Iran, the Brits, The US, and the Geneva Convention
Earlier today I made mention of the Iranian/British stand off over 15 sailors captured by Iran. The Times Online has the update on the story:
FIFTEEN British sailors and marines arrested by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards off the coast of Iraq may be charged with spying.
A website run by associates of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, reported last night that the Britons would be put before a court and indicted.
Referring to them as “insurgents”, the site concluded: “If it is proven that they deliberately entered Iranian territory, they will be charged with espionage. If that is proven, they can expect a very serious penalty since according to Iranian law, espionage is one of the most serious offences.”
The warning followed claims by Iranian officials that the British navy personnel had been taken to Tehran, the capital, to explain their “aggressive action” in entering Iranian waters. British officials insist the servicemen were in Iraqi waters when they were held.
The penalty for espionage in Iran is death. However, similar accusations of spying were made when eight British servicemen were detained in the same area in 2004. They were paraded blindfolded on television but did not appear in court and were freed after three nights in detention.
According to Captain Ed Morrissey puting them on trial for espionage is illegal:
The Iranians cannot try the men for espionage if they captured the sailors in uniform. Article 46 of the Geneva Convention states this clearly:
2. A member of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict who, on behalf of that Party and in territory controlled by an adverse Party, gathers or attempts to gather information shall not be considered as engaging in espionage if, while so acting, he is in the uniform of his armed forces.
The indictment of British sailors in uniform as spies will violate the GC.
These sailors were most definitely in their uniforms, and we doubt the line of BS being floated by the Iranians that these guys were in Iranian waters. Do we think that they'll be placed on trial? No. Ahmadinejad's a nut, but he's not stupid. He knows that the seizure of these sailors was provocative enough, and there's no way in Hell he's going to provoke the British any more than he already has. This is pure show. In addition, with information coming out now about the Quds force that attacked Iraqi and US military forces well within Iraq:
As the British government demanded the immediate release of 15 of its sailors whose boats were seized by Iranian naval vessels in the Persian Gulf on Friday, U.S. News has learned that this is not the first showdown that coalition forces have had with the Iranian military.
According to a U.S. Army report out of Iraq obtained by U.S. News, American troops, acting as advisers for Iraqi border guards, were recently surrounded and attacked by a larger unit of Iranian soldiers, well within the border of Iraq.
The report highlights the details: A platoon of Iranian soldiers on the Iraqi side of the border fired rocket-propelled grenades and used small arms against a joint patrol of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers east of Balad Ruz. Four Iraqi Army soldiers, one interpreter, and one Iraqi border policeman remain unaccounted for after the September incident in eastern Diyala, 75 miles east of Baghdad.
Iran's testing its limits, and I've got bad news for them: They're going to lose if this leads to a military confrontation. We'll deal with their air force in about two hours, and we'll bomb them back to the Stone Age. This is not the time to be testing the limits of our patience, and with the military build-up in the Gulf if I were Ahmadinejad, I'd be a little worried. Two US aircraft carrier batle groups, one French carrier, a British one on the way, and enough planes to carpet bomb Iran into oblivion. The world isn't standing for their garbage right now. Despite the fact that the the new UN sanctions imposed on Iran by the UNSC are relatively toothless (are we surprised), it at least shows that even Iran's closest allies in China and Russia are about fed up with this game of brinkmanship that's being played.
Ahmadinejad's playing a dangerous game. He might want to tone things down a bit before the world reaches the point of no return.
Publius II
FIFTEEN British sailors and marines arrested by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards off the coast of Iraq may be charged with spying.
A website run by associates of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, reported last night that the Britons would be put before a court and indicted.
Referring to them as “insurgents”, the site concluded: “If it is proven that they deliberately entered Iranian territory, they will be charged with espionage. If that is proven, they can expect a very serious penalty since according to Iranian law, espionage is one of the most serious offences.”
The warning followed claims by Iranian officials that the British navy personnel had been taken to Tehran, the capital, to explain their “aggressive action” in entering Iranian waters. British officials insist the servicemen were in Iraqi waters when they were held.
The penalty for espionage in Iran is death. However, similar accusations of spying were made when eight British servicemen were detained in the same area in 2004. They were paraded blindfolded on television but did not appear in court and were freed after three nights in detention.
According to Captain Ed Morrissey puting them on trial for espionage is illegal:
The Iranians cannot try the men for espionage if they captured the sailors in uniform. Article 46 of the Geneva Convention states this clearly:
2. A member of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict who, on behalf of that Party and in territory controlled by an adverse Party, gathers or attempts to gather information shall not be considered as engaging in espionage if, while so acting, he is in the uniform of his armed forces.
The indictment of British sailors in uniform as spies will violate the GC.
These sailors were most definitely in their uniforms, and we doubt the line of BS being floated by the Iranians that these guys were in Iranian waters. Do we think that they'll be placed on trial? No. Ahmadinejad's a nut, but he's not stupid. He knows that the seizure of these sailors was provocative enough, and there's no way in Hell he's going to provoke the British any more than he already has. This is pure show. In addition, with information coming out now about the Quds force that attacked Iraqi and US military forces well within Iraq:
As the British government demanded the immediate release of 15 of its sailors whose boats were seized by Iranian naval vessels in the Persian Gulf on Friday, U.S. News has learned that this is not the first showdown that coalition forces have had with the Iranian military.
According to a U.S. Army report out of Iraq obtained by U.S. News, American troops, acting as advisers for Iraqi border guards, were recently surrounded and attacked by a larger unit of Iranian soldiers, well within the border of Iraq.
The report highlights the details: A platoon of Iranian soldiers on the Iraqi side of the border fired rocket-propelled grenades and used small arms against a joint patrol of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers east of Balad Ruz. Four Iraqi Army soldiers, one interpreter, and one Iraqi border policeman remain unaccounted for after the September incident in eastern Diyala, 75 miles east of Baghdad.
Iran's testing its limits, and I've got bad news for them: They're going to lose if this leads to a military confrontation. We'll deal with their air force in about two hours, and we'll bomb them back to the Stone Age. This is not the time to be testing the limits of our patience, and with the military build-up in the Gulf if I were Ahmadinejad, I'd be a little worried. Two US aircraft carrier batle groups, one French carrier, a British one on the way, and enough planes to carpet bomb Iran into oblivion. The world isn't standing for their garbage right now. Despite the fact that the the new UN sanctions imposed on Iran by the UNSC are relatively toothless (are we surprised), it at least shows that even Iran's closest allies in China and Russia are about fed up with this game of brinkmanship that's being played.
Ahmadinejad's playing a dangerous game. He might want to tone things down a bit before the world reaches the point of no return.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 2:30 PM
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