Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Congressman Steve Rothman’s (D-NJ) resolution urging the United Nations (UN) Security Council to charge Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with violating the 1948 Genocide Convention and the UN Charter. To join the UN, Iran agreed to abide by both accords, but Ahmadinejad has violated both by publicly calling for Israel to be “wiped off the map.”
Rothman’s bipartisan Resolution (H.Con.Res.21), which he introduced with Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL), passed by a vote of 411 to 2.
“When the leader of an armed nation such as Iran calls for the destruction of a fellow member state of the United Nations, the UN must prosecute and punish him. It is my hope that this resolution will effectively increase pressure on the United Nations to hold Iranian President Ahmadinejad accountable for his genocidal words and prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons,” said Rothman.
Ahmadinejad has repeatedly and publicly called for Israel to be ‘wiped off the map.’ Yet, the 1948 Genocide Convention not only prohibits genocide, but also prohibits ‘direct and public incitement to commit genocide.’ It also provides that no one is above the law. People advocating genocidal crimes shall be punished whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.
Further, Article 2, Section 4 of the United Nations charter – to which Iran has agreed – requires all UN member states to ‘refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.’
H.Con.Res.21 makes it clear that the U.S. Congress sees Ahmadinejad’s statements as violating both the letter and spirit of these international pacts. H.Con.Res.21 had strong bipartisan support leading up to today’s vote, with103 co-sponsors, including 57 Democrats and 46 Republicans.
“The prohibitions against genocidal hate speech against nations and peoples exist for a reason,” said Congressman Rothman. “No one heeded the danger of Adolf Hitler’s hateful calls for the death of the Jewish people and six million of them were killed by Hitler’s followers.”
Congressman Kirk has pointed out that: “In the past, dictators often tell us what crimes they will commit long before they strike. If we learn from that lesson, we will take early action against the Iranian leader who has told us that he hopes to murder many.”
Reps. Rothman and Kirk sit on the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Agencies, which oversees U.S. spending on foreign aid and the activities of the U.S. State Department.
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10 Responses
I wonder who the two dissenting voters were.
The no votes came from Ron Paul, a Texas Republican, and Ohio Democrat Dennis Kucinich
“The no votes came from Ron Paul, a Texas Republican, and Ohio Democrat Dennis Kucinich”
Would you be able to post their contact info? I
would like to offer them a piece of my mind! I wonder why? My guess…. perhaps investments in Iranian energies.
well Ron Paul & Kucinich are running for president Paul said live at a Pres. debate that the US was behind 9/11 this Paul is getting his name out there by saying crazy things Guilani responded very strong to Paul about his words on Sep. 11. How can we let this guy have a percent in the voting of our future President if he Is not willing to vote for this and 400 others are than we have a problem he would never take action against Iran an he wouldnt do anything for Isreal i think this should be known if it was 150-250 then fine but is 400-2 that shows something.
Don’t expect any action from the UN. The circus at work again.
http://kucinich.house.gov/ He claimes the Iranian Hitler’s remarks were mistranslated. Right, sure.
http://www.house.gov/paul/
This resolution will not even raise an eyebrow at the UN, maybe revoke all the parking permits then you’ll see some action!!
why doesn’t the Congress doing something meaningful such as vote this country out of membership in the UN. THe most wasteful governmental agency in the world.
Have to wonder how much of our tax dollars here in NYC go towards subsidizing those overpaid bureacrats who use up all our city services here yet do not pay a dime for it.
If Ahmadinejad had said this about the citizens of Luxembourg, or Mauritania, or Grenada, little places that most people have never even heard of; and of course if he had said it about Russia or the Sudan, places famous for their violations of civil rights, you can bet the U.N. would not need any prompting. They would have jumped on Ahmadinejad immediately.
But this is about Jews and Israel. It surprises me that so many U.S. representatives voted to support this resolution.
Don’t give them too much credit. It’s not like they hurried to condemn him – how long ago did he declare his intentions? They are also not doing anything proactively to stop him.
Woe that the developers see fit to turn innocent parking lots into high rise buildings but fail to do the same with the valuable piece of real estate the UN sits on. Give us back our parking lots and build over this vile institution. UN out of the US! US out of the UN!