We the people of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small,
to establish conditions under which justice and respect of the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
and for these ends
to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors, and
to unite our strength to maintain international security, and to insure by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed forces shall not be used, save in the common interest, and
to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples,
have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these ends. Preamble
enjamin Ferencz is the 96-year old sole surviving prosecutor of Nazi war crimes during the Nuremburg Trials, and a leading advocate for global jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC). He and many others have long called for every nation on Earth to join the ICC and end, finally, the potential for any human being regardless of power, wealth, prestige or nation to commit war crimes with impunity.
A United Nations (UN) reform initiative calling for mandatory signing and ratification of the Rome Statute by United Nations member states – joining the ICC and agreeing to its global jurisdiction – holds the promise of “embarrassing” those nations outside the ICC to join or lose respect around the world. Included in such a United Nations reform is expulsion from the UN of those states refusing to join the court, an action which would surely harm more than enhance opposing nations’ international reputation in the eyes of the world’s people.
The time has come for the international community to act powerfully for the realizable goal of ending the carrying out of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide with impunity by those outside the enforcement reach of the ICC. Universal ICC membership once UN reform becomes part of the charter promises an end to wars of aggression, throughout history until now the producer of humanity’s most severe violent disasters and accompanying high levels of death, injury and destruction.
Mr. Benjamin Ferencz has worked for decades to convince people of the urgent need for a worldwide institution of law and order to deter criminals intending to carry out the most heinous actions imaginable. His reasoning is simple to comprehend for any man or woman who possesses plain common sense. With his high level of knowledge, commitment and life experience over 96 years, Mr. Ferencz has gained the admiration and respect deserving of a wise elder speaking out for peace on Earth.
Mr. Benjamin Ferencz urgent, timely and wise message provides the best solution to humanity’s problem of war. Acting on his ideas will absolutely change the world for the better while improving the human condition – now, and for those born in future generations.
f not mistaken, in their first presidential debate neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump became questioned on, or voluntarily presented, their views on the globally important situation which is Syria. In the debate Americans found non-opinions on Syria by the two major candidates in what everyone routinely sees as the every-four-years battle of ideas on vital domestic and international issues of the day, and finding the two persons believed to hold the power for winning the election not even discussing the greatest military and humanitarian crisis on Earth.
It would be interesting to find out what percentage of Americans watching the debate (estimated at 100 million) either didn’t notice the omission/non-discussion of Syria or didn’t care because they know zero about what’s really been going on there since 2011 – because Western corporate media has fed them virtually nothing but lies or distortions. Whether the American people have no awareness of Syria because of media omission (as illustrated with the debate) or routine, incorrect facts, misinformation etc. received through their corporate “news” sources, the way events in Syria become reported in America and the West compared to the rest of the world, the severe difference in narratives, is astonishing.
If one had to place a bet both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump know precisely the truth about Syria, had the chance to tell the American people the full disturbing truth, but consciously chose not to. The truth they intentionally kept from Americans watching their debate is that the U.S.’ role along with its Middle East and European allies has been nothing less than one long, horrific, military and psychological operations crime against humanity – in particular against the men, women and children of Syria.
Unfortunately the situation in Syria has become so dangerous that there is no time for delay in putting the truth on the table for all to see. For a peaceful resolution of the Syrian crisis to become reality, there is no other possible route to get there but that the nations and leaders who’ve, since 2011, been sponsoring (state-sponsored terror) the mercenary soldier/terrorists destroying Syria and its people will have to confess to humanity for their crimes. The hard, brutal and terrifying fact about the current situation in Syria is that there are two (2) possible outcomes: 1) the just described mass confession by the state sponsors of terrorists who have since 2011, and are now, operating in Syria or 2) escalation of violence, likely leading to world war.
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump’s lying by omission in the debate by not telling the American people the full (any) truth about Syria makes the preferable option, universal confession of state crimes, unfortunately, look unlikely. The seeming committed unwillingness of the Obama administration, America’s European and Middle East region allies to “find God”, their stubbornness in recognizing that their massive pretense is evaporating with each passing day as more people are coming to know the truth… are more reasons for people to feel pessimistic.
Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein and her vice-presidential running mate Ajamu Baraka call for a Middle East “peace offensive” that includes a weapons embargo, firm measures restricting the flow of money to terrorists, sanctions against nations sponsoring terrorism, strict adherence to international law, and high-level, intense diplomacy.
