UN investigator deems drone strike on Iranian general an unlawful killing
GENEVA — The January US drone strike in Iraq that killed senior Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and nine other people represented a violation of international law, a United Nations human rights investigator has said.
The United States has failed to provide sufficient evidence of an ongoing or imminent attack against its interests to justify the strike on Soleimani’s convoy as it left Baghdad airport, said Agnes Callamard, UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, on Monday.
The attack violated the UN Charter, Callamard wrote 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 said.
Callamard is due on Thursday to present her findings to the UN Human Rights Council, giving member states a chance to debate what action to pursue. The US is not a member of the forum, having quit two years ago.
Soleimani, leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, was a pivotal figure in orchestrating Iran’s campaign to drive US forces out of Iraq and the Middle East. Washington had accused Soleimani of masterminding attacks by Teheran-backed militias on US forces in the region.
“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 US was unlawful,” Callamard wrote in the report.
The Jan 3 drone strike was the first known incident in which a nation invoked self-defense as a justification for an attack against a state actor in the territory of a third country, Callamard added.
Iran retaliated with a rocket attack on an Iraqi air base where US forces were stationed. Hours later, Iranian forces on high alert mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger airliner taking off from Teheran.
Iran has issued an arrest warrant for US President Donald Trump and 35 others over Soleimani’s killing and has asked Interpol for help, Ali Alqasimehr, a prosecutor of Teheran, said on June 29, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
Alqasimehr said he would continue to pursue his prosecution even after Trump’s presidency ends.
The Russians targeted include Russian Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin, Deputy Prosecutor General Viktor Grin and Deputy Minister of the Interior Alexey Anichin.
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hailed the decision, saying: “This sanctions regime marks the beginning of a new era for UK sanctions policy and cooperation between our two democracies.”
Britain has previously imposed sanctions as part of the European Union or under the auspices of the United Nations. Since leaving the EU in January, it has implemented its own version of the US’ Magnitsky Act, which allows authorities to ban or seize assets of individuals guilty of human rights abuses.
According to the Reuters, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to forge a new independent role for Britain in foreign and trade affairs and this was the first time London could impose asset freezes and visa bans independently.
“The sanctions against individuals and organizations are the first wave of designations under the new regime, with further sanctions expected in the coming months,” the UK Foreign Office said in a statement.
The Russian embassy in UK said in a statement that the decision is an outrageous step, adding that Moscow reserves the right to retaliate.
London’s decision falls in line with its idea of the UK as the “world leader” in sanctions on sovereign states, it said.
Russia’s Tass news agency reported that Raab met with Sergei Magnitsky’s widow Natalia and his son Nikita on Monday.
“All answers to existing questions regarding the circumstances of Sergei Magnitsky’s death have already been provided. This British decision was quite obviously aimed solely at public effect,” the embassy said.
Leonid Slutsky, head of the foreign affairs committee in the State Duma, denounced the sanctions as “Russophobic nonsense”.
“London has made another move toward degradation of Russia-UK relations,” he was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying.