Information
Equipo Nizkor
        Bookshop | Donate
Derechos | Equipo Nizkor       

07Jul16

Russian diplomat: UK inquiry into Iraq invasion will help overcome "climate of impunity"

UK's inquiry into Britain's Iraq invasion in 2003 by John Chilcot is very important for destroying the climate of impunity in several Western countries, Russian Foreign Ministry's Commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy and Supremacy of Law Konstantin Dolgov said on Thursday in an interview with Life portal.

The inquiry "should give an additional impetus to efforts of public and human rights organizations, politicians who think that investigations should be conducted after all," Dolgov said. "This is also very important from the point of view of overcoming the climate of impunity which, unfortunately, still exists in Western countries, in particular in the United States and Great Britain," he added.

The diplomat noted that the inquiry confirms Russia's position. "First assessments that we hear allow us to say that Russia's position was absolutely reasonable and legitimate. There were no legal grounds for the US-led Iraq invasion," he noted.

The legal basis for Britain's decision to go to war with Iraq in 2003 was "far from satisfactory," chairman of the inquiry John Chilcot said on Wednesday presenting the report that took seven years to make. "We have, however, concluded that the circumstances in which it was decided that there was a legal basis for military action were far from satisfactory," Chilcot noted. "It is now clear that policy on Iraq was made on the basis of flawed intelligence and assessments. They were not challenged, and they should have been," he stressed.

[Source: Itar Tass, Moscow, 07Jul16]
Bookshop Donate Radio Nizkor

War in Afghanistan & Iraq
small logoThis document has been published on 08Jul16 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.