Despite the deeply negative implications of the personal moral shortcomings of those responsible for the catastrophic conditions in Syria and their seemingly impossible-to-reverse personal positions, considering the exponentially harsher – unimaginable – reality of world war brings about an intensifying of sobriety, concern and sense of urgency rarely felt or experienced in all of world history. There seems no other way of describing the state of Syria and the world today but to say humanity has arrived at an existential, immeasurably important moment of decision, perhaps most clearly conveyed in the words of the 35th President of the United States John F. Kennedy (1917-1963):
“Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind.”
fter calling for an emergency meeting of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, the representatives of the United States, United Kingdom and France walked out of the meeting while Syrian UN Ambassador Bashar Jaafari addressed the council. The video below recorded Dr. Jaafari’s address with English translation. The official transcript/record of the Security Council’s over 2-hour meeting is available on the United Nations webite, and here is Dr. Jaafari’s statement to the Council. I give the floor to the representative of the Syrian Arab Republic. Mr. Ja’afari (Syrian Arab Republic) spoke in Arabic.
With regard to the comments by the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom, one of the three States that called for this meeting, asserting that Syria is broken and about to die, I would like to reassure him that Syria has never been broken. His words are tantamount to the dream of Satan to reach Paradise, mere dreams or wishful thinking. They are not worthy of a permanent member of the Security Council. As for the three permanent members together, they sounded as if they were rediscovering the wheel. They discovered that the Syrian Government was trying to recapture Aleppo. What a great discovery!
As if Aleppo were a town in Djibouti or Afghanistan — or in Brazil, for that matter. I reassure them that the Syrian Government will recapture the entire city of Aleppo. If the countries’ of the permanent members of the Security Council each have one capital, we have two capitals, Damascus and Aleppo. If Shakespeare or the pioneers of the Theatre of the Absurd, Jean Genet, Adamov, Kaf ka, Kierkegaard and Georges Shehadeh, were to appear among us again, they would have written better tragedies and better plays than they did in their time. They would have never listened to the lies that are similar to King Lear’s lies. Some of them are mourning the deaths of the very persons that they killed with their own hands. They weep crocodile tears.
The same three permanent members that called for this urgent meeting have aborted a presidential statement 13 times by striking the Arab-Syrian Army, in error, or through other actions. But when a French terrorist named Mohammed Merah wreaked havoc in the French city of Toulouse, he was killed by 300 hundred bullets at the hands of the security forces. They did well. However, in Syria we did not call that French terrorist a moderate or an individual belonging to a moderate opposition group. Even if Spain were to give away the Basque region — or France Corsica; or Great Britain Scotland or the United States Texas — the Syrian Government will never relinquish one inch of its territory, in accordance with international law.
At the request of certain Council members, we have gathered here today in their attempt to come to the rescue of armed terrorist groups that they falsely call the moderate armed opposition. They do that whenever indications point to the possibility that these groups, under attack from the Syrian Arab Army and their allies, face defeat. They forgot the crime committed by the Nur al-Din al-Zanki rebel group when they beheaded Abdullah Issa, the Palestinian child, before everyone’s eyes. At that time, that rebel group was in control of the Handarat refugee camp with the Al-Nusra Front. We believe that the call for this urgent meeting is a message from the countries that called it to the Al-Nusra Front and the other terrorist groups, namely, that their support and political cover will continue unhindered,and that the weapon of terrorism that puts pressure on the Syrian Government and its allies will continue to be effective.
Based on our constitutional responsibility to protect our citizens from the acts of armed terrorist groups, which have inflicted suffering on our people in Aleppo, the military operation by the Syrian Army and its allies that began two days ago includes efforts to safeguard the lives of our citizens. They were advised to stay away from positions of the armed terrorist groups and to take all measures to facilitate their evacuation and secure the basic needs of a dignified life. Those measures included even those who were deceived into taking up arms against the State. On the other hand, the terrorist groups continue to prevent civilians from leaving Aleppo, with a view to using them as human shields.
We know that Aleppo has more than 2 million inhabitants, with 750,000 persons in east Aleppo. At the same time, my country condemns the use of internally prohibited weapons. We stress that all military operations conducted by the Syrian army and its allies on Syrian territory abide by the Charter of the United Nations and the Council’s resolutions on combating terrorism. We denounce the fabricated accusations levelled by certain members of the Council, in addition to senior United Nations officials, against the Syrian army and its allies through alleging that they use internationally prohibited weapons or that they deliberately target civilians.
