Iranian General Qassem Soleimani was arbitrarily and illegally killed in an American raid in January in Iraq because Washington has failed to demonstrate that he poses immediate danger, says a UN human rights expert.
In a report sent to the media by the UN on Tuesday, Agnès Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, concludes that "the absence of an imminent threatening threat to life, the way of acting of the United States was illegal "and violates the Charter of the United Nations.
Not an official report
The expert, who is mandated by the UN Human Rights Council but does not speak on behalf of the United Nations, is due to present her report on Thursday to this UN body, from which the United States has withdrawn. in 2018. The document relates more generally to the use of drones in targeted assassinations, but almost half of the report concerns Soleimani.
Architect of Iran's Middle East Strategy, mighty General Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard branch responsible for the Islamic Republic's external operations, was killed on January 3 by an American air strike in front of the international airport. of Baghdad, with his lieutenant, the Iraqi Abou Mehdi al-Mouhandis, leader of the pro-Iran paramilitaries in this country.
A terrorist in the eyes of Donald Trump
"In light of the evidence so far provided by the United States, the targeting of General Soleimani, and the deaths of those accompanying him, constitute an arbitrary assassination for which the United States is responsible under international humanitarian law ", Asserts Agnès Callamard in her report.
Justifying the order to kill him, US President Donald Trump had assured after his death that Soleimani, whom he called "the number one terrorist" in the world, was preparing "imminent" attacks on American diplomats and soldiers.
Lack of evidence
In her report, Agnes Callamard rejects the argument put forward by Donald Trump, stressing that the United States has not demonstrated that the general "posed an imminent threat", that they could not wait to strike him, and that 'They were not able to ask the Iraqi government for "permission" to kill him.
"No evidence has been provided that General Soleimani was specifically planning an imminent attack on American interests, particularly in Iraq, for which immediate action was necessary and would have been justified," the report said. And, he continues, "there has been no evidence to show that the United States did not have time to seek the assistance of the international community, including the United Nations Security Council, to do so. in the face of suspected imminent threats.
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