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Tuesday, 07 July _A senior UN human rights investigator says the United States’ assassination of top Iranian commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad was an “unlawful” killing in violation of the international law.
Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said on Monday that the US has failed to provide sufficient evidence of an ongoing or imminent attack against its interests to justify the January drone strike on General Soleimani's convoy as it left Baghdad airport.
“Absent an actual imminent threat to life, the course of action taken by the US was unlawful," Callamard wrote in a report.
The drone attack “violated the UN Charter”, Callamard added, calling for accountability for targeted killings by armed drones and for greater regulation of the weapons.
"The world is at a critical time, and possible tipping point, when it comes to the use of drones. ... The Security Council is missing in action; the international community, willingly or not, stands largely silent," Callamard, an independent investigator, told Reuters.
Callamard is due on Thursday to present her findings to the Human Rights Council, giving member states a chance to debate what action to pursue. The United States is not a member of the forum, having quit two years ago.
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