TIME FOR A "SPECIAL SESSION" OF
THE U.N . GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The governments of Britain, France and the United States of America are in the process of committing a terrible crime against the nation and people of Libya, and they are doing it in the names of all of us - the citizens of all the countries that are members of the United Nations (UN)!
The latest and most compelling evidence of this crime emerged last Thursday, when President Barack Obama , Prime Minister David Cameron and President Nicholas Sarkhozy issued a joint public statement in which they declared - boldly and unequivocally - that they were determined to continue their military assault on Libya until they drove the governmental regime headed by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi out of power, and seemingly, out of Libya as well.
And, of course , they purported to be carrying out this objective as members of the United Nations Security Council , and under a mandate conferred by the UN Security Council Resolution 1973 (2011) , adopted on 17th March 2011.
Now, the first point that needs to be made is that the said U N Security Council Resolution 1973(2011) never authorised a military attack on Libya for the purpose removing the government of Libya!
The relevant portions of the Resolution read as follows:-
" The Security Council ,
4. Authorizes Member States ...to take all necessary measures ....to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, including Benghazi, while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory ....;
6. Decides to establish a ban on all flights in the airspace of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in order to help protect civilians;
8. Authorizes Member States.. ...to take all necessary measures to enforce compliance with the ban on flights imposed by paragraph 6..."
Thus , the joint UK, British and French military operation to drive the Gaddafi-led regime from power and out of Libya is in contravention of both Security Council Resolution 1973 and the Charter of the United Nations, which states in Article 2 that " all Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State..." The US , Britain and France are therefore committing a fundamental breach of international law!
But what should cause us even more concern is that they are committing this fundamental breach in OUR names!
And we say this , because Article 24 of the United Nations Charter stipulates that the member nations of the UN "confer on the Security Council primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security,"and agree that in carrying out its duties under this responsibility the Security Council acts on their behalf".It is now therefore incumbent upon the nations and citizens of the world who do not support this egregious perversion of the name and authority of the United Nations Security Council to take active measures to halt and rectify this unlawful abuse.
The first step that the governments of the moral majority of nations must take is to officially request Mr Ban-ki-Moon, the Secretary-General of the UN, to convoke a "Special Session" of the UN General Assembly for the purpose of discussing the specific threat to international peace and security created by the US, France and Britain engaging in a military assault on the nation of Libya, outside of the parameters - and indeed in violation- of Security Council Resolution 1973.
( Of course, Article 20 of the UN Charter establishes that "Special Sessions" of the General Assembly shall be convoked at the request of a majority of the member nations, while Article 11 authorises the General Assembly to discuss any question relating to the maintenance of international peace and secutity, and to make recommendations to the States concerned or to the Security Council.)
And we stress that the purpose of the Special Session of the General Assembly must not be to discuss the general situation in Libya , but rather to discuss "the specific threat to international peace and security created by the US, Britain and France engaging in a military assault on Libya OUTSIDE of the parameters of the Security Council Resolution 1973"
By correctly and lawfully framing the issue in this manner we would avoid any conflict with Article 12 of the UN Charter which stipulates that -" while the Security Council is exercising in respect of any dispute or situation the functions assigned to it in the present Charter, the General Assembly shall not make any recommendation with regard to that dispute or situation unless the Security Council so requests"
And so we appeal to the governments of the Caribbean, Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe to recognise the power that their numerical strength gives them in the international arena, and to use that strength in numbers to put the United Nations into motion, so that the authority and power of the General Assembly of the UN can be used to rein in the unlawful actions of these three rogue states.
The time for action is NOW! For God's sake, do not delay any longer!
 
David A Comissiong
PEOPLES EMPOWERMENT PARTY
President
Clement Payne Centre
Crumpton Street
Bridgetown
BARBADOS
submitted by Clement payne chambers
clementpaynechambers@gmail.com
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