The statement released by the International Commission of Centre of Attorneys-at-Law is as follow:
In the Name of Allah
Statement of the International Commission of Centre of Attorneys-at-Law, Official Experts and Family Counsels of Judiciary Power on the Recent USA Act of Terror
Recent military action of the USA on a direct order of the President Donald Trump, in assassinating a group of commanders and members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran and the “Popular Mobilization Forces” (Hashd al-Sha'abi) of Iraq, including the martyrs Qasem Soleimani and Abu-Mahdi Al-Mohandes, is considered as USA act of terror and manifestly a state terrorism.
This Act of the USA is certainly illegal, unlawful and inhumane. It is considered against the rules and principals of international law and it is in a breach of human rights as well as international humanitarian law. The recent baseless justification argued by the USA authorities that the drown strike was carried out as a self-defence or as a precautionary military act, in order to deter possible dangers to the US citizens, cannot be legally justified and would not be accepted by the international community.
The Lieutenant-General Qasem Soleimani and Abu-Mahdi Al-Mohandes and their companions have been fighting for the last several years against various groups of the vicious terrorists in the regions namely Iraq and Syria, particularly the international terrorist group of ISIS. They were the greatest enemies of ISIS in the region. The Lieutenant-General Soleimani was presence in Iraq under an official visit as a special delegation to the Iraqi’s government, in order to discuss with the Iraqi’s officials the recent activities of terrorism in the region and to decide on how to combat with newly rehabilitated ISIS group in Iraq.
The brutal drown strike carried by USA military forces against these national and regional heroes while sitting in their non-military vehicles passing by in the carriageway of the vicinity of civilian Baghdad International Airport, had to be considered as to the effect that the USA by drowning striking against these terrorists fighters in the region is once again is aiming to strengthen the repositioning of ISIS in the region and to support them to rehabilitate and reconstruct themselves in the Iraqi’s territory. Therefore, the USA act of terror against the Lieutenant-General Qasem Soleimani and his team of commanders, i.e. the most successful terrorists’ fighters, shall destabilize the region. Such an act of terror will certainly create further tension and strengthen the position of ISIS in the region.
It is doubtless that striking the Iranian-Iraqi’s top military officials, i.e. the Lieutenant-General Qasem Soleimani and his team of commanders, who had no military shield and who were not in the state of armed conflict but they were just passing by from the civilian Baghdad International Airport, would be considered as a brutal and unforgivable act of terror.
The USA terrorist act has not only violated international rules and principles but also infringed the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement concluded between Iraq and USA. This is why all the official authorities of Iraq immediately condemned such military strike of the USA. The Iraqi’s officials considered the recent USA terrorist attack as an illegal, breach of Iraqi’s sovereignty and intervention of the Iraqi’s national affairs. They also considered that that USA terrorist attack against the convoy of the Lieutenant-General Soleimani, Abu-Mahdi Al-Mohandes and their companions has violated the terrestrial integrity of Iraq and is counted as the infringement of the conditions mutually agreed between Iraq-USA, under which such conditions should be respected by USA authorities while they are present in Iraq. This violation shall terminate the mutually agreed U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement and to end the USA presence in Iraq.
The USA should be obliged by the international law and international community to respect the sovereignty of the independent status of the countries; to establish international peace and security; to respect and protect the human rights and international humanitarian law; to prevent from abuse of legal instruments in a double standard approach, and not to intervene in the internal affairs of the countries. Every act of the USA in infringing the prevailing rules and principles of international law, such as what the USA has recently committed a violation to international law by committing an international act of terror, shall be duly condemned and compensated.
As the recent act of terror by USA would increase political tension in the region and jeopardize the regional and international peace and security, the security council of UN should fulfil its duty to pass the immediate resolution to condemn precisely and expressly the USA act of terror in any and all forms and compensate the victims of USA act of terror.
As the USA has violated international law by assassinating Lieutenant-General Soleimani, Islamic Republic of Iran has a right to take self-defence measures according to Article 51 of the UN Charters and to take any harsh revenge whenever, wherever and whatever that the Country may decide to be proper. Further, Islamic Republic of Iran, while taking the reciprocal action and self-defence measures, has a right to take the case of an action to any international competent authorities particularly to take the case to the General Assembly of the UN as well as to the UN Human Rights Council.
Since the recent USA act of terror has violated the international law and also infringed the prevailing conditions on the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement concluded between Iraq and USA, the Iraqi’s authorities have also rights to take the reciprocal action; to seek compensation for the victims of terror; to protect the Iraqi’s sovereignty and to take internal and international actions against USA, while utilizing the capacities of the lawyers of both countries in the respected jurisdictions.
It is thus requested from the domestic, regional and international communities, particularly the lawyers without boarder, NOGs for lawyers and attorneys-at-law, all over the world, who are neutral and independent, to support the legal actions to be taken against the USA act of terror; to combat with any form of illegality by the USA authorities; to establish justice and to prosecute and punish those of USA terrorist authorities.
As the Iranian Lieutenant-General Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi’s Abu-Mahdi Al-Mohandes and their accompanies have been victims of brutal act of terror by USA, we the group of Iranian lawyers and attorneys-at-law are prepared to take part in any future cases that will be taken against USA authorities in the following domestic, regional and international competent courts, in order to protect and support the Iranian-Iraqis victims of USA act of terror:
1. Bringing an action to the Iranian Competent Court with reference to the rules and regulation of Iran, for instance, the Act of “Mandating the Government to Seek Compensation for the USA Acts and Crimes Against Iran and Iranian Nations”, that is legislated on 17th May 2016;
2. Bringing an action to the Iraqi’s competent courts, according to the Iraqi’s rules and regulations, for the horrifying crimes taken place in the territory of Iraq by the USA act of terrorism;
3. Bringing an action to the international competent jurisdiction(s), wherever it is legally viable, in line with the international law particularly the relevant conventions and treaties.
We, the International Commission of Centre of Attorneys-at-Law, Official Experts and Family Counsels of Judiciary Power welcome any proposal by the lawyers and attorneys-at-law to support the above said legal actions to be taken against USA act of terror, whether internally and internationally.
Seyed Nasrollah Ebrahimi
Head of International Commission