Caribbean People's Resolution On The Crimes Committed Against Libya

Libyan military forces are fighting to defeat the US/NATO-backed counter-revolutionaries who are acting in concert with the imperialist forces inside this North African state. The imperialists have been bombing the country for over eight months., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

CARIBBEAN PEOPLE’S RESOLUTION ON
THE CRIMES COMMITTED AGAINST LIBYA

At the end of World War II - perhaps the most devastating war in the history of mankind - the nations of the world came together and created the United Nations organisation and a system of international legal principles that were designed to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war" and to "reaffirm faith in..... the equal rights ...... of nations large and small".

This system of international legal principles is the only mechanism that the smaller and less materially powerful nations of the world possess to protect them against the predatory intentions of large and powerful nations, and from the evil doctrine that "might makes right".

And so, it is now incumbent on all of the smaller nations of the world, and indeed, on all governments and persons that believe in the concepts of international law and morality, to forcibly register a strong and profound protest against the manner in which the operative principles of the United Nations and the fundamental precepts of international law were flouted and desecrated by the powerful nations of France, Britain and the United States of America ( and their NATO allies) in their actions against the people, government and nation of Libya, and against Libya’s political leader, the late Muammar Qaddafi, over the period of February to October 2011!

On the 17th of March 2011, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution - Resolution 1973 - in which the Council authorised member states of the UN to "take all necessary measures" to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory". The Council also imposed an arms embargo on Libya, banned all flights in the airspace of Libya, and authorised member states to "take all necessary measures to enforce compliance with the ban on flights."

This Security Council resolution was conceived and passed against the background of Article 2 (4) of the UN Charter, which establishes 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, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations".

It was also conceived and passed against the background of the ‘Declaration On Principles Of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations And Co-operation Among States In Accordance With The Charter Of The United Nations’, that was unanimously enunciated by the United Nations General Assembly on 24th October 1970 - Resolution 2625.

The ‘Declaration On Principles’ provides that - "every State has the duty to refrain from organising, instigating, assisting or participating in acts of civil strife or terrorist acts in another State......", and that "no State shall organize, assist, foment, finance, incite or tolerate subversive, terrorist or armed activities directed towards the violent overthrow of the regime of another state or interfere in civil strife in another State".

The ‘Declaration’ also makes it clear that "a war of aggression constitutes a crime against the peace, for which there is responsibility under international law", and that "States have the duty to refrain from propaganda for wars of aggression". Furthermore, the ‘Declaration’ goes on the stipulate that - "Every State shall refrain from any action aimed at the partial or total disruption of the national unity... of any other State", and reaffirms that the "subjection of peoples to alien... domination and exploitation constitutes a denial of fundamental human rights, and is contrary to the Charter".

In light of these international legal principles, and the clear words of UN Security Council Resolution 1973, the peoples of the world, and the member states of the international community of nations must unequivocally and forcibly deplore, reject, and denounce the following actions of France, Britain, the USA and their NATO allies:-

* With Western agents already on the ground in Libya, these countries moved with immediacy in February 2011 to exploit and hijack anti-Qaddafi demonstrations in Benghazi and to foment an armed conflict;

* They mobilised an intense untruthful international propaganda campaign that demonised Colonel Qaddafi as a "mad dog", and a vicious dictator who was on the verge of laying siege to the town of Benghazi for the purpose of massacring his opponents;

* They rejected and deliberately stifled all efforts made to bring about a negotiated peaceful resolution of the conflict in Libya by the African Union (AU);

* British, French and US military and intelligence personnel were spirited into Libya for the purpose of organising and training the rebels; funneling weapons and other military supplies to the rebels; and fighting alongside the rebels;

* In March 2011, they commenced an intense NATO bombing campaign against Libya in which they systematically targeted the state apparatus, and rained down thousands of cruise missiles and bombs on vast areas of Libyan territory, including the densely populated capital city of Tripoli;

* The political leaders of France, Britain and the United States openly declared that their intention was to effect "regime change" in Libya, and to drive the Qaddafi-led government from power and out of Libya;

* They set out on a campaign to assassinate Qaddafi, targeting his family compounds with missiles and bombs; stalking him with un-manned drones and so-called special operations troops (assassins); resulting in the deaths of many members of Qaddafi’s family;

* They froze and confiscated Libya’s state revenue to the tune of a hundred billion dollars;

* Having accused Qaddafi of planning to lay siege to Bengahazi, they imposed a month long siege on Qaddafi’s home town of Sirte, and bombed the entire city to the ground, causing immense suffering and loss of life;

* They supported and armed rebel forces who have engaged in a racist genocidal repression of dark skinned Libyans and Sub-Saharan Africans resident in Libya;

* On 18th October 2011 the Secretary of State of the USA, Hilary Clinton, openly demanded the death of Qaddafi";

* They are complicit in the October 21, 2011 capture and cold blooded murder of Muammar Qaddafi;

* They caused the deaths of an untold, but massive, number of Libyans, and have destroyed much of the physical infrastructure of the country; and

* Their state officials and private sector corporations have publicly made it clear that they now intend to profit massively from the exploitation of business opportunities in and the resources of Libya.

It is clear - beyond the shadow of a doubt - that all of the above-mentioned actions constitute egregious breaches of the UN Charter and of the Declaration On Principles of International Law. Furthermore, several of the actions also constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and a war of aggression!

IN LIGHT OF THE FOREGOING, WE, THE CITIZENS OF THE CARIBBEAN AND OF THE WORLD who have signed our names hereunder denounce these international criminal outrages and demand:-

(1) That all governments that possess respect and regard for international law issue official public statements denouncing these grievous and fundamental breaches of the principles of international law; and

(2) That the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) immediately institute investigations and prosecutions against all persons implicated in these international crimes.