The deadly January U.S. drone strike that eliminated Iran’s terror commander Qasem Soleimani and nine other people was a violation of international law, a U.N. human rights investigator claimed Monday.
The United States has failed to provide sufficient evidence of an ongoing or imminent attack against its interests to justify the strike on General Soleimani’s convoy as it left Baghdad airport, lamented U.N. special rapporteur Agnes Callamard a full six months after the event.
The attack violated the U.N. Charter, Callamard alleged in a report calling for accountability for targeted killings by armed drones and for greater regulation of the weapons.
“The world is at a critical time, and possible tipping point, when it comes to the use of drones. … The Security Council is missing in action; the international community, willingly or not, stands largely silent,” Callamard, an independent investigator, told Reuters.
Soleimani directed Iranian military operations abroad, including terror strikes in third party states. Just one week before his death, he is thought to have directed rocket attacks that killed an American civilian contractor in Iraq.
POLLAK: Soleimani's death actually improves the prospects for peace by encouraging the Iranian people to stand up against their rulers. https://t.co/yeVEFebZKu
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) January 4, 2020
Last year, President Donald Trump designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds force as a terrorist organization and the action against Soleimani, as its leader, was a logical continuation of that definition.
Even so, Callamard expressed her disatisfaction that the U.S. could move against a man.
“Major General Soleimani was in charge of Iran military strategy, and actions, in Syria and Iraq. But absent an actual imminent threat to life, the course of action taken by the U.S. was unlawful,” Callamard wrote in the report.
Iran has since issued an arrest warrant for U.S. President Donald Trump and 35 others over Soleimani’s killing and has asked Interpol for help, as Breitbart News reported.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.