International Law Society Hosts John Washburn and Sponsors Forum on International Criminal Court
International Law Society (ILS) sponsored two events at Washburn Law School on Wednesday, October 9, 2002. ILS hosted John Washburn, currently Convener of the American NGO for the International Criminal Court, who spoke to students about his experiences in the Foreign Service. Mr. Washburn was a Foreign Service Officer from 1963 to 1987. During his career Washburn was assigned to India as a trainee in a Consulate-General, to Iran as a Petroleum Affairs Officer, and to Indonesia as a Regional Labor Attache covering Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. His last assignment was as a member of the State Department's Policy Planning Staff responsible for international organizations and multilateral affairs. In addition, Mr. Washburn was Night Shift Chairman of the Iran Hostage Task Force in 1979. He received a special commendation from the Secretary of State for his service and has also been awarded the State Department's Meritorious Honor Award and Superior Honor Award.
Wednesday evening, ILS hosted the forum International Criminal Court: Should the United States Participate? The first stage of the program focused on the background, structure, and jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) which set a foundation for a discussion about whether the United States should or should not participate in the Court.
John Washburn, currently the Convener of the American NGO for the International Criminal Court, presented an overview of the ICC and spoke in support of United States participation in the ICC. In addition to his duties as Convener, Mr. Washburn is the co-chairman of the Washington Working Group on the International Criminal Court. Since 1994, he has attended most of the United Nations negotiations on the ICC. Recent publications include an article on relations between the United Nations and the United States in the January-April 1996 issue of Global Governance and an article on the negotiation of the ICC treaty in the January-March 1999 issue of Global Governance.
Tom McClanahan, an editorial writer and columnist for the Kansas City Star, spoke in opposition to United States participation in the ICC. Mr. McClanahan specializes in international trade, the Asia-Pacific region, labor, defense, economics and transportation. He has been at the Kansas City Star since 1984 and on the editorial board since 1987. Prior to 1987, Mr. McClanahan was a staff member and bureau manager for United Press International.
Audience listening to the discussion at the ICC forum.
Leann Cramer contributed to this article.
