You
will find hereunder a document on the US-British draft about Iraq presented
to the Security Council on the occasion of the “transfer of sovereignty”
by the occupation forces to the provisional Iraqi government. We make
an appeal requesting that the General Assembly of the UN grab the file
and not the Security Council, being given the direct implication of two
of its permanent members in the occupation of Iraq.
If you agree with this text, we ask you to sign it and send it to the
governments, the diplomatic missions of the countries in question at the
UN in New-York and to the medias. Don’t hesitate to pass it on to
your acquaintances and your network so that they can do the same.
CETIM and AAJ
ARGUMENTATION
THE SECURITY COUNCIL MUST REJECT THE ANGLO-AMERICAN PROJECT AND TAKE THE
SUBJECT OF IRAQ TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS
I. The Anglo-American Project proposes to concede a supposed sovereignty
to Iraq when in reality its purpose is to perpetuate the existing neocolonial
status and the military occupation, endorsed by resolution 1483 and 1511
of the Security Council
In Effect:
1) The members of the Provisional Government to whom “sovereignty
is transferred” must count with the approval of the United States
governor in Iraq, Mr. Paul Bremer. When asked about the subject during
a television interview, the envoy of the Secretary General of the United
Nations, Mr. Brahimi, declared that it was necessary “a consensus
of the Government Council and Mr. Bremer's administration”, adding
that “we should not forget, my dear Sir, that Iraq is an occupied
country, that the ruler of Iraq for the moment is Mr. Bremer and that
his opinion is essential in this matter”.
1. The process for the appointement of a “Prime Minister”
and a “President” of the Provisional Government, in which
the representative of the Secretary General plays a supernumerary role,
constitutes additional evidence of the fact that the Secretary General
and the Security Council are being used to cover up the United States
government's activities and decisions.
2) The Anglo-American project ( art 6 of the draft) confirms the authority
conferred by resolution 1511 to continue the illegal occupation meaning
that it reiterates the legitimization of the aggression;
3) The provisional government will find itself faced with a legislation
dictated by the occupation army, the Coalition Provisional Authority Orders.
Coalition Order 39 has radically modified Iraq's economic system regulating
foreign trade, foreign investment, (it demands that there be no restrictions
to foreign investors) and opens the doors to the privatization of the
state industries. Coalition Order 37 gives tax exempt status to the Coalition
Forces and the Coalition Authority; Coalition Order 17 provides the occupying
forces, the Coalition Authority, their contractors, etc., with immunity
from persecution within the Iraqi jurisdiction. Coalition Order 39 through
which the occupying power performs sovereign acts such as changing fundamental
laws and privatizing State industries, constitutes a flagrant violation
of international law, including the IV Geneva Convention and the Hague
Convention of 1907 which do not allow transferring the sovereignty of
the occupied State to the occupying State. The occupation is a fact not
a source of rights;
4) the alleged “sovereignty” will be exercised with an occupying
army of more than 130.000 troops that will remain there for at least a
year and maybe for an indefinite period of time and a United States “ambassador”
John Negroponte (with nefarious precedents in matters relating to intervention
and violation of human rights in Central America) at the head of an “embassy”
with 2000 people which will be the real government of Iraq.
5) Jurisdictional immunity of the occupying power will remain in effect
since in addition to the coalition Order number 17 the occupiers are negotiating
(in fact imposing) the continuation of this immunity under the provisional
Government. In addition, the United States is attempting to obtain from
the Security Council the renewal of Resolution 1487 of the Security Council
that ensured the impunity of its nationals before the International Criminal
Court.
In this way the Provisional Government will exercise an alleged sovereignty
under the vigilant eye of John Negroponte supported by 2000 public officials
and an occupying army of 130,000 troops that will enjoy impunity to continue
violating the Geneva Convention as they have done until now ( not only
practicing torture of prisoners in a systematic and massive way, but also
indiscriminately killing civilians).
President Bush, whose speech of 24 May leaves no doubt that United States
will continue to treat Iraq as a colony with or without a Security Council
resolution, announced that he has the intention of demolishing the Abou
Ghraib prison, which is a way of destroying evidence that could be used
in a future independent judicial process. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld
has prohibited the admission of photographic cameras into the prisons
with the intent to avoid the documentation of new acts of torture.
The same Iraqi Government Council installed by the United States, was
critical of the Anglo American project pointing out in a press release
of 25 May that the future government must “have total control over
the activities of the armed forces and the security forces, its oil resources
and its foreign policy”
II. The Security Council has neither judicial nor moral legitimacy
to adopt a resolution about Iraq for several reasons:
1) The Security Council through its resolutions 1422 and 1487, which illegally
grant immunity to the occupying powers to United States nationals before
the International Criminal Court and resolutions 1483 and 1511, which
allowed the aggression, the occupation and the plundering of the Iraqi
patrimony is involved in such international crimes while those responsible
for them are in addition responsible for torture and killings.
2) The Security Council is ready to discuss a project submitted by the
two States responsible for all those crimes. Such States should not even
be allowed to participate in the vote if, by analogy, we apply the last
paragraph of article 27 of the United Nations Charter which states that
“a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting.”
3) In addition it is inadmissible to bring the issue of Iraq to the Security
Council where two States responsible for the above mentioned crimes against
the State and people of Iraq have veto power.
III. Therefore the only solution, in conformity with international law,
is that the the question of Iraq be examined by the General Assembly of
the United Nations:
1) The General Assembly can discuss all questions related to the maintenance
of international peace and security presented for its consideration by
any member of the United Nations (article 11 (2) and Art. 34-35 of the
Charter).
2) The General Assembly may recommend measures for the peaceful adjustement
of any situation … ( art. 14);
3) On November 3, 1950 the General Assembly adopted resolution 377 (V)
“ Union for the Maintenance of Peace”, better known as “Dean
Acheson Resolution” where it is established that when certain conditions
exist (inability of the Security Council, a decision to call a meeting
of the General Assembly etc.) the General Assembly will immediately examine
the question with the aim of making recommendations about appropriate
collective measures to be adopted by all the members …
The General Assembly has used the “Acheson Procedure” on various
occasions and in different times: military intervention in Egypt ( 958)
in Hungary (1956) Lebanon (1958) the Indo Pakistani conflict (1971 ) Jordan
(1980) Afghanistan (1980) Namibia ( 1981) Bosnia-Herzegovina (1992)etc.
In the case of Egypt ( Israeli aggression and the Anglo French invasion,
the General Assembly created a interposition force of 6000 men , FENU,
which remained in the area for several years.
The Security Council can convoke the General Assembly to a special session
with an affirmative vote of nine of any of its members ( art. 20 and 27(2)
of the Charter of the United Nations).
Also half of the member States of the United Nations can ask to convene
a special session of the General Assembly ( art,. 20) of the Charter.
It is obvious that the solution to the Iraqi problem must begin with the
immediate removal of the occupying force, the automatic expiration of
the Coalition Provisional Authority Orders and the eventual dispatch of
an international security force composed by States that had not been part
to the conflict, decided by the General Assembly, in agreement with the
most representative groups of the Iraqi people.
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See the CETIM Issue on War in Iraq |
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