Pre-emptive engagement for peace

1. Whereas the Charter of the United Nations grants every state the right to legitimate self-defence in response to an armed attack "until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security"

2. Whereas the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein had a proven track record of internal and external aggression and had been in violation of numerous UN resolutions;

3. Whereas the UN had initiated a strict regime of arms control against Iraq that was in state of serving the purpose of the international community i.e. making sure that Iraq kept no weapons of mass destruction; 

4. Whereas the current government of the USA has re-defined self-defence to include the right for pre-emptive strikes against perceived threats;

5. Whereas under pressure of the US government, a coalition of the willing invaded Iraq on 20 March to overthrow the regime of Saddam Hussein on the allegation that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and that it supported the Al Qaeda terrorist network;

6. Whereas some present or future Member States of the European Union supported the attack and whereas at least one Member state co-operated with the US intelligence services in order to spy out the UN offices of EU members who resisted US and British pressure; 

7. Whereas this invasion was not backed by a majority in the Security Council nor in the General Assembly, who insisted that the weapons inspections were effective and should be continued, and was therefore undertaken unilaterally;

8. Whereas neither cause used to justify an attack on Iraq could be substantiated: David Kay, chief US weapons inspector, concluded that Iraq did not have any weapons of mass destruction whilst Iraq's links to the Al Qaeda network could not be established;

9. Whereas Iraq at that time did not present an imminent threat to world peace and the government of the United States, Great Britain and their allies ordered to attack Iraq on the basis of wrong allegations; 

10. Whereas it becomes more and more clear that the intelligence on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction have been manipulated by leaders of government, in particular by President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair and their secret services in order to mobilise support for an invasion; 

11. Whereas the war weakened the United Nations, created divisions within the European Union, and increased the dangers of instability in the Middle East;

12. Whereas during the invasion, thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed and wounded and as a result of the invasion the political, social and economic infrastructure of Iraq has collapsed in particular reversed the degree of emancipation Iraqi women had achieved; 

13. Whereas the occurrence of terrorism in Iraq and the looming danger of a civil war have not been countered, but rather enhanced by the occupation forces;

14. Whereas the developments since the invasion has shown the lack of a political plan for a democratic and integrative future of the Iraqi people on the side of the USA and their allies;

15. Whereas there is still no valid and accepted plan for the transfer of sovereignty back to the Iraqi people;

The Congress of the European Green Party therefore declares that: 

1. The Iraq invasion was a unilateral attack in violation of the UN charter, against the convictions of the majority in the Security Council, the UN Assembly and millions of protesters in the streets world-wide ;

2. All UN members must return to their obligations under the UN Charter, Art. 2, to settle their disputes by peaceful means and refrain from the threat and the use of force; 

3. All members of the UN are requested to actively participate in a speedy and peaceful solution of the Iraqi conflict under the auspices of the UN, safeguarding the integrity of Iraq and the right of the Iraqi people to self-government;
4. Unfortunately, a majority of UN Member States continue to be governed in lack of respect for fundamental democratic and human rights standards - the government of Saddam Hussein representing a particularly bad example -, therefore the international rule of law needs further strengthening in order to combat bad government multilaterally and with measures in accordance with the UN Charter; 

5. All attempts to enlarge the concept of self-defence to include 'pre-emptive strikes' on perceived threats have to be stopped;The terms 'preventive engagement' enshrined in the 'out-of-area' NATO-doctrine as well as in the new European Security Strategy must be clarified to affirm the absolute priority for non-military conflict prevention and solution, with the aim to guarantee that possible military operations are in accordance with the UN Charter and international humanitarian law. 

6. The application of Chapter VII of the UN Charter allowing multilateral military intervention have to strictly fulfil the following conditions:

a)     It must be a last resort after all other means of conflict resolution have failed ;

b)    There must be an emergency to prevent further crimes as defined under the statutes of the ICC in the country or region of intervention; 

c)     The intelligence on such wide-spread and on-going human rights violations must be undeniably confirmed by independent human rights organisations;

d)  The intervention has to be authorised by the UN Security Council or - in case of abuse of veto - through an urgent call for intervention by the UN Secretary General based on a UN General Assembly resolution.

7. In order to render the UN, guarantor of international rule of law, more representative and more effective, a world petition should be launched for a Convention on the Reform of the United Nations, including members of Parliaments and representatives of civil society.