17 October 2001

Sept. 11 Attacks Were Crimes Against Humanity, Says UNHCR's Robinson

Washington -- The September 11 attacks on the United States that killed thousands were "an attack on the rule of law, democracy and human rights," and constitute a crime against humanity, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson said in remarks October 17 at the United States Institute of Peace -- an independent, nonpartisan federal institution created and funded by the U.S. Congress to promote peaceful resolution of international conflicts.

"The targeting with civilian aircraft being commandeered with full gasoline tanks and being deliberately targeted on buildings where there were thousands of people working, with the intent to kill as many as possible, that deliberately planned assault on a large number of civilians, in my view undoubtedly constitutes a crime against humanity," Robinson said.

Based on existing jurisprudence, she said her staff reached that conclusion "within days" of the attack.

"We have had the jurisprudence of the two tribunals -- the international tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the international tribunal for Rwanda, but we also have the statute of the International Criminal Court," she said, and "the work in progress of the International Law Commission."

Robinson noted that the U.N. Security Council met on the 12th of September, the day after the attacks, and adopted an anti-terrorism resolution unanimously. "But more significantly," she said, "it adopted a further counter-terrorism resolution on the 28th of September under Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter -- meaning that it's binding on all 189 member states."

That resolution, Robinson said, specifies a number of things that are addressed in separate conventions that have been ratified by some nations and not by others, "but now they are binding obligations on all member states by virtue of this resolution under Chapter 7, addressing money laundering, addressing police cooperation and so on."

Characterizing the September 11 attacks as a crime against humanity "puts a clear responsibility on all governments to seek out the perpetrators and hand them over to justice," Robinson said. "This can be done in domestic courts, the courts of the United States would be qualified, or there could be some kind of tribunal, maybe a Lockerbie type tribunal or other international tribunal envisaged." Robinson added that characterizing the September 11 attacks "as a crime against humanity isolates the perpetrators.

"You cannot, in the name of any religion, much less in the name of Islam, commit a crime against humanity. It helps to separate the perpetrators of a crime against humanity from Islamic countries or countries with large Muslim populations, and above all, it makes it more difficult to start a holy jihad," said Robinson.

"That's one of the very worrying aspects at the moment," she said, "not so much that governments would participate in a war in that sense, but they have young populations, a number of them who have been to Islamic schools which have taken a very narrow perspective on the Islamic religion, and there is a very real danger in that kind of enflamed situation with the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan."

Robinson said the United Nations, along with regional organizations and non-governmental organizations, seeks to monitor how countries implement the requirements under the Security Council resolution.

In addition, she said, the United Nations seeks to create awareness of the immense humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan itself, and for refugees who have crossed the border into Pakistan, Iran, and other countries in the region.

She pointed out that borders around Afghanistan have now been closed and said there is a short window of opportunity to get humanitarian aid to the people in need there. Winter arrives in Afghanistan by November 15 or 16, she said, adding that she fears "a real catastrophic" humanitarian situation for hundreds of thousands of people there who "will lose their lives" unless aid gets to them.

Robinson also said that the world needs to "exercise vigilance" to make sure in the coming months that human rights principles are upheld while, at the same time, confronting the "terrible evils of September 11."

Asked about the conflict in the Middle East, Robinson said any steps that could be taken to bring about peace and security for the Palestinians and the Israelis "would be extremely welcome and would remove one of the flashpoint issues," in the world.

Robinson said it is "appalling to see Usama bin Laden seek to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people. I find that outrageous but it can have a very deep impact on impressionable youth in a number of different countries in Asia and Africa as well as Arab countries, and we should be aware of how volatile and dangerous the atmosphere is."