20180415 Wissenschaftlicher Beirat von attac verurteilt völkerrechtswidrigen Angriff

Bundesregierung soll sich klar vom völkerrechtswidrigen Angriff der USA, Frankreich und Großbritannien distanzieren

Due to the recent developement we here publish the Pressemitteilung zum Krieg gegen Syrien of the attac group globalisation and war.

Contribution of members of the scientific advisory board of Attac Germany; Berlin, 15.04.2018

We condemn the extension of the criminal war policies born by the USA, Great Britain and France on Syrian territory, carried out with the agreement of the German Chancellor.

The massive accusations by the USA and its allies against the Syrian and Russian Presidents, Assad and Putin, following the alleged use of poison gas in the Syrian Duma and the recent military operations, combined with the threat of war by US President Trump against Russia, evoke the impression of a staging that is already taking place since some time, with the aim of preparing a war that is ultimately directed against Russia, easily leading to a global conflagration that cannot be controlled anymore.

We are extremely indignant at and concerned about the irresponsible way in which the German Government acted, not least in view of its inconsiderate support of the governments of Great Britain, France and the USA. Instead of exercising a moderating influence, the German government pours oil into the flames.

We assert: missions that employ toxic gas are war crimes. These have to be brought to the Hague Tribunal and face appropriate consequences. Any acts of war, solely based on conjectures by a state or an alliance of states are war crimes in their own regard. As such they have to be as well brought before the UN War Crimes Tribunal.

We condemn the attitude of the German Government in the current conflict:

It is politically irresponsible that, in the Skripal case, the Chancellor and the Foreign Minister identify with the accusations brought forward by the British Government against Russia.

It is scandalous that Norbert Röttgen, chairman of the German Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, publicly and so far without being refused, announces that "the presumption of innocence and application of procedures under the rule of law apply only to domestic criminal proceedings", suggesting that "the application of principles of the rule of law in international relations is in fact nonsense". Thus, Mr Röttgen is denying all UN rules, procedures and institutions as they had been developed as a answer on Nazi war crimes, such as the Hague Court and the Human Rights Convention, and in fact international law as a whole.

It is incomprehensible that Mrs. Merkel supports in actual fact Trump, the unpredictable US-president, suggesting that "the evidence that chemical weapons were used" is "very, very clear and very obvious", thus indirectly blaming Assad and Putin for the alleged use of poison gas in Syria. It cannot be accepted that she announces the participation of the Federal Republic in a war of aggression, standing against international law.

We urge the Federal Government to clearly distance itself from the governments in Great Britain, France and the USA, and their policies that are threatening world peace; German AWACS aircrafts, active within the framework of the US-led "Anti-IS Alliance", need to be immediately withdrawn.

We urge the Federal Government and the German Parliament not to increase under any circumstances spending on armament; instead we ask to ensure that the NATO decision to increase these expenditures to two percent of gross domestic product is entirely revoked.

Prof. Dr. Mohssen Massarrat,
Translation into English: Prof. Dr. Peter Herrmann

UnterzeichnerInnen
Prof. Dr. Michael Brie, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Däubler, Prof. Dr. Peter Herrmann, Prof. Dr. Rudolf Hickel, Dr. Fritz Storim, Prof. Dr. Michael Schneider, Prof. Dr. Mohssen Massarrat, Prof. Dr. Christoph Butterwegge, Prof. Dr. Armin Bernhard, Prof. Dr. Frigga Haug, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Fritz Haug, Dr. Werner Rügemer, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Neef, Prof. Dr. Frieder Otto Wolf, Prof. Dr. Stefan Bestmann, Dr. Lydia Krüger, Prof. Dr. Rudolph Bauer, Prof. Dr. Birgit Mahnkopf, apl. Prof. Dr. Nico Paech, Prof. Dr. John Neelsen, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Duchrow, Prof. Dr. Ingrid Lohmann, Dr. Lutz Mez, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Brand, Prof. Dr. Klaus Meschkat, Dr. Thomas Sablowski, Dr. Josef Berghold, Prof. Dr. Jörg Reitzig, Prof. Dr. Norman Paech, Dr. Winfried Wolf, Dr.Heike Knops, Prof. Dr. Isidor Wallimann, Prof. Dr. Claudia Werlhof

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