It is indeed odd that the Secretary-General and his senior aides would level such fabricated and untrue accusations, which rely on false accounts from individuals who are terrorists. They also ignore clear evidence pointing to the repeated use by armed terrorist groups, including the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, of chemical weapons against military personnel and civilians and to the seizure of a chlorine gas factory situated 40 miles from Aleppo. I have received information that terrorists disguised as Syrian military personnel are plotting to use dangerous phosphorous-based materials against Syrian civilians. The goal is that Syrian military personnel, as has happened in the past, will be accused of committing such crimes.
They are trying to influence the Council and public opinion by distributing photographs. That dangerous chemical material is located in six barrels in a warehouse situated 20 kilometres from Aleppo. On 6 September, that warehouse housing yellow phosphorous material was visited by two United States experts. They then left for Turkey. I am relaying to the Council the information that has been given to me, as with hundreds of other items of information in connection with terrorist activities in my country. Those who commit war crimes in Syria are well-known. They are the ones who killed 200 civilians in the town of Manbij, bombed a school for the deaf in Raqqa and targeted the Syrian army in Deir ez-Zor. They are backing Da’esh and providing all kinds of support for the hundreds of thousands of terrorists who have been brought to Syria from more than 100 countries — according to the reports of the Secretary-General to the Council over numerous years.
More than anyone, we want an end to the bloodshed in Syria and to the prolonged suffering of the Syrian people. Accordingly, we welcomed the United States-Russia agreement on fighting Da’esh and the Al-Nusra Front and their allies — differentiating between the Al-Nusra Front and what is known as the “moderate” armed opposition groups — and ceasing hostilities for one week. While we were committed to the agreement, those who employ terrorist groups in Syria told them to reject the agreement. Immediately thereafter, more than 20 armed terrorist groups rejected it, including the Nur al-Din al-Zanki and Al-Nusra groups, as well as the Ahrar Al-Sham. That rejection was accompanied by targeting the Syrian army on the Castello Road and at various other positions.
They violated the agreement 300 times before it expired, leading to the martyrdom of 200 civilians and 157 military personnel, as well as to hundreds of seriously injured victims. In a deliberate attempt to sabotage the agreement, the military aircraft of what is known as the international coalition led by the United States bombarded the positions of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces fighting Da’esh in Deir ez-Zor. That is not the first time that these groups have committed such crimes. It is truly deplorable that certain members of the Council, in addition to senior United Nations officials, including the Secretary-General, continue to call upon the Syrian Government and its allies to adhere to the cessation of hostilities — despite all kinds of evidence on the ground proving that since the beginning, those countries have been backing armed terrorist groups, which have never wanted and will never want this endeavour to succeed.
That was made abundantly clear by the violations of the agreement by the armed terrorist groups and the so-called international coalition, which were directly or indirectly involved. Worse still is that the United States shirked the responsibility of its main obligation, namely, to differentiate between the Al-Nusra Front and those groups that it insists on classifying as moderate armed opposition groups. That has led to undermining all the progress achieved over five years of the war imposed upon our country, clearly showing the lack of a political will on the part of those who sponsor terrorism to stop the bloodshed — as if the objective were to neutralize the Syrian forces instead of finding a solution.
Is it not now time for those on the Council who continue to deceive themselves and public opinion to desist from protecting and supporting what they refer to as the moderate armed opposition? All such armed groups are only the different sides of the same coin — terrorism — which has had a boomerang effect, with attacks, terrorist activities and extremist ideologies in those members’ capitals, owing to their flawed policies and practices. Wouldany representative in this Chamber dare to justify the support given by Council members for four years in the form of hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of tons of weaponry to the Nur al-Din al-Zanki terrorist group, which beheaded that Palestinian child — an event that the Security Council is lamenting today? That faction revealed the falsehood of Council members’ political media campaigns that claim that the faction is a moderate opposition when it declared that it belongs to he Al-Nusra Front.
