Recent international trials such as that of the three hikers in Iran and Amanda Knox’s in Italy have altered American perception of international laws. Perhaps awakened a sense of hypocrisy.
On Dec. 14 Tehran (Iran) put three American hikers on trial for illegally crossing country borders on a hiking trip this July.
Josh Fattal, Sarah Shroud, and Shane Bauer were hiking along the mountainous border of Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan when they were arrested. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton found all claims “totally unfounded” according to the English newspaper The Guardian.
Even if it was an accident, it’s difficult to call the claims “totally unfounded.” They did break Iranian law, and thus they were sentenced according to Iranian law. We would expect America to act the same way if the situation was reversed.
When traveling abroad it is specified in an American passport that when in foreign counties, American citizens are covered by foreign law. The story of the three hikers, while certainly unfortunate, is not unfair.
Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki believed the three were entering the country with “suspicious aims,” and accused them of espionage. They have been held for more than five months and will be tried by the Iranian judiciary system.
Since the hostage crisis in 1979 after Iran’s Revolution, relationships between Iran and the United States have been on the rocks. According to The Oakland Tribune interviewing MIT Professor Noam Chomsky, U.S. policy is trying to make a switch to a relationship of mutual respect, which makes this story particularly distressing.
According to The Guardian Mottaki had claimed he believed 11 Iranians were being detained in the U.S., including a missing nuclear scientist and former deputy defense ministry. Some Americans seem to think that the hikers being detained are a form of payback.
Friends of the hikers have created a website (freethehikers.org) offering the possibility of learning more about the hikers and signing a petition to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Mission to the United Nations.
Recent American frustration over international trials is a sign that American legal influence is on the decline.
On Dec. 4 2009 many in the United States were shocked when American Amanda Knox was convicted in Italy after what English and American newspapers called a “miscarriage of justice.”
According to Christian Science Monitor Italian prosecutor Giuliano Mignini found the accusations of a miscarriage of justice were aimed “at the Italian justice system, as much as at me personally.”
Americans had no reason to be shocked, or to believe the trial and investigations had been conducted unfairly.
Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to 26 years in jail. Knox was convicted of murdering British roommate Meredith Kercher in Perugia (Italy) in November 2007.
Allegedly, Knox and Sollecito attempted to sexually involve Kercher, and when they found her unwilling to participate, assaulted her, and murdered her with a kitchen knife.
Kercher was found dead, half naked, in a pool of blood.
According to CNN the Italian trial brought forth DNA found on Kercher’s bra clasp which belonged to Sollecito, and Knox’s DNA on the handle of the knife.
Americans accused the trial of being unfair, the evidence tampered with, and a coerced confession. Italian judges who find the accusations to be unfounded are struck by American hypocrisy.
Knox has appealed the verdicts and will be defended by American lawyer Ted Simon (America’s National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers) among Italian lawyers Luciano Ghirga and Carlo Della Vedova. Amanda Knox’s father, Curt Knox, is confident the lawyer will prove to be a decisive factor in the case.
The United States justice system has given much to the world but, according to the New York Times, the rise of new and sophisticated constitutional courts and the reputation given to America around the world during the Bush presidency have lessened its impact on international law.
Perhaps the reason many Americans are surprised by stories such as that of the three hikers and Amanda Knox is because they do not realize that they cannot compare foreign justice systems to American standards.
Ultimately, Americans are strict when it comes to their own law being followed and revered, but they do not offer other countries the same privilege. 