Harold Koh’s Misguided Praise for the Inter-American Convention

Ted Bromund / April 20, 2009

Last week, during his visit to Mexico, administration officials confirmed that Pres. Obama will push the U.S. Senate to ratify the “Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials.” The Clinton administration signed the treaty after the Organization of American States adopted it in 1997. The Administration’s nominee for Legal Adviser to the State Department, Harold Koh, has praised the Convention. This praise is misguided, and raises questions about Koh’s commitment to free speech around the world, and his willingness to provide aid and comfort to foreign tyrants.

Koh has been a staunch advocate of the Convention. In 2002, he praised it as providing “the best model” for his favorite goal of promoting “the legal, political and social internalization of . . . [an] emerging international norm [against illicit arms transfers] into domestic legal systems.” (more…)