نامه رئیس کانون وکلای مرکز به آلمودینا مندویل: IBA می تواند مکانیزمی موثر برای کمک به بهبود شرایط غزه طراحی کند

Mrs. Almudena Arpón de Mendívil Aldama
The Honorable President of the International Bar Association

۱۰th Floor, 1 Stephen Street
London
The United Kingdom
WIT IAT

۲۰۲۳ ۳۰October

Dear Madam

With greetings

I have the pleasure of writing with regard to the tragic situation unfolding in the Gaza Strip and the indescribable suffering imposed on the Palestinian people. As lawyers, we, individually and collectively, have undertaken to defend rights of people and justice proper, at all levels, both national and international. We are committed to direct our efforts to resolve disputes and conflicts of a legal nature, with the ultimate objective of realizing justice. To this honorable end, independence of ‘bar associations’, as a civil institution in all countries, is of utmost importance and deemed an inalienable prerogative for the proper activity of lawyers and bar associations and the realization of their enterprise.

In light of the recent remarks of the UN Secretary-General with respect to the long- standing suffering of the palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, as well as with an eye to the provisions of the UN General Assembly resolution “Protection of Civilians and Upholding Legal and Humanitarian Obligations”, adopted just three days ago, I would like to draw your kind attention to the horrifying human situation developing in Gaza.

We are all acutely aware of the historical origins of developments in Palestine, before and after the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, including in the Gaza Strip, as the most heavily populated piece of land anywhere in the world with a population over two million people. With clear and unmitigated hindsight and put in proper legal terminology, the sudden eruption of armed conflict there cannot but be seen as the direct result of the gross and repeated violation of the Jus Cogens of international law in various fields by the parties to the conflict. Resort to armed violence, sadly, have taken place in full disregard of important international legal instruments such as the four Geneva Conventions and the relevant Additional Protocols, the Rome Statute and other legal instruments in the field of humanitarian law, the Convention on the Prohibition of Genocide, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of Women, and a long catalogue of other protective international instruments.

It is indeed most unfortunate that clear examples of blatant violation of international humanitarian law abound in the course of the three-week-long armed conflict over Gaza, including indiscriminate attacks on targets without distinction between military and civilian targets; deliberate destruction of social infrastructure with paralyzing impact on the daily life of hundreds of thousands of people; brutal victimization of children, women, and the elderly; attacks on hospitals and health facilities; forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes; aerial bombardments of historical and cultural sites; and destruction of the environment and the already fragile ecosystem of the Strip. The whole world has been an uneasy witness to the ugly fact that the besieged Gaza populace have been deprived of receiving even basic, life-saving humanitarian support from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) or the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Dear Madam

Given the enormity of the human suffering in the Gaza Strip, the Iran Central Bar Association (ICBA) is of the firm belief that only immediate cessation of active hostilities and establishment of effective ceasefire, under the direct auspices of the United Nations, can serve to limit the suffering of the deeply-wounded Gaza population and pave the way for the gradual return of this horrific episode to normalcy. Notwithstanding the inhuman conditions imposed on the Gaza people, we find the adoption of the UN General Assembly resolution of critical importance.

It is our earnest hope that you Madam and the International Bar Association, in its entirety, will rise to the challenge and undertake all the necessary urgent measures to help a bewildered and profoundly anguished international community, in particular the United Nations and other international organizations dedicated to humanitarian relief and assistance, to move in the direction of effecting cessation of hostilities and putting in place cease-fire. On a more specific note, we believe the International Bar Association (IBA) is in a position to devise an effective mechanism to help ameliorate, and hopefully prevent, various forms of the violation of the rules of international law and protection of international human rights in the broadest sense of the concept, with particular emphasis on international humanitarian law, especially the rights under Jus In Bello.

It will be an honor for us to be in a position to work with you Madam and your esteemed institution to cooperate towards establishing an international legal body, within the framework of IBA, to utilize and mobilize the efforts of lawyers and national bar associations, on a global scale, towards serving the honorable goal of promoting international peace and security.

Seizing the opportunity, I would also like to reiterate, once again, the importance of the cardinal principle of the independence of lawyers and bar associations in their professional pursuit of defending the human rights. In my capacity as the President of the Iran Central Bar Association, itself one of the founders of the IBA, I feel duty-bound to share our deep concerns about any action, from any quarter, anywhere in the world, that undermines the independence of lawyers and bar associations, and limits or impedes the effectiveness of their protective and justice-seeking efforts.

Sincerely yours

Hossein Taale
President of the Iran Central Bar Association