Title: A resolution condemning threats by President Donald J. Trump to violate the law of armed conflict with respect to Iran.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution urges the President to de-escalate tensions with Iran rather than threaten acts of war and violations of international law.
Specifically, the resolution condemns the President's threats to destroy important Iranian cultural sites and demands that the President refrain from violating the law of armed conflict. Further, it affirms that the destruction of cultural heritage is both morally wrong and a violation of international law and that no violation of the law of armed conflict or human-rights violation by Iran justifies similar violations by any other state.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 465 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 465

 Condemning threats by President Donald J. Trump to violate the law of 
                  armed conflict with respect to Iran.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 8, 2020

 Mr. Markey (for himself, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Merkley, Ms. Warren, Mr. 
    Leahy, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Van Hollen, and Ms. Harris) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Condemning threats by President Donald J. Trump to violate the law of 
                  armed conflict with respect to Iran.

Whereas President Donald J. Trump threatened to destroy sites ``important to . . 
        . the Iranian culture'' and threatened future retaliation in ``a 
        disproportionate manner'' on January 4 and January 5, 2020, 
        respectively;
Whereas Article 53 of Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions prohibits any act of 
        hostility against cultural objects, including making such objects the 
        target of reprisals;
Whereas destruction of cultural sites violates the 1954 Hague Convention for the 
        Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, which 
        the United States ratified during the administration of President George 
        W. Bush;
Whereas the Department of Defense Law of War Manual states that ``[c]ultural 
        property, the areas immediately surrounding it, and appliances in use 
        for its protection should be safeguarded and respected'';
Whereas the United States Government has condemned the Taliban, the Islamic 
        State, al Qaeda and its affiliates, and the Government of the People's 
        Republic of China, among others, for the destruction of cultural 
        heritage;
Whereas the Trump Administration supported the adoption of United Nations 
        Security Council Resolution 2347 (2017) condemning ``the unlawful 
        destruction of cultural heritage, including the destruction of religious 
        sites and artefacts'';
Whereas, on March 24, 2017, the United States Deputy Permanent Representative to 
        the United Nations stated, ``The United States seeks to hold accountable 
        . . . the perpetrators of deliberate cultural heritage destruction.'';
Whereas the destruction of cultural sites in Iran could include damage to one or 
        more of the 22 cultural sites in Iran inscribed on the World Heritage 
        List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural 
        Organization;
Whereas, on January 6, 2020, Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper expressed that 
        the United States would not target Iranian cultural sites, as the United 
        States ``follow[s] the laws of armed conflict'';
Whereas military actions conducted ``in a disproportionate manner'' violate 
        international law, including Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, as 
        well as the United States Department of Defense guidelines whether in 
        reference to the conduct of armed conflict or the resort to war;
Whereas the Department of Defense Law of War Manual states that the principle of 
        proportionality in the conduct of war ``generally refers to the 
        obligation to take feasible precautions in planning and conducting 
        attacks and to refrain from attacks in which the expected loss of 
        civilian life, injury to civilians, and damage to civilian objects 
        incidental to the attack would be excessive.'';
Whereas the Department of Defense Law of War Manual states, ``Proportionality is 
        also a requirement for reprisals, which must respond in a proportionate 
        manner to the preceding illegal act by the party against which they are 
        taken'';
Whereas military action that disregards proportionality would further exacerbate 
        the suffering of the Iranian people, who have endured--

    (1) their own government's systematic and longstanding human rights 
violations, restrictions on political freedoms, and brutal suppression of 
their democratic aspirations; and

    (2) the arbitrary reimposition of United States sanctions that have 
negatively affected livelihoods of ordinary Iranians and restricted 
economic activity; and

Whereas the destruction of cultural sites and the disproportionate use of 
        military force are among the actions that could needlessly escalate the 
        crisis with Iran: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) affirms that efforts to defend United States security 
        and interests must take into account potential harm to 
        civilians and other protected persons and objects in foreign 
        countries, consistent with international legal principles and 
        our common humanity;
            (2) affirms that the destruction of cultural heritage is 
        morally wrong, is a violation of international law, and that 
        even threats of such destruction undermine years of public 
        diplomacy demonstrating that the American people do not seek 
        conflict with any cultural or religious group;
            (3) affirms that no violation of the law of armed conflict 
        or human rights violation by Iran or its proxies permits or 
        justifies similar violations by any other state;
            (4) urges President Donald J. Trump to use his bully pulpit 
        to promote de-escalation of tensions with Iran rather than to 
        threaten acts of war and violations of international law;
            (5) strongly condemns the President's threats to destroy 
        sites important to Iranian culture and to retaliate against 
        Iran in a disproportionate manner; and
            (6) demands that the President avoid needless escalation 
        with Iran and refrain from violating the law of armed conflict.
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