{"168879":{"id":"168879","parent":"156821","time":"1581433042","url":"http:\/\/newsnet.fr\/168879","source":"http:\/\/www.strategic-culture.org\/news\/2020\/02\/11\/how-uk-violating-international-and-domestic-law\/","category":"gouvernements","title":"How the Uk is Violating International and Domestic Law","catalog-images":"\/","image":"http:\/\/newsnet.fr\/img\/","hub":"newsnet","url-explicit":"http:\/\/newsnet.fr\/art\/how-the-uk-is-violating-international-and-domestic-law","admin":"newsnet","views":"554","priority":"3","length":"8103","lang":"en","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003EIn a new expos\u00e9, historian Mark Curtis revealed 17 separate and ongoing British government policies that contravene both international and domestic law.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ci\u003EAlan MacLEOD\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring a discussion at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies yesterday, United States Secretary of Defense Mark Esper \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/en.yna.co.kr\/view\/AEN20200207000300325\"\u003Eclaimed\u003C\/a\u003E that \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.mintpressnews.com\/north-korea-kim-kyong-hui-appears-alive-after-six-years-media-coverage\/264364\"\u003ENorth Korea\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.mintpressnews.com\/in-redux-of-iraq-war-run-up-media-cheers-on-assassination-of-soleimani\/263878\"\u003EIran\u003C\/a\u003E \u00ad- two countries that have drawn the ire of Washington in recent weeks - were \"rogue states\" that require our \"constant vigilance.\" The Oxford English Dictionary \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.lexico.com\/definition\/rogue_state\"\u003Edescribes\u003C\/a\u003E a rogue state as \"a nation or state regarded as breaking international law and posing a threat to the security of other nations.\" Yet historian \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/markcurtis30\"\u003EMark Curtis\u003C\/a\u003E argues that if Esper wanted to find a country that routinely flouted international conventions and threatened the world, he could look much closer to home, to one of the U.S.' key allies. In a \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymaverick.co.za\/article\/2020-02-07-explainer-is-the-uk-a-rogue-state-17-british-policies-violating-domestic-or-international-law\"\u003Enew expos\u00e9\u003C\/a\u003E published today, Curtis revealed 17 separate and ongoing British government policies that did so, leading him to label his own nation as a rogue state.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMany of the most blatant violations of international law stem from British actions in the Middle East. For example, the U.K. military has been operating a fleet of Reaper drones since 2007, assisting American missions. From four English bases, the Royal Air Force (R.A.F.) has remotely bombed Yemen, Pakistan and Somalia. Amnesty International, Curtis \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymaverick.co.za\/article\/2020-02-07-explainer-is-the-uk-a-rogue-state-17-british-policies-violating-domestic-or-international-law\"\u003Enotes\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/download\/Documents\/ACT3081512018ENGLISH.PDF\"\u003Edescribed\u003C\/a\u003E British actions as \"absolutely crucial\" to the American drone campaign providing surveillance, intelligence and logistical support. Last week \u003Ci\u003EMintPress\u003C\/i\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.mintpressnews.com\/us-air-force-video-game-airman-challenge-drone-recruitment\/264490\"\u003Ereported\u003C\/a\u003E on the new video game tool the U.S.A.F. is using to recruit new drone pilots.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe United Kingdom is also a close ally of Israel, aiding and enabling the state's illegal aggression against and annexation of Palestine. Although barely reported, the Royal Navy \"regularly collaborates\" with their Israeli peers that enforce the blockade of Gaza, an action \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.middleeastmonitor.com\/20140412-un-official-israeli-blockade-on-gaza-illegal-and-must-be-lifted\"\u003Esenior U.N. officials\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/latest\/news\/2017\/06\/gaza-looming-humanitarian-catastrophe-highlights-need-to-lift-israels-10-year-illegal-blockade\"\u003Ehuman rights organizations\u003C\/a\u003E agree contravenes international humanitarian law by enforcing collective punishment on a civilian population. Britain also continues to import goods from the illegal Israeli settlements, without even distinguishing them as such.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe U.K. is a key enabler of Saudi crimes in Yemen. The U.N. \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/reliefweb.int\/sites\/reliefweb.int\/files\/resources\/N1800513.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eclaims\u003C\/a\u003E that Yemen has \"all but ceased to exist\" as a state and \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/reliefweb.int\/report\/yemen\/yemen-2019-humanitarian-needs-overview-enar\"\u003Eestimates\u003C\/a\u003E 24 million Yemenis are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance as the country is racked by famine, disease and war. According to the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.sipri.org\/publications\/2018\/sipri-fact-sheets\/trends-international-arms-transfers-2017\"\u003EStockholm International Peace Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E, Saudi Arabia is by far Britain's most important arms customer, responsible for 49 percent of total weapons purchases, buoying the booming industry. In addition, the R.A.F. repairs and maintains Saudi warplanes involved in the destruction while \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.parliament.uk\/business\/publications\/written-questions-answers-statements\/written-question\/Commons\/2018-06-01\/149016\"\u003Estoring and issuing\u003C\/a\u003E bombs used against the Houthis. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had promised to end all arms sales to Saudi Arabia if elected. The U.K.'s own House of Lords \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/b16e8182-3138-11e9-ba00-0251022932c8\"\u003Eruled\u003C\/a\u003E that the government was breaking the law by continuing to send arms to the region. But the Conservative \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.mintpressnews.com\/labour-jeremy-corbyn-resign-uk-election-catastrophe\/263478\"\u003EDecember landslide\u003C\/a\u003E ensured the policy remained intact, sending weapons manufacturers' stocks \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.mintpressnews.com\/uk-weapons-manufacturers-stock-value-boris-johnson-election-victory\/263515\"\u003Esoaring\u003C\/a\u003E. British covert operations in the Syrian Civil War, Curtis \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymaverick.co.za\/article\/2020-02-07-explainer-is-the-uk-a-rogue-state-17-british-policies-violating-domestic-or-international-law\"\u003Eargues\u003C\/a\u003E, also violate numerous laws and put civilians at risk.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile illegally spying on its own citizens, collecting massive amounts of data on them, the British government has also arbitrarily detained and tortured those that risked their lives and liberties to expose the practice. Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange, for example, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.mintpressnews.com\/wikileaks-publishing-state-secrets-julian-assange-slowly-dies-prison\/263775\"\u003Eremains incarcerated\u003C\/a\u003E in Belmarsh Prison in London, only being moved out of solitary confinement after \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/consortiumnews.com\/2020\/01\/25\/belmarsh-inmates-prove-more-ethical-than-entire-western-empire\"\u003Ecoordinated protests\u003C\/a\u003E from the other high-security inmates. Nils Meltzer, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on torture, has demanded the government immediately release the Australian, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/shadowproof.com\/2020\/01\/01\/un-special-rapporteur-torture-uk-indifference-julian-assange\"\u003Eblasting\u003C\/a\u003E the government's \"indifference\" to his abuse.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"twit\" id=\"1211812961737740289\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"nbp\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NilsMelzer\" class=\"popbt\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"philum ic-user\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E Nils Melzer\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NilsMelzer\/status\/1211812961737740289\" class=\"small\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"philum ic-chain\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E 31\/12\/2019 00:54:59\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"panel\"\u003E\u003Cdiv id=\"trntwt37740289\"\u003E(1\/6) Just out: My letter to the #UK Govt of 29 Oct 2019, detailing serious due process violations, expressing alarm at #Assange’s detention conditions & health, reiterating my queries & calling for his prompt release. Direct link: \u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne little-known area that the U.K. is breaking international law is in the use of child soldiers. \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.bmj.com\/company\/newsroom\/stop-recruiting-children-uk-armed-forces-urged\"\u003EOne in four\u003C\/a\u003E army recruits are now children under the age of 18, with British teenagers being sent to the frontline in Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child has expressed \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/static1.squarespace.com\/static\/5afadb22e17ba3eddf90c02f\/t\/5d5bbf83278b3100018306a4\/1566293898095\/UK_recruitment_report_final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Econcern\u003C\/a\u003E over this recruitment policy multiple times.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile Britain, according to Curtis, qualifies for the term \"rogue state,\" Americans should perhaps not be so quick to judge, as former State Department official William Blum's book \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.cia.gov\/library\/abbottabad-compound\/5F\/5FC9177D115DFAE199E5204183A6F3E2_Rogue_state__By_sout_al_khilafah.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ERogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower\u003C\/a\u003E,\u003C\/i\u003E catalogs how the U.S. government has attempted to overthrow over fifty foreign governments since 1945, concluding that the U.S. is the number one threat to the world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECurtis has been a consistent critic of British government policy for many years, exposing Britain's \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/books\/reviews\/secret-affairs-by-mark-curtis-2038691.html\"\u003Ecollusion\u003C\/a\u003E with radical Islamic groups to overthrow secular Middle Eastern states. In his book \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/markcurtis.info\/2007\/02\/04\/unpeople-britains-secret-human-rights-abuses\"\u003EUnpeople\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E, he calculated that the U.K. was complicit in the deaths of around ten million people since 1945. Despite this, it is unlikely that the U.S. will be pronouncing its ally a rogue state any time soon, as the term seems to be reserved only for enemies of the empire.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.mintpressnews.com\/rogue-state-how-the-uk-is-violating-international-and-domestic-law\/264729\"\u003Emintpressnews.com\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.strategic-culture.org\/news\/2020\/02\/11\/how-uk-violating-international-and-domestic-law\/\"\u003Estrategic-culture.org\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","_links":{"parent_art":[{"title":"170 ans de prison : les Etats-Unis annoncent 17 nouvelles inculpations contre Julian Assange","url":"http:\/\/newsnet.fr\/apicom\/id:156821,json:1"}]}}}

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