March 19, 2003	Wednesday	Muharram 15, 1424

GENEVA, March 18: The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said on Tuesday that an invasion of Iraq would be illegal and tanatamount to a war of aggression.

The Geneva-based non-governmental body, made up of 60 eminent jurists, said it was deeply dismayed that “a small number of states are poised to launch an outright illegal invasion of Iraq which amounts to a war of aggression.”

“The United States, the United Kingdom and Spain have signalled their intent to use force in Iraq in spite of the absence of a (UN) Security Council resolution,” the ICJ emphasised in a written statement.

“There is no other plausible legal basis for this attack,” it added.

The ICJ insisted that without Security Council authorisation, no country could use force against another country except in self-defence against an armed attack.

The Security Council’s competency to authorise the use of force was not unlimited, the ICJ added.

Ian Seiderman, ICJ legal adviser, said that the present regime in Iraq was “certainly responsible for widespread and systematic human rights violations over the years.”

“However, this reprehensible human rights record does not by itself provide a legal basis for resort to war,” he added.

The appropriate way to address gross abuses was to use enforcement mechanisms, such as the International Criminal Court, he said. —AFP