This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.
In other words, another possible bloodbath may ensue, besides the toll already exacted by NATO terror bombing and rebel-instigated slaughterhouse on the ground.
Since winter, they were given license to murder, terrorize, and loot with impunity. They've taken full advantage. Sirte is their last major plum to pluck.
A previous article warned of possible massacres, saying insurgents have the city surrounded, preparing for a final assault. Moreover, anyone attempting to leave is blocked. Women and children are forced back. Men are shot in cold blood.
Information from inside the city indicates no way to bury corpses. Earlier bombing continued around the clock. Whether or not as intensive, it's ongoing, preparing the city for a ground attack.
It's also being turned to rubble, massacring unknown numbers of residents, mostly civilians. It's part of a longstanding NATO pattern, targeting noncombatants and nonmilitary related sites. Under international law, it's a war crime.
Under the 1907 Hague Regulations, Fourth Geneva, Geneva's Common Article III, and various other international laws, civilians are protected persons. So is civilian property. Attacking them is prohibited. War crimes are clearly defined. The principles of distinction and proportionality also apply:
-- distinction between combatants and military targets v. civilians and non-military ones; attacking latter ones are war crimes except when civilians take direct part in hostilities; and
-- proportionality prohibits disproportionate, indiscriminate force likely to cause damage to or loss of lives and objects.
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
