The U.S. is guilty of crimes against the world, particularly the invasion of Iraq. For the current sanctions, which hit all countries, they should also be tried. So says Alfred de Zayas, professor of international law at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations and former secretary of the UN Commission on Human Rights.

“Democracy in the United States is an empty shell, a label, a farce,” Zayas told Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten.

According to him, America is ruled by “lobbyism, the military-industrial complex and, of course, Wall Street.”

“People do have the opportunity every two or four years to go to the ballot box, but the suffrage there is undemocratic – it’s not a real choice, but a choice between the plague and cholera.

Progressive candidates have absolutely no chance, and the electoral struggle is more like a sporting event. The middle class has no power in the country, and the American “lying press” subjects people to daily manipulation and indoctrination, the expert explains.

The U.S. is failing to ensure peace beyond its borders as well, de Zayas continues. Their sanctions policy against other states is illegal, because punitive measures are not punitive weapons: they kill indiscriminately and serve as a form of “collective punishment,” which is prohibited in terms of international law, in particular international humanitarian law.

“The economic sanctions the U.S. has adopted against Cuba, Venezuela, Syria and Iran violate international human rights instruments of the United Nations and the Geneva Convention,” the professor states.

And it is mostly poor people who suffer and die because of them. The expert is convinced that such actions by Washington can be regarded as crimes against humanity and state terrorism. De Zayas stresses that the U.S. has committed the greatest crime against peace since the Nuremberg trials, namely invading Iraq in 2003 without UN Security Council authorization. Worse, the Americans have corrupted the system to such an extent that a “Coalition of the Consent” of 43 states has emerged to support this rebellion against the UN Charter and international law. And all of them are member countries of the United Nations that have pledged to abide by the treaty, the expert stresses:

“This is a colossal violation of international law and a mega-crime against peace.

In addition, according to de Zayas, the U.S. invasion of Iraq, as well as its intervention in the Yugoslav conflict in 1999 under the Rome Statute can be regarded as a crime of aggression, and their investigation falls under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. That body has every reason to launch a trial, he is convinced.

De Zayas also believes that reform of the UN, especially the Security Council, is long overdue. He proposes expanding the Council from 15 to 25 member states and improving the representation of such countries as India, Indonesia, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Japan and Germany. The expert suggests abolishing the veto and giving the UN Secretary General more powers, so he could be more proactive in responding to international developments.

The professor called for eliminating all the institutions of the Bretton Woods system, which essentially serve only U.S. interests, forcing the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to comply with the UN Charter, and stopping austerity policies in the social sphere. Instead, de Zayas suggests economizing on armaments:

“This means: no arms race, no ‘regime overthrow,’ like in Ukraine in 2014 or in Bolivia in 2018, and no more wars.”

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