the United States has over 300 million people, we are third in the world's available military manpower, over 100 million people totally available fit for military service, and we have the highest purchasing power on the globe. The US can do some pretty heavy damage. We would have the means necessary in order to enforce justice. We would just the strength the ICC needs. C. The United States could prosecute crimes against humanity in places where they do not have the power to ensure justice. There are instances where people do not have to power to punish people who are committing crimes against humanity. Adolf Hitler exterminated 2/3 of the Jewish population. (According to Lucy Dawidowicz's book, The War Against the Jews) Hitler faced many assassination attempts, but nobody was strong enough to take down the force of the Nazi party. Germany wasn't strong enough to take down Hitler, and if the US joined the ICC, we could add substantial aid to countries that don't have the power to punish people who need to be punished. D. The United States could prosecute crimes against humanity in places where they do not wish to ensure justice. The President of Sudan, Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir has been charged with a committing a crime against humanity. Sudan is currently in a state of ethnic-cleansing. Right now, over 5 percent of the Sudan population is dead (according to Prentice Hall) because of this rising conflict. The Black Muslim ethnic group in charge of the government is trying to take down the Black Christian ethnic group. The ICC has called for the President of Sudan to be tried in their courts, but Sudan simply will not extradite him. They are saying, "come and get him." Well, if the US were to join the ICC that would change real quickly. The US has never been shy, and we are used to parading into places we aren't wanted in order to do what we want. We would give the ICC enforcement. 2. The United States has committed crimes against humanity that have gone unpunished. The United States sent over 110,000 Japanese Americans to Internment Camps. (Manzanar National Historic Site) We had over 4 million African-American slaves in the US. (1860 Census) We dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and killed an estimated 220,000 innocent civilians. (Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission) Most of the injustices we have done as a country have gone unpunished. We cannot allow for instances like these to occur. History has shown that the United States has committed crimes against humanity, and they cannot go unpunished. We have continued to get away with it, but with joining the jurisdiction of the ICC, things should change. The United States needs to join the ICC in order to maintain Justice and protect human rights. With the United States participation, we could make a substantial contribution to the prosecution of crimes against humanity. We will keep our own government in check, and prevent ourselves from committing crimes against humanity. The United States can absolutely not look away from other countries that violate civil rights, because we end up paying for them. The United States can no more look away unless it's in their best interests. We have to ensure human rights, or else our country could fall.