ISTANBUL: OCCUPATION/HEARINGS
World Tribunal on Iraq To Hand Down Final Verdict
23 Jun 2005 15:58 GMTThe 16th and final session of the World Tribunal on Iraq is being held in Istanbul, Turkey from June 24 to June 27. Inspired by the Russell Tribunal of 1967 on the Vietnam War, The World Tribunal on Iraq is a global initiative that grew out of worldwide opposition to the war on Iraq, intended to bring to light the truth about the war and occupation. This session is the culmination of two years of investigations into violations of international law and human rights by the United States and its allies leading up to and during the invasion and of Iraq and the continuing occupation. For a summary of previous testimony and verdicts, see: http://www.worldtribunal.org
Deep Dish TV, the first grassroots television network in the United States, is providing a global satellite uplink of the proceedings.
Bush: the world holds you accountable !
AmigaPhil 23.Jun.2005 19:51
BRussells Tribunal critical of joint US-EU conference on Iraq (Brussels, 21/6)
Photos: Supporters of the tribunal held a demonstration on June 21st in front of the EU headquarters in Brussels, condemning the US occupation of Iraq. (Credit: Line Hedebouw / Intal)
Statement of Richard Falk at Press Conference for WTI
AmigaPhil (WTI PR, June 23) 24.Jun.2005 01:15
The World Tribunal on Iraq is an undertaking of historic importance. It is the culmination of a process of tribunal sessions on the legal dimensions of the Iraq War that have been held in all parts of the world. This kind of spontaneous initiative of concerned people around the world has never taken place before. It represents an expression of what might be called “moral globalization,” acting on the belief that no state and no leader is above the law when it comes to matters of war and peace. And it expresses the overwhelming sentiments of peoples throughout the world that the Iraq War was against international law and morality. This initiative here in Istanbul has a quality of urgency as people are dying and suffering every day in Iraq as we speak. This is not an academic gathering of experts to find out the relevance of law. It is primarily an expression of popular democracy, of ethical conscience about what is right and wrong in world politics, and an expression of resistance to what is understood around the world as an American project to achieve world domination. The Iraq War is the eye of the storm at the moment. But the wider concern of the WTI is with America’s hegemonic global ambitions that is bringing danger, violence, and exploitation to many parts of the world at present.
The idea of a tribunal to judge legal responsibility of a state and its leaders for war is not new. After World War II the victorious governments convened tribunals at Nuremberg and Tokyo, and held the German and Japanese leaders responsible. The Nuremberg Judgment, a celