SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Protesters chant and hold placards during a Stop the War Coalition demonstration oposite Downing Street on April 7, 2017 in London, England. (Photo: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images)
International Law Experts Warn Trump That Attack on Syria Would Be 'Crime of Aggression'
"Our point is a simple one: the only way to resolve the Syrian crisis is through commitment to well-settled principles of international legal norms."
Apr 12, 2018
Just ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's tweet early Thursday warning that a military attack on Syria will take place at some point in the future--either "soon or not so soon"--a group of international law experts declared in a statement that any such attack would amount to an illegal act of aggression, which has been defined as "the supreme international crime."
"The unlawful killing of any human being without legal justification, under every legal system, is murder," the experts said. "And an act of violence committed by one government against another government, without lawful justification, amounts to the crime of aggression: the supreme international crime which carries with it the evil of every other international crime, as noted by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg in 1946."
"We urge the United States to abide by its commitment to the rule of international law and to seek to resolve its disputes through peaceful means."
"Our point is a simple one: the only way to resolve the Syrian crisis is through commitment to well-settled principles of international legal norms," the experts continued. "We urge the United States to abide by its commitment to the rule of international law and to seek to resolve its disputes through peaceful means."
In addition to violating international law, American members of Congress have argued in recent days that any unilateral attack on Syria would also violate the U.S. Constitution.
"President Trump has no legal authority for broadening the war in Syria," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a statement on Wednesday. "It is Congress, not the president, who determines whether our country goes to war, and Congress must not abdicate that responsibility."
Nonetheless, Trump--with the corporate media dutifully beating the war drums in the background--has continued to escalate tensions and threaten missile strikes against Syria on Twitter, stoking fears of a direct confrontation with Russia and Iran.
As Common Dreams reported, Trump on Wednesday directly warned Russia to "get ready" because missiles "will be coming" at Syria.
Read the international law experts' full statement against Trump's push for military action below:
We are practitioners and professors of international law. Under international law, military strikes by the United States of America and its allies against the Syrian Arab Republic, unless conducted in self-defense or with United Nations Security Council approval, are illegal and constitute acts of aggression.
The unlawful killing of any human being without legal justification, under every legal system, is murder. And an act of violence committed by one government against another government, without lawful justification, amounts to the crime of aggression: the supreme international crime which carries with it the evil of every other international crime, as noted by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg in 1946.
The use of military force by a state can be used in self-defense after an armed attack by another state, or, with the approval of the United Nations Security Council. At present, neither instance would apply to a U.S. strike against Syria.
We understand the urge to act to protect innocent civilians. We strongly condemn any and all violence against civilians, whoever the perpetrators. But responding to unlawful violence with more unlawful violence, bypassing existing legal mechanisms, is a road to a lawless world. It is a road that leads to Hell.
Accordingly, we urge the United States and its allies to refrain from illegal conduct against Syria. We must point out that for the last several years, as is now common knowledge, the United States has armed rebels/insurgents to overthrow the current government of Syria. This is illegal under international law. In 1986, in The Nicaragua Case, the International Court of Justice reprimanded the United States for arming and supporting contra militias and combatants, and for mining Nicaragua's harbors, as acts which violated the U.N. Charter and international law. Perhaps the Syrian crisis would look differently today if the United States and its allies had consistently respected law for the last several years. They have not.
We take pains to note what should be obvious: our demand that the United States and its allies immediately comport themselves with their international legal obligations is not a justification, excuse, or some type of free pass on the investigation and accountability for international legal violations committed by other actors who may be involved in this sad affair. But our point is a simple one: the only way to resolve the Syrian crisis is through commitment to well-settled principles of international legal norms. We urge the United States to abide by its commitment to the rule of international law and to seek to resolve its disputes through peaceful means. These means include recourse to the use of established and legitimate institutions designed to maintain international peace and security, such as the U.N. Security Council or the International Court of Justice. Unilateral action is a sign of weakness; recourse to the law is a sign of strength. The United States must walk back from becoming the very monster it now seeks to destroy.
Inder Comar
Executive Director
Just Atonement Inc.Dr. Curtis F.J. Doebbler
Research Professor of Law
University of Makeni
UN Representative of International-Lawyers.orgDr. Ryan Alford
Associate Professor,
Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, Lakehead UniversityAbdeen Jabara
Civil Rights Attorney and Co-Founder of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination CommitteeMarjorie Cohn
Professor Emerita
Thomas Jefferson School of LawRamsey Clark
66th Attorney-General of the United StatesJeanne Mirer
President
International Association
of Democratic Lawyers
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Just ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's tweet early Thursday warning that a military attack on Syria will take place at some point in the future--either "soon or not so soon"--a group of international law experts declared in a statement that any such attack would amount to an illegal act of aggression, which has been defined as "the supreme international crime."
"The unlawful killing of any human being without legal justification, under every legal system, is murder," the experts said. "And an act of violence committed by one government against another government, without lawful justification, amounts to the crime of aggression: the supreme international crime which carries with it the evil of every other international crime, as noted by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg in 1946."
"We urge the United States to abide by its commitment to the rule of international law and to seek to resolve its disputes through peaceful means."
"Our point is a simple one: the only way to resolve the Syrian crisis is through commitment to well-settled principles of international legal norms," the experts continued. "We urge the United States to abide by its commitment to the rule of international law and to seek to resolve its disputes through peaceful means."
In addition to violating international law, American members of Congress have argued in recent days that any unilateral attack on Syria would also violate the U.S. Constitution.
"President Trump has no legal authority for broadening the war in Syria," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a statement on Wednesday. "It is Congress, not the president, who determines whether our country goes to war, and Congress must not abdicate that responsibility."
Nonetheless, Trump--with the corporate media dutifully beating the war drums in the background--has continued to escalate tensions and threaten missile strikes against Syria on Twitter, stoking fears of a direct confrontation with Russia and Iran.
As Common Dreams reported, Trump on Wednesday directly warned Russia to "get ready" because missiles "will be coming" at Syria.
Read the international law experts' full statement against Trump's push for military action below:
We are practitioners and professors of international law. Under international law, military strikes by the United States of America and its allies against the Syrian Arab Republic, unless conducted in self-defense or with United Nations Security Council approval, are illegal and constitute acts of aggression.
The unlawful killing of any human being without legal justification, under every legal system, is murder. And an act of violence committed by one government against another government, without lawful justification, amounts to the crime of aggression: the supreme international crime which carries with it the evil of every other international crime, as noted by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg in 1946.
The use of military force by a state can be used in self-defense after an armed attack by another state, or, with the approval of the United Nations Security Council. At present, neither instance would apply to a U.S. strike against Syria.
We understand the urge to act to protect innocent civilians. We strongly condemn any and all violence against civilians, whoever the perpetrators. But responding to unlawful violence with more unlawful violence, bypassing existing legal mechanisms, is a road to a lawless world. It is a road that leads to Hell.
Accordingly, we urge the United States and its allies to refrain from illegal conduct against Syria. We must point out that for the last several years, as is now common knowledge, the United States has armed rebels/insurgents to overthrow the current government of Syria. This is illegal under international law. In 1986, in The Nicaragua Case, the International Court of Justice reprimanded the United States for arming and supporting contra militias and combatants, and for mining Nicaragua's harbors, as acts which violated the U.N. Charter and international law. Perhaps the Syrian crisis would look differently today if the United States and its allies had consistently respected law for the last several years. They have not.
We take pains to note what should be obvious: our demand that the United States and its allies immediately comport themselves with their international legal obligations is not a justification, excuse, or some type of free pass on the investigation and accountability for international legal violations committed by other actors who may be involved in this sad affair. But our point is a simple one: the only way to resolve the Syrian crisis is through commitment to well-settled principles of international legal norms. We urge the United States to abide by its commitment to the rule of international law and to seek to resolve its disputes through peaceful means. These means include recourse to the use of established and legitimate institutions designed to maintain international peace and security, such as the U.N. Security Council or the International Court of Justice. Unilateral action is a sign of weakness; recourse to the law is a sign of strength. The United States must walk back from becoming the very monster it now seeks to destroy.
Inder Comar
Executive Director
Just Atonement Inc.Dr. Curtis F.J. Doebbler
Research Professor of Law
University of Makeni
UN Representative of International-Lawyers.orgDr. Ryan Alford
Associate Professor,
Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, Lakehead UniversityAbdeen Jabara
Civil Rights Attorney and Co-Founder of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination CommitteeMarjorie Cohn
Professor Emerita
Thomas Jefferson School of LawRamsey Clark
66th Attorney-General of the United StatesJeanne Mirer
President
International Association
of Democratic Lawyers
Just ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's tweet early Thursday warning that a military attack on Syria will take place at some point in the future--either "soon or not so soon"--a group of international law experts declared in a statement that any such attack would amount to an illegal act of aggression, which has been defined as "the supreme international crime."
