[legal-professionals] Declaration by the American Association of Jurists on Iraq

DECLARATION OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF JURISTS

A SPECIAL SESSION OF DE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY SHOULD BE CONVENED 
WITHOUT DELAY.

Taking Into Consideration That:

I. There is no doubt whatsoever that the government of the United States 
has decided to start the war against Iraq very shortly, with or without the 
consent of the Security Council, and regardless of any concessions Saddam 
Hussein makes to the UN inspectors requests and to the Security Council.

II. President Bush has expressed that he will not be fully satisfied with 
the destruction of the missiles in Iraq's possession, which may have a 
slightly longer range than what was allowed. The Prime Minister of the 
United Kingdom and the President of the government of Spain have been 
persistent in their unconditional support of a war, notwithstanding an 
overwhelming opposition in their respective countries.

III. Under these circumstances, the UN Security Council cannot fulfill its 
role as contemplated by the Charter of the United Nations with respect to 
maintaining international peace and security.

IV. Therefore, under these conditions, in order to attempt to preserve the 
international legality and avoid the re-emergence of what happened at the 
League of Nations, when it was torpedoed by the Nazi-Nippon's-Fascist axis 
between 1935 and 1939, it is crucial to immediately convene without delay a 
special session of the General Assembly (article 20 of the Charter), to 
make recommendations regarding the maintenance of international peace and 
security (article 18).
The General Assembly is authorized to intervene for various reasons:

1) The Security Council is unable to exercise its role, as contemplated in 
the Charter (Art. 12), due to the position of the United States;

2) In such a case, the General Assembly can intervene pursuant to the 
provisions about its general competence according to Article 10 of the Charter;

3) The General Assembly may discuss any questions or any matters relating 
to the maintenance of international peace and security brought before it by 
any member of the UN (Art. 11(2) and 34 and 35 of the Charter);

4) "... the General Assembly may recommend measures for the peaceful 
adjustment of any situation...." (Art. 14);

5) On November 3, 1950, the General Assembly adopted resolution 377(V), 
entitled "Uniting for Peace", better known as the "Dean Acheson resolution 
", which established that when certain conditions are present (such as 
failure of the Security Council to carry out its functions, a decision to 
convene the General Assembly, etc.) "THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY SHALL CONSIDER 
THE MATTER IMMEDIATELY WITH A VIEW TO MAKING APPROPRIATE RECOMMENDATIONS TO 
MEMBERS FOR COLLECTIVE MEASURES".

The General Assembly has applied the "Acheson procedure" in several 
occasions and various times, i.e., military intervention in Egypt (1956); 
Hungary (1956); Lebanon (1958); Indo-Pakistani conflict (1971); Jordan 
(1980); Afghanistan (1980); Namibia (1981); Bosnia-Herzegovina (1992), etc.

For the reasons stated above, the American Association of Jurists, a 
non-governmental organization in consultative status at the UN, calls upon 
the Secretary General of the United Nations and the governments of all the 
member states, to summon a special session of the General Assembly, in 
order to urge member states to refrain from disrupting peace or refuse to 
cooperate, in any way, with States involved in breaking peace; recommend 
measures to boycott States that promote an aggression; and adopt other 
provisions to avert a war. Only then can the legitimacy of the United 
Nations system will be maintained without a shred of doubt and the 
destruction of the international legal order will be prevented.

March 6, 2003.


Beinusz Szmukler             Vanessa Ramos          Alejandro Teitelbaum
Presidente                         Secretaria General   Representante 
permanente ante la ONU en Ginebra


(Original in Spanish)