There's no denying it, these bloggers are bound to make you jealous. Whether it's their guts, their energy or their tan you admire, overseas volunteers have got plenty to share with you about their remarkable work in fascinating countries. Read on to find out what you could be missing.

All | Ashley | Natalie | David | Sheila | Jonathan | James | Abi | Fiona | Community_Action_International | Project Mongolia | Sarah | Emily | Dana | Selina | Lucy | Hannah | Sally | Lucille

Friday Jul 07, 2006

another example of America's 'superiority'

Everyone's heard horror stories about the bad things that can happen when you're abroad. Remember Bridget Jones' unfortunate experience in Thailand? I'm almost positive that if you break the law overseas and end up in some scary jail cell Colin Firth will NOT be showing up to save your butt. (But a girl can dream, right?)

If you're unfortunate enough to end up a guest of your host country's police force, remember that you're entitled to contact your consulate for assistance (providing the country has signed the Vienna Convention). Why am I talking about this you might ask? Because I'm in need of a place to rant!

Today I received an email that had an interesting link to an article (received little news here in the States) A few weeks ago the US Supreme Court ruled: (In a 6-3 ruling) that foreigners who have been arrested and are not told they have a right to contact their consulate for assistance may still have evidence gathered by police used against them. Under the Vienna Convention, all signatory states must allow foreigners arrested on their soil to contact their consulate. The United States is a signatory. Under the ruling, if a foreign national is arrested in the U.S. and they are not informed of their right to contact their consulate for assistance, all statements and evidence gathered may still be used against them. The three liberal justices on the Supreme Court opposed the ruling.

As this article goes on to state, other countries will consider this precedent when interpreting treaties they are signatories to. Meaning everybody loses because of a few conservative WASPs in Washington.

I need to rant because a) yet again it shows the hypocrisy currently running rampant in my government; b) as a regular traveler overseas, I worry how this could affect me; c) as a regular overseas traveler, I worry about how this ruling further lowers America's standing in the world; d) I worry about how foreigners are slowly losing their rights in this land of the free; and, finally e) I still can't believe so many people voted for that tw*t from texas!

Sorry. Will now crawl back under my rock and continue waiting patiently to hear from NYC about UK.

Posted by Dana ( 4:30 PM )
Link to this post Comments[0]