It is very clear indeed that when any regime opens fire on its own unarmed citizens, it has lost all legitimacy as a Government.
International Law needs to be amended with a new clause that makes it a crime for any Government to cause or permit its agents to do that.
There may even be clauses in current law to cover that. Is so, they need to be made explicit.
Of course, the snail like pace of law means that it would not be much use in real time.
An immediate countermeasure is needed. Prime candidate would be for governments to order banks to freeze assets of a ruler who orders or permits atrocities that we see happening in Libya and other countries - as they would any other known criminal.
Libya raises again the need for our Armies to swear that they will not use lethal force on civilians, particularly UK citizens.
Switzerland moved quickly to freeze Mubarak's accounts immediately he left office, with the UK Govt trailing along a few days later to freeze the $5bn he has stashed here.
The carnage in Libya is heartbreaking. The law must change to make it less likely to happen in future.
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7 comments:
Do you really think that any leader who would order his own army/Police to fire upon his own unarmed subjects would give a rats ar*" about whether there was an international law forbidding him or not?
Of course not. But they would care about their assets being frozen.
Fair comment.
why not chop their "assets" off completely?
looks like good old Hugo is providing a warm welcome...
bit of a dilemma for the luvvies who couldn't spot a fascist if it planted a jackboot on their face forever...
Hello to Anothernonymous.
I put your comment through a translator, and it came out:
"I believe that Gaddafi will choose Venezuela as his retirement home. This will place leftwards leaning thespians who are unable to recognise early symptoms of the condition that results in full-blown authoritarian rule, even if a person of authoritarian persuasion placed their foot on their face until they were dead".
I hope the translation is correct. If so, it raises a very important point. It is best to diagnose and treat serious diseases early. Despotism is a disease, and the same applies.
Have you read this piece about preventing and dealing with dictators?
Thanks for commenting.
Spot on Doctor Rock
Although I used the pejorative term luvvies (indeed highly suggestive of our thespian friends) I was rather referring to our very well meaning but seriously dense chatteratti who seem to find a leftish fascist rather agreeable. It's hard to have a pop at them sometimes but a little appeasement can go a long way.
After all, as my old dad said, the only good Nazi is dead one. Or at least one that says sorry and promises to be nice in future, like good old Messers Speer and Von Braun.
Looks like Muammar's heading for the last resting place of many an old fascist - South America.
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