A senior U.N. human rights investigator has called the U.S. killing of General Qassem Soleimani “unlawful” and indicated that the attack was a “nail in the coffin of international law.”
Agnes Callamard, the U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, wrote in a series of tweets Sunday that while the reckless attack did not lead to an international war, many had paid the ultimate price and many continue to risk paying the same price.
So yes, there was no international war. But many paid the highest price, and many more continue, in the name of justice, to risk the same. And didn’t the US attack and its aftermath hammer yet another nail in the coffin of international law and international rule?
– Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) January 3, 2021
General Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Quds Brigade, was assassinated along with his comrade Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), and a group of their companions in a drone strike near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020
Iran retaliated five days after the attack by firing missiles at two U.S. bases in Iraq, saying it was part of its promised “harsh revenge” and that full revenge would be the final expulsion of all American forces from the region.
“A year ago, the targeted killing of Iranian #GeneralSoleimani by the U.S. in Iraq was the first known incident outside the context of a declared conflict in which a state claimed self-defense as justification for attacking a state actor,” Callamard wrote.
She said the killing of Gen. Soleimani as a state official by the United Nations failed to meet the standards of “necessity” and “proportionality.”
“It was unlawful under human rights law. What does its precedent mean?
– Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) January 3, 2021
Callamard argued that the act sets a dangerous precedent on the basis of which countries could decide to strategically eliminate high-ranking officials of their rivals outside the context of a known war, after classifying them as “terrorists” who posed an undefined future threat.
“And it also means that we have the ability for ALL soldiers anywhere in the world to be considered a legitimate target at any time,” she added.
U.S. officials claimed at the time that General Soleimani was targeted because he was planning “imminent attacks” on Americans. U.S. President Donald Trump, who directly ordered the drone strike, later ignored the “imminent threat” and said General Soleimani should have been killed 20 years ago anyway.
Elsewhere in her remarks, the U.N. rapporteur said, “By killing General Soleimani on Iraqi soil without first obtaining Iraq’s consent, the U.S. violated Iraq’s territorial integrity.”
“What about the fact that a year later, the U.S. and Iran are still threatening each other with further attacks, that is, the entire region, if not the world?” she asked.
“Where is the global leadership to broker a solution? … How are we going to improve the laws and standards there to protect all of us that may be irreparably damaged? Where are the institutions willing and able to intervene, to act, to repair?” she added.
The UN rapporteur concluded her remarks by calling on the international community to demand answers to her questions as a priority for 2021.
Callamard spoke several times about the killing. She described it as a “violation of international norms and the UN Charter” and criticized the UN Security Council for its inaction and the international community for its silence on the issue.
She also criticized the U.S. for failing to provide sufficient evidence of an ongoing or imminent threat by General Soleimani against its interests to justify the drone strike, and called on the international community to break its silence on Washington’s drone-driven unlawful killings.
Meanwhile, Iran has pledged to pursue General Soleimani’s assassins, particularly Trump, even after his term as president expires.
by Jeremy Abbott – American Correspondent – DN