It is incumbent on certain members of the Council to stop their exploitation of the Syrian people’s suffering, which they created themselves through their military, political and financial support. The politicization of the Syrian crisis will lead only to the prolongation of the crisis and the worsening of the plight of Syrian people, in the service of well-vested narrow interests, far removed from humanitarian goals. Our commitment to fighting terrorism goes hand in hand with our commitment to reaching a political solution through intra-Syrian talks to be decided by Syrians themselves, who should decide the future of their country without any foreign intervention.With regard to solutions imposed from abroad, they are completely and categorically rejected by the Syrian Government. In that regard, we underscore that any political solution can be successful only if it provides the necessary conditions through intensified efforts to fight terrorism and by advancing reconciliation processes, which have been successful in many of other regions.
The international community must therefore understand that the real war against terrorism has not yet begun. The advent of the Syrian victory is imminent. This victory will further the implementation of Security Council resolutions and the maintenance of international peace and security. I have information with regard to what has happened in Deir ez-Zour.
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The following is the UN description of what Dr. Jaafari said in the meeting, and an unofficial, for information purposes only summation.
BASHAR JA’AFARI (Syria) said three of the Council’s members had behaved as though they were reinventing the wheel, while with lies being told, crocodile tears shed and 13 violations of a Council presidential statement committed through the bombing of Syrian Armed Forces and other targets. Aleppo was not just a town, but one of Syria’s capital cities and just as the United States would never give up Texas, his Government would never relinquish an inch of its territory. With a view to protecting citizens from armed terrorist groups, the Syrian Armed Forces and its allies had responded, including taking measures to help civilians leave Aleppo, which had a population of 2 million. Condemning the use of internationally prohibited weapons, he denounced allegations made by certain Council members about his Government’s use of such weapons and the deliberate targeting of civilians. The armed groups’ actions, including their seizure of a chlorine gas factory 40 kilometres from Aleppo, had meanwhile been ignored. He referred to a report that terrorist groups were now planning to use phosphorous gas and blame its use on the Syrian Armed Forces, he underlined that his country had continuously reported such illegal acts to the Council.
Welcoming the recent United States-Russian Federation agreement, he said his Government supported the ceasefire. Yet, those States that were “employing” terrorist groups in Syria had seen that more than 20 armed groups had rejected the agreement, including Nusrah Front, thereby sabotaging the ceasefire. The international coalition had bombarded the Syrian Armed Forces, who were positioned to fight Da’esh. While some Council members and senior officials had continued to call on the Government to support progress, he said the reality on the ground clearly demonstrated that it was the terrorist groups and their supporters that were hampering such efforts. As a result, those efforts had been undermined, showing the absence of the required political will to find a solution of those who were sponsoring the bloodbath. It was time for the Council to stop the moderate armed groups, whose actions amounted to terrorism. He asked if any member in the Chamber would have the courage to stop Nur al-Din al-Zanki, an armed group that had declared allegiance to Nusrah Front. The Syrian people’s suffering must end, and the politicization of the crisis would only prolong the crisis.
Mr. DE MISTURA, responding to one question that he called “clearly precise” and “clearly erased” by the Russian Federation’s delegate, said he was guided by resolution 2254 (2016). He had in the past witnessed refusals for active direct talks from the agency that did set preconditions. He said he did ask the Ambassador who was also the representative of the Government in Geneva if they wanted to have at that time direct talks with current delegations. “You, Mr. Ambassador did indicate that you did not want to discuss with terrorists or their representatives.” The political process could not be hostage to the security environment. During “that special day” on 9 September of long, detailed discussions with the Russian Federation and United States, he said he made a statement that said that the United Nations hoped that its implementation would facilitate renewed efforts to reach a Syrian-owned and -led arrangement. Regarding when he would send the invitation for renewed talks, he said it would be for direct talks.
Mr. JA’AFARI (Syria) said that when the Geneva II conference was held with a view to preparing for the Geneva IV conference, Jordan was tasked with determining which groups were terrorists and which were not, and Saudi Arabia with who pertained to the opposition and who did not. Yet, neither Jordan nor Saudi Arabia had prepared such a definition. Terrorists were invited to the Geneva conference, but they were excluded afterwards because everyone found out they were terrorists. “Syrians went to Geneva and would return to Geneva to engage in an inter-Syrian dialogue, not an inter-terrorist dialogue,” he said. The Special Envoy had to gather that information. His Government was not prepared to negotiate with terrorists; it would only negotiate with one united opposition that truly desired a Syria without any external interference. “The Syrian Government is prepared to return to Geneva and to resume the dialogue, but not with the deaf, the mute, nor the blind. We want to resume the dialogue with nationals like us who don’t have an external agenda and engage with Governments that use them in cheap tricks.”
