[Peace-discuss] DU illegal

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

This was prepared by a lawyer with the UN.
doug 

Hello all. The US has defied the International Court of Justice, the OAS
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the UN Commission on Human
Rights. So what do you expect. DU is illegal by all analysis of international
law relating to weaponry. The "expert" body of the UN has accepted this
since 1996. So has the UN Secretary General. So what is there to argue?? While
some US activists do not "accept" the UN pronoucement, this does not mean
the UN rules are wrong. Only that US activists may be out of the loop and do 
not understand the law that they presume to represent. So where are their
legal credentials? Let us see how they defend that DU weapons are "legal"
under international rules? In opposition to the UN experts? And please, make 
sure that those defending DU cite relevant international law and provide
evidence that they are legally qualified. This means a specialized diploma
(such as I have) or other legal qualification in humanitarian law. Or at
least a JD, or other legal degree in the subject. I can attest that I have a
JD, and a "Human rights" degree (cum laude) and have have 21 years
experience at the UN. There is not a single UN org that takes an "opposition"
position on this issue-- all agree that DU weaponry is illegal by operation of
exisiting humanitarian law. So what is the controversy? The only contoversy
is that the US continues to use this weaponry, when there is international
condemnation of it. This is what US and UK activists should focus on. And to 
buttress their arguments, they should study the UN initiatives or at least 
study the relevant humanitarian law. To do less is to do themselves a
great disservice. People say -- "but the UN is ineffective."  I say,
segregation in the United States is illegal, but still occurs. Would you 
rather that
the US Supreme Court ruled in "Brown v. Board of Education" or not??
Clearly, having the law set out is better than guessing about it. So the 
issue is 
compliance, not the law. The UN has pronounced. What will you do about it. 
Karen Parker, J.D.