International Law Expert Stresses Moral Obligation to Eradicate IS Threat
Monday 15 September 2014 @ 11.30 a.m. | Crime | Legal Research
International law expert Geoffrey Robertson has claimed that Australia owes a moral obligation to help oust Islamic State (IS) in Iraq.
Background
Australia has become the first country to deploy troops to Iraq to a US-led coalition fighting extremists in the Middle East. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has espoused military actions as a response to the horrors of the radical Islam “death cult”.
Abbott has warned the Australian public that the looming fight with IS could take “many many months” after announcing that more than 600 Australian soldiers would be deployed to Iraq to protect both the country and the world from the spread of IS. Abbott has stressed that the troops deployed will not be for combat purposes but rather as a contribution to the international effort to prevent the humanitarian crisis from deepening.
Mr Abbott said his resolve to commit troops had been strengthened by the video apparently showing the beheading of captured British aid worker David Haines – footage which he said left him feeling "shock, horror, outrage, fury" .
Robertson’s Support
Geoffrey Robertson, who has in his career served as president of the United Nations war crimes court in Sierre Leone, believes that Australia has an obligation to stop a group that executed people without trial. "That sets up a moral, imperative duty to intervene to protect innocent civilians," he told AAP in Brisbane on the sidelines of Griffith University's Global Integrity Summit.
Robertson feels that with terrorist organisations such as IS, there must be an element of force in order to eradicate the threat they present.
However, Robertson claims that any move by the Australian government to remove the citizenship of the 100 or more Australians who have travelled to the Middle East in support of IS could be in violation of international law. He stressed that the Australian Criminal Code is available to prosecute these offenders for crimes against humanity and genocide if and should they ever return to Australia.
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