U.N. official slams U.S. use of force

UNITED NATIONS, March 5 (UPI) — Human-rights violations from the illegal use of force exist in Iraq, though no investigative body is in place at the United Nations, a top U.N. official said. “All pretended justifications notwithstanding, the aggressions against Iraq and Afghanistan and their occupations constitute atrocities that must be condemned and repudiated by all who believe in the rule of law in international relations,” U.N. General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann said.

Speaking to the Human Rights Council, the Nicaraguan diplomat called for a special mechanism at the United Nations to report on the use of force in Iraq, which he said has caused more than a million deaths “as a result of the U.S.-led aggression and occupation,” U.N. Radio reports.

“The illegality of the use of force against Iraq cannot be doubted as it runs contrary to the prohibition of the use of force in Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter,” D’Escoto said. “It sets a number of precedents that we cannot allow to stand.”

He added that the United Nations had a special rapporteur in Iraq for 20 years prior to the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, when the post was eliminated