US Killing Of Iran's Top General Soleimani 'Unlawful' - UN Expert

US Killing of Iran's Top General Soleimani 'Unlawful' - UN Expert

The killing of Iranian senior military commander Qasem Soleimani by US forces in January was in violation of international law, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard said in a report on Tuesday

UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th July, 2020) The killing of Iranian senior military commander Qasem Soleimani by US forces in January was in violation of international law, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard said in a report on Tuesday.

"In light of the evidence that the US has provided to date, the targeting of General Soleimani, and the deaths of those accompanying him, constitute an arbitrary killing for which, under IHRL [International human rights law], the US is responsible," Callamard said. "The strike was in violation of Art. 2(4) of the UN Charter with insufficient evidence provided of an ongoing or imminent attack."

Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike near the Baghdad airport on January 3. President Donald Trump claimed that Iran was planning an attack on four American embassies, including in Baghdad, at the time of the US operation to kill Soleimani.

According to Callamard, no evidence had been provided that Soleimani was planning an attack against the United States.

Soleimani was in charge of Iran's military strategy in Syria and Iraq, and absent an imminent threat to life, the action taken by the United States was "unlawful," and led to more casualties, Callamard said.

"The strikes against General Soleimani and the US bases in Iraq resulted in far more casualties than their direct targets alone," she pointed out.

Iran responded to the killing with limited strikes on US bases with prior warning, which resulted in no deaths or injuries. However, 176 people died in a Ukrainian passenger plane crash near Tehran that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps took responsibility for - they accidentally shot it down while on high alert after the US attack.

Callamard also said it is unacceptable that the UN Security Council is 'missing in action' by not subjecting drones' attacks and targeted killings to robust international review.