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In regard to the over five (5) years of wars, killing and destruction which has devastated Syria, and while discovering, specifying and acknowledging those guilty of major war crimes – the United Nations and the world has reached an absolute, profound and decisive moment of truth.
(Thank you to The Syrian Mission to the United Nations at YouTube)
ournalist for RT Caleb Maupin had a brief interview of Syria’s United Nations Ambassador Bashar Jaafari in New York City recently. The Syrian people’s six (6) year nightmare continues, and it remains unknown whether a sufficient percentage of humanity will learn the truth quickly enough to act in preventing the potential outbreak of world war. For most men and women who’ve been paying attention to the horrific events and conditions experienced by the Syrian people starting in 2011 until today, it is clear that terrorist militias who have created a literal hell-on-Earth in that nation are in fact paid mercenaries traveling from some one hundred (100) countries.
If any man or woman reading these words were to pay others to destroy the property of their neighbors, inflict upon them severe physical and/or psycho-spiritual injury, or outright murder them in the most gruesome manner imaginable, that man or woman would face arrest, prosecution and severe punishment matching the level of the crime(s). For some reason, if groups of criminals pay others to carry out the same harmful actions on an exponentially larger scale, as has occurred in Syria for nearly six (6) years, it seems calls for swift justice are nowhere to be heard.
ISIS, al Nusra and the hundreds of other paid mercenary killing groups (estimated at 100,000 fighters) operating in Syria since 2011 have allegedly received training, arms, pay, sustenance and other aid from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Israel the United States and nations in Europe. Astonishingly, in the months and years since 2011, no individual(s) or groups have become identified, arrested and prosecuted for sponsoring the terrorists – who have engaged in a violent death-and-destruction rampage throughout Syria. Are the world’s most highly respected intelligence and investigative agency professionals that substandard or incompetent in the battle – the so-called “War On Terror” – against the oft-stated greatest threat now facing civilization?
A truly immeasurable, historic, criminal deception has become foisted upon the world’s people. There are millions of men, women and children of Syria who have suffered incalculable horrific pain, injury and death as a result. Prosecute the sponsors of terrorism.
Peace Action, the largest grassroots peace organization in the U.S., was founded in 1957. Groundswell exists to inform, engage and mobilize. Formerly, the Peace Blog.
Sam Smith covered Washington under nine presidents, edited the Progressive Review for over 50 years, wrote four books, helped to start six organizations including the national Green Party, the DC Humanities Council and the DC Statehood Party, and played in jazz bands for four decades
This is a human rights blog in which I address issues of general concern freely and spontaneously. It is not an official blog nor is it issued in my function as United Nations Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order. It is a private blog intended to further an informal exchange of views in the democratic spirit of freedom of opinion and respect for the opinions of others.
enjamin Ferencz is the 96-year old sole surviving prosecutor of Nazi war crimes during the Nuremburg Trials, and a leading advocate for global jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC). He and many others have long called for every nation on Earth to join the ICC and end, finally, the potential for any human being regardless of power, wealth, prestige or nation to commit war crimes with impunity.
f not mistaken, in their first presidential debate neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump became questioned on, or voluntarily presented, their views on the globally important situation which is Syria. In the debate Americans found non-opinions on Syria by the two major candidates in what everyone routinely sees as the every-four-years battle of ideas on vital domestic and international issues of the day, and finding the two persons believed to hold the power for winning the election not even discussing the greatest military and humanitarian crisis on Earth.
fter calling for an emergency meeting of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, the representatives of the United States, United Kingdom and France walked out of the meeting while Syrian UN Ambassador Bashar Jaafari addressed the council. The video below recorded Dr. Jaafari’s address with English translation. The official transcript/record of the Security Council’s over 2-hour meeting is available on the United Nations webite, and here is Dr. Jaafari’s statement to the Council.
ournalist for RT Caleb Maupin had a brief interview of Syria’s United Nations Ambassador Bashar Jaafari in New York City recently. The Syrian people’s six (6) year nightmare continues, and it remains unknown whether a sufficient percentage of humanity will learn the truth quickly enough to act in preventing the potential outbreak of world war. For most men and women who’ve been paying attention to the horrific events and conditions experienced by the Syrian people starting in 2011 until today, it is clear that terrorist militias who have created a literal hell-on-Earth in that nation are in fact paid mercenaries traveling from some one hundred (100) countries.