"The unlawful killing of any human being without legal justification, under every legal system, is murder," the experts said. "And an act of violence committed by one government against another government, without lawful justification, amounts to the crime of aggression: the supreme international crime which carries with it the evil of every other international crime, as noted by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg in 1946."
"We urge the United States to abide by its commitment to the rule of international law and to seek to resolve its disputes through peaceful means."
"Our point is a simple one: the only way to resolve the Syrian crisis is through commitment to well-settled principles of international legal norms," the experts continued. "We urge the United States to abide by its commitment to the rule of international law and to seek to resolve its disputes through peaceful means."
In addition to violating international law, American members of Congress have argued in recent days that any unilateral attack on Syria would also violate the U.S. Constitution.
"President Trump has no legal authority for broadening the war in Syria," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a statement on Wednesday. "It is Congress, not the president, who determines whether our country goes to war, and Congress must not abdicate that responsibility."
Nonetheless, Trump--with the corporate media dutifully beating the war drums in the background--has continued to escalate tensions and threaten missile strikes against Syria on Twitter, stoking fears of a direct confrontation with Russia and Iran.
As Common Dreams reported, Trump on Wednesday directly warned Russia to "get ready" because missiles "will be coming" at Syria.
Read the international law experts' full statement against Trump's push for military action below:
We are practitioners and professors of international law. Under international law, military strikes by the United States of America and its allies against the Syrian Arab Republic, unless conducted in self-defense or with United Nations Security Council approval, are illegal and constitute acts of aggression.
The unlawful killing of any human being without legal justification, under every legal system, is murder. And an act of violence committed by one government against another government, without lawful justification, amounts to the crime of aggression: the supreme international crime which carries with it the evil of every other international crime, as noted by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg in 1946.
The use of military force by a state can be used in self-defense after an armed attack by another state, or, with the approval of the United Nations Security Council. At present, neither instance would apply to a U.S. strike against Syria.
We understand the urge to act to protect innocent civilians. We strongly condemn any and all violence against civilians, whoever the perpetrators. But responding to unlawful violence with more unlawful violence, bypassing existing legal mechanisms, is a road to a lawless world. It is a road that leads to Hell.
Accordingly, we urge the United States and its allies to refrain from illegal conduct against Syria. We must point out that for the last several years, as is now common knowledge, the United States has armed rebels/insurgents to overthrow the current government of Syria. This is illegal under international law. In 1986, in The Nicaragua Case, the International Court of Justice reprimanded the United States for arming and supporting contra militias and combatants, and for mining Nicaragua's harbors, as acts which violated the U.N. Charter and international law. Perhaps the Syrian crisis would look differently today if the United States and its allies had consistently respected law for the last several years. They have not.
We take pains to note what should be obvious: our demand that the United States and its allies immediately comport themselves with their international legal obligations is not a justification, excuse, or some type of free pass on the investigation and accountability for international legal violations committed by other actors who may be involved in this sad affair. But our point is a simple one: the only way to resolve the Syrian crisis is through commitment to well-settled principles of international legal norms. We urge the United States to abide by its commitment to the rule of international law and to seek to resolve its disputes through peaceful means. These means include recourse to the use of established and legitimate institutions designed to maintain international peace and security, such as the U.N. Security Council or the International Court of Justice. Unilateral action is a sign of weakness; recourse to the law is a sign of strength. The United States must walk back from becoming the very monster it now seeks to destroy.
Inder Comar
Executive Director
Just Atonement Inc.Dr. Curtis F.J. Doebbler
Research Professor of Law
University of Makeni
UN Representative of International-Lawyers.orgDr. Ryan Alford
Associate Professor,
Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, Lakehead UniversityAbdeen Jabara
Civil Rights Attorney and Co-Founder of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination CommitteeMarjorie Cohn
Professor Emerita
Thomas Jefferson School of LawRamsey Clark
66th Attorney-General of the United StatesJeanne Mirer
President
International Association
of Democratic Lawyers
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.