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Gordon Duff: International Law Requires Turkish Investigation-Prosecution of War Crimes
CRAIG MURRAY, MARITIME LAW SPECIALIST, “TURKISH SHIP AT SEA IS TURKISH TERRITORY”
By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER/Senior Editor
This weeks Israeli attack on a Turkish ship in international waters can never legally be represented as justifiable or legal under any imaginable standard. Maritime law is an exact science, developed over hundreds of years. With the massive hyperbole filling the airwaves and government after government cowering away from a required legal confrontation with Israel, the letter of the law must apply. The short of it, as described by British maritime law specialist, with years of negotiating experience as a diplomat specializing in, curiously enough maritime treaties, we learn the following:
“A word on the legal position, which is very plain. To attack a foreign flagged vessel in international waters is illegal. It is not piracy, as the Israeli vessels carried a military commission. It is rather an act of illegal warfare.
Because the incident took place on the high seas does not mean however that international law is the only applicable law. The Law of the Sea is quite plain that, when an incident takes place
on a ship on the high seas (outside anybody’s territorial waters) the applicable law is that of the flag state of the ship on which the incident occurred. In legal terms, the Turkish ship was Turkish territory.
There are therefore two clear legal possibilities.
Possibility one is that the Israeli commandos were acting on behalf of the government of Israel in killing the activists on the ships. In that case Israel is in a position of war with Turkey, and the act falls under international jurisdiction as a war crime.
Possibility two is that, if the killings were not authorised Israeli military action, they were acts of murder under Turkish jurisdiction. If Israel does not consider itself in a position of war with Turkey, then it must hand over the commandos involved for trial in Turkey under Turkish law.
In brief, if Israel and Turkey are not at war, then it is Turkish law which is applicable to what happened on the ship. It is for Turkey, not Israel, to carry out any inquiry or investigation into events and to initiate any prosecutions. Israel is obliged to hand over indicted personnel for prosecution.”
WHAT INTERNATIONAL LAW REQUIRES:
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As the incident occurred on a Turkish flagged ship in international waters, thus on Turkish “flagged territory” only a Turkish inquiry has standing. Any attempt by Israel to apply law or investigate and produce a finding would be farcical.
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As we know a state of war does not exist between Turkey and Israel, not yet at least and that the Israeli government authorized the raid, those responsible, not only in participation but in planning and authorization are technically “war criminals” and subject to extradition to Turkey and punishment under applicable Turkish law.
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Refusal on the part of Israel to comply with such procedures would automatically enact NATO provisions requiring military support for Turkey and an immediate blockade of Israel from air and sea.
REQUIRED NATO RESPONSE:
Article 5
The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.
Any such armed attack and all measures taken as a result thereof shall immediately be reported to the Security Council. Such measures shall be terminated when the Security Council has taken the measures necessary to restore and maintain international peace and security .
Article 6 (1)
For the purpose of Article 5, an armed attack on one or more of the Parties is deemed to include an armed attack:
on the territory of any of the Parties in Europe or North America, on the Algerian Departments of France (2), on the territory of or on the Islands under the jurisdiction of any of the Parties in the North Atlantic area north of the Tropic of Cancer;
on the forces, vessels, or aircraft of any of the Parties, when in or over these territories or any other area in Europe in which occupation forces of any of the Parties were stationed on the date when the Treaty entered into force or the Mediterranean Sea or the North Atlantic area north of the Tropic of Cancer.
Thus, as specifically outlined in the NATO treaty, an attack on a member vessel, Turkey is a NATO member and the US has no treaty obligations with Israel, requires a response. Specific mention of the Mediterranean Sea is made.
Craig Murray is a former British Ambassador. He is also a former Head of the Maritime Section of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He negotiated the UK’s current maritime boundaries with Ireland, Denmark (Faeroes), Belgium and France, and boundaries of the Channel Islands, Turks and Caicos and British Virgin Islands. He was alternate Head of the UK Delegation to the UN Preparatory Commission on the Law of the Sea. He was Head of the FCO Section of the Embargo Surveillance Centre, enforcing sanctions on Iraq, and directly responsible for clearance of Royal Navy boarding operations in the Persian Gulf.
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Posted by Gordon Duff on Jun 5 2010, With 0 Reads, Filed under Foreign Relations, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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I am trying to post under a different email address. It appears I have been given a static IP.
72.40.17.122
The one I have been assigned doesn’t seem to exist in whois and the problem seems to be coming from Tallahassee.
I feel so secure.
Israel should be praised for showing restraint in only shooting seven terrorists in the back of the head who were trying to set up an Iranian port in Gaza!
We should bring those brave IDF soliders to the USA and let them speak before the combined houses of the US Knesset where I’m sure they’ll receive thunderous applause!!
Further, to show how much the USA HEARTS Israel, “Old Glory” should be changed. The stars need to be replaced with the Star of David!!!
Lese,
I vote for little tiny stars of david except in the mormon states, Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Nevada….and pieces of a few more…Americas hell on earth.
g
Gordon, I can’t resist your mormon “bandwagon”…while researching RICO; yea, that’s right racketeering and organized crime, I learned that a hot-shot Jewish attorney teaches about RICO at…where???? that’s right B-Y-U.
I did enjoy an insinuation in one of the readings that this attorney landed at BYU because he was in the witness protection program!!! I guess Skolnick was right. The federal witness protection program is corrupt.
Everytime I read your article I feel like great atleast someone is senseful enough to see the truth but everytime I open my TV to watch any news channel and I say to myself what a waste of time it is. The problem is the main stream media and their relentless support to Israel the terrorist state. They use new term everyday to describe and alienate muslims further. The latest one is “Islamicst”, soon they will have no hesitation in call all muslims as terrorist. Recently I was watching some crap on “Fox” about muslims offering prayers on washington DC and the news reporter says they were praying to their GOD “Allah”. This sounds so insane to me about thir deliberate attempt to seperate muslims from others. Allah is a arabic word for “God”. How can they not know it?? how can they say that its their GOD??? and why no one raises any question about it??? Yesterday they came up with something new “Flotilla of Hate”. HOw seriously disgusting this is… nothing will ever happen to those israeli terrorist. I think its time we should rewrite our text books and say “Lies will always prevail”
Faiz, that’s why God; or Allah in your case, created the western channel. I have found that holding up a crucifix, between me and the TV, seems to annoy them (ADL).
The US government wouldn’t even protect its own in the case of USS Liberty, lest it embarrass an “ally.” Seems a remote possibility that the US will back up Turkey in this case regardless of any NATO agreements.
Those that give a damn should head over to freegaza.org and drop some coin on them. They’re good folks.
Very interesting information.
Also is this one of the main reasons for the Gaza sea blockade:
Israel’s blockade of Gaza is in large part motivated by the broader issue of control of Gaza’s territorial waters, which contain significant reserves of natural gas. What is at stake is the confiscation of Palestinian gas fields and the unilateral de facto declaration of Israeli sovereignty over Gaza’s maritime areas. If the blockade were to be broken, Israel’s de facto control over Gaza’s offshore gas reserves would be jeopardy. (See Michel Chossudovsky,War and Natural Gas: The Israeli Invasion and Gaza’s Offshore Gas Fields, Global Research, January 8, 2009. See also Michel Chossudovsky, The War on Lebanon and the Battle for Oil, Global Research, July 23, 2006)
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19573
There is more going on than just Israel’s stealing land.
Brian, you are correct. It what’s under the top soil that interests the Israelis.
So, an act of illegal warfare it is. Turkey has standing. Israel authorized the raid. The war criminals are subject to extradition and punishment under Turkish law. Israel’s refusal to comply automatically enacts NATO provisions…an immediate blockade from air and sea. KARMA!!! No chocolate for Israel!!!
Maybe the Israeli’s should have heeded Ariel Sharon’s analysis of Netanyahu. Sharon said this about Netanyahu, “Netanyahu is pressured easily, gets into a panic, and loses his senses…to run a country like Israel a leader needs to have reason and judgement and nerves of steel, two (that’s actually three!) traits he does not have.”
The following video, complements of Carolyn Glick, former advisor to Bibi Netanyahoo http://www.lobelog.com/tax-exempt-us-fund-tasteless-israeli-flotilla-satire/
The story just gets more outrageous:
Passengers aboard the Mavi Marmara, the ship raided by Israel Monday, claim they found what they say is a list of people the Israeli military intended to target during their raid, a news report out of Great Britain states.
In an interview with the UK’s Independent on Sunday, Al Jazeera reporter Jamal Elshayyal said passengers who rummaged through Israeli solders’ belongings during the raid found a list of names, accompanied with pictures, of people aboard the flotilla that aimed to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza.
[T]he protesters rummaged through captured soldiers’ belongings and claimed to unearth a document that they allege is a list of people Israel intended to assassinate. The booklet, written in Hebrew and in English, contained some photographs of passengers on the Marmara, including the leader of IHH, the Turkish charity that provided two of the ships, an 88-year-old priest and Ra’ad Salah, head of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Mr Elshayyal said.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Activists-Israeli-boat-ra-by-the-web-Raw-Story-100605-349.html
If the lists and photographs is true, obviously these were the special people the Israeli terrorists were supposed to greet with hugs and kisses but old habits are hard to break.
These absurd comments come from a traitor in our congress. It’s included in the same article:
In a conference call organized by The Israel Project, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) told reporters that activists participating in the flotilla were aiding Hamas and therefore breaking US law.
“The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 makes it absolutely illegal for any American to give food, money, school supplies, paper clips, concrete or weapons to Hamas or any of its officials,” Sherman said, as quoted at Jim Lobe’s foreign policy blog. “And so I will be asking the Attorney General to prosecute any American involved in what was clearly an effort to give items of value to a terrorist organization.”
TalkingPointsMemo’s M.J. Rosenberg, a frequent writer on Middle East issues, describes Sherman as “the most pro-Likud Democratic member of Congress,” referring to Israel’s most prominent conservative political party. “But this is crazy even for Sherman.”
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Activists-Israeli-boat-ra-by-the-web-Raw-Story-100605-349.html
Just a stupid question, what is a response to the oft-quoted San Remo Manual that says if a country has a blockade in place then they are in their right (international waters or not) to board any ship that has 1) more than once stated its intent to break the blockade and 2) is on course to do just that?
Sorry for the stupid question, just trying to sort this thing out.
Scott,
Absolutely nothing to this. The ships was flagged, thus this is a criminal act. The blockade is not a “blockaid” but “monitoring territorial waters.” The Israeli activities are simple coastal duties any country has. Additionally, a blockade can only be enforced against a foreign power, not your own country and only against a foreign power. This was a war crime, simple as can be and you are getting bad information, insanely off the mark.
g
Israel’s illegal actions should be investigated according to the rules of International Law not according to Israel’s illegal Laws and American politicians need to stop meddling with tha legal process. American politicians need to stop cuddling this ruthless stepchild: Israel, “the poor victim” who will cry out for help while committing the crime and pinning the blame on its victim or blaming some other innocent party that had nothing to do with the crime. Remember Lavon Affair? And they tried the same thing in the case of Israel’s bombing of the USS Liberty but there was solid evidene that israel did it. Israel did 9/11 said Dr Sabrosky and engineers and architects proved thermite was used in the explosion–and how many American soldiers so far have been killed in the illegal wars for Israel?
It is time that all soldiers from everywhere abroad returned home to America and defend our nation. America does not need to police the world and/or participate in the Opium Trade or other criminal activities on behalf of criminal bankster gangsters or behalf of the rogue state Israel.
Christians and all other Americans of all colors and religions it is time to say NO to rogue Israel and Zionist crimes and to all illegal wars and to bring our troops home and Leave Israel Alone to fend for itself and to say “we Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews and atheists have united in one strong voice to say we have no part at all in the crimes Israel and organized Jewry perpetrate on America and other nations”.
What we need is a government that is sensitive to the needs of the American people instead of a government that takes care of Israel and a government that covers up israel crimes on humanity. We need congressmen and senators to whom America is first, second and third—and who can stand up to the tyrant Israel that is bleeding America and we need real Americans as high-ranking military officers instead of Zionist Jews and Israelis.
Let me be clear to all warmongers that we cannot afford any more wars because we are bankrupt, we have been looted by the Zionist bankers and we have lost thousands of our young men fighting wars for Bill Krystol, Mark Levin, Michael Savage, Jay Sekulow, Ben Stein, David Horowitz, Charles Sour Krauthammer, the Zionist Jewish senators [Joseph Lieberman, Chuck Schumer, Carl Levin, Bernie Sanders, Diana Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, Russ Feingold et al] and Zionist Jewish congressmen [Eric Cantor, Robert Waxman, Steve Israel, Brad Sherman et al] and other members of the organized Jewry and Zionist Israel.
What is most important is to understand our real problem: Jewish Supremacy which we can also call Judeo-fascism [that gives the excuse to Zionist criminals to commit atrocious crimes, the latest being the massacre of 20 compassionate activists and brutal assault of countless others like Paul Larudee and (Ken O’ Keef in the photo above) at the High Seas in international waters], politician whores who defend Zionist criminals and the rogue state of Israel regardless of atrocities on humanity and prostitute pastors and Christian thugs like John Hagee who support Zionist Israel and its crime and unwillingness of the Christian Right to confront it head on and the conservative and liberal warmongers on the airwaves for 24 hours of the day selling us the wars for Israel.
Please read the articles: (1) Is Israel exempt from International Law? (2) The Violent Radicalization of Israel (3) ADL rewrites the New Testament (4) Israel attacked peaceful Aid Fotilla, RT News reports (5) Christian Zionism Will Kill Populist Revolt by Pastor Ted Pike [Truthtellers.org/National Prayer Network] and please support him generously. He does not keep on asking for money but we need to take care of his financial needs so that he can continue to do this important work which other useless, spineless Christian pastors–and other so called “leaders” and false prophets refuse to do.
Pastor Ted Pike is so right and I thank him for his honesty and courage to write and speak the truth thereby stand up to the real culprits who have dismantled America through various mechanisms–bankrupting America–causing division between various groups of her people–destroy her culture–corrupt the young [and the old]–bringing despair to all–while benefiting from it.
America wake up to the truth! Your enemy is not the boogie man Osma Bin Laden and Arabs and other Muslims even if Zionist Joseph Farah [Arab himself] tells you so. America did not reach the edge of .this monstrous cliff in a day. It is not the Democrats or the Republicans but most politicians on both parties who favored Israel over America on behalf of the Jewish supremacists [liberals and neoconservatives who really have no party line but lust for money and power to control others and love to see blood and dead bodies everywhere]. They are wolves in sheep clothing who work together to achieve their set goals from different platforms.
Members of the organized Jewry have hijacked every aspect of the American life and
they sabotage people who criticize them. They intrude into their web activities, block their email, intercept their phone, tamper with their mail and spy on their life. Ashkenazi propaganda is every- where in order to manipulate people and I have seen this happening in American colleges and universities. Zionist Jews have hijacked our educational system [among many other things in addition to looting our banks] and through the quota-system of social engineering–have deprived majority of the white race from getting a higher education from prestigious institutions of higher learning. For instance the so called Ivy League universities are filled with them at every level. The poisonous Jewish political organization known as “Hillel” that operates [under the guise of a religious organization] across college and university campuses in the US brainwash and manipulate blacks, black and other Muslims, Asians and other minorities against America, white people and Christianity– while greedy, ego-centric and spineless Christian pastors are selling the soul of Christianity by pandering to Zionist Israel and organized Jewry–while also misguiding the church attending Christian population. How many of them have been bribed by the Jews?
America wake up! You have been hijacked by a ruthless group of criminals hellbent on destroying you and your children and generations to be born. They are after your blood ant sweat. Michael Bloomberg and his tribe want illegal immigrants to destroy you, your homes and businesses. It is not Osma Bin Laden and Muslims. It is Michael Bloomberg, Chuck Schumer, Joseph Lieberman, Rahm Emanuel et al–the Zionist pastors, fraudulent Heritage Foundation and other think tanks–other traitors and criminals like John McCain, Lindsey Graham.
This is a wakeup call!
Israel is intimidating America while robbing America blind, intimidating and threatening other countries and there is so much drama on the world stage due to the criminal activities of this rogue state that gives the world no moment of peace. And in America 2% of the population is causing all the problems aided by their enablers and we are supposed to keep quiet–and if we dare to speak out then there is intimidation, threat of character assassination, illicit spying on our life–blocking of emails, tampering with mail. If a politician speaks out against Israel he is sent to jail on false charge like it was done to former Congressman Jim Traficant or their political future is destroyed like they did to former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.
This man by the name of Ben Stein wants to expose people who speak against criminal Israel and criminal Ashkenazi Khazars like Ben Stein himself, Bill Krystol. Now Rand Paul is in their trap and Rand Paul because of his lack of spine and greed for power has started speaking the same foul language {“we have a special relationship with Israel”] and because of this relationship he has with israel he has given his permission to Israel to murder anyone Israel wants according to the Zionist plan–death and destruction, depleted uranium, phosphorus on innocent people–Rand Paul does not care about the plight of innocent people in Gaza and Palestine because they cannot help him to get elected to the senate and he has joined the criminal Zionist gangsters and warmongers of the likes of Ben Stein, Bill Krystol, Charles Sour Krauthammer, Mark levin, Michael Savage and other tribal members of the organized Jewry just like other cheap scum politicians who are on a power trip.
We need politicians of the calibre of Ron Paul [father of Rand Paul], Jim Traficant, Cynthia McKinney not those cheap liars who have sold out America to Israel, dual citizens and other Zionist Jews and that is the reason America is in this dire state. It is not Islamo-fascism it is Judeo-fascism that did it. It is an inside job aided and abetted from outside by israel and Mossad.
America wakeup!
http://www.resistancereport.com/essays.htm
http://www.wake-up-america.net/jewish_and_israel_spies.htm
The United States is panicked now. Its two allies are now at each other’s throats.
It is true that Israeli prime minister Netanyahu, whose sibling was killed by Arabs as I recall, has always been an Arab-hating, anti-Muslim, and yes, he makes (the late?) Ariel Sharon look like a hugging, peace-loving friend of all Arabs (yes, that’s sarcasm).
Turkish prime minister Erdogan is not the raving Muslim fanatic that enemies of Turkey would have you believe, but like George W. Bush was not against exploiting fundamentalist Christianity to serve his purpose, Erdogan–the Turkish Bush–is not against exploiting fundamentalist Islam as an expression of power. There are Turkish Al Qaeda though who would jump at a chance to turn Turkey into a Islamic theocratic state that makes Iran look secular. Most Turks will not trade what they have now however for an oppressive religious state, and the cultural war could become a civil war should any effort be made to fall into the abyss of theocracy.
As for what the United States should do, Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu said it best. He told the U.S. (probably Hillary) that it is not about choosing between Turkey and Israel. It is about choosing what it legal against what is illegal. It about choosing between right and wrong.
http://www.meforum.org/2668/erdogan-and-the-israel-card
[...] of the United States, all without any trial or even rudimentary fact finding as stipulated by international maritime convention to which the US is a treaty signatory.That these legislators were asked to perform these acts at the [...]
[...] of the United States, all without any trial or even rudimentary fact finding as stipulated by international maritime convention to which the US is a treaty [...]
Hubris (use a real name out of courtesy)
When we submitted the videos Israel released to examination by a CIA specialist, they were deemed counterfeit. They have officially been certified as such. Take it up with them. They have an email somewhere…go to http://www.cia.gov
g
‘hubrislam’ is as real a name as ‘living turkey’ or ‘equalizer’.
If you only accept posts from sycophants, then this is YOUR blog only,
and not representative of all vets.
If not, post my reasoned unviral posts, not just your devious reply about the CIA.
Allow others to address my ‘on-topic’ post. They will blow it out of the water if it’s nonsense.
Compare with Amy’s diatribe, and her linked Dr. William Pierce hate pieces,
and I wonder what is behind that VTN facade?
We actually know each of these individuals well. Use a name, not just an address in Burnaby, British Columbia. g
[...] For those Americans that don’t know, Ken O’Keefe is the United States Marine combat veteran who captured two Israeli’s suspected of the murder of a Turkish photojournalist during the battle on the Mavi Marmara. Veterans Today staff writer, O’Keefe was captured, taken to Israel and beaten, tortured for two days before being released. Israeli’s claimed O’Keefe was planning to set up a training school for terrorists inside Gaza while on the ill fated relief mission attacked in international waters by 24 Israeli ships and dozens of American built Blackhawk and Apache helicopters. As many as 6,500 Israelis are believed to have taken part in the operation, deemed a “war crime” by maritime law experts with the British government. [...]
[...] For those Americans that don’t know, Ken O’Keefe is the United States Marine combat veteran who captured two Israeli’s suspected of the murder of Turkish photojournalist during the battle on the Mavi Marmara. Veterans Today staff writer, O’Keefe was captured, taken to Israel and beaten, tortured for two days before being released. Israeli’s claimed O’Keefe was planning to set up a training school for terrorists inside Gaza while on the ill fated relief mission attacked in international waters by 24 Israeli ships and dozens of American built Blackhawk and Apache helicopters. As many as 6,500 Israelis are believed to have taken part in the operation, deemed a “war crime” by maritime law experts with the British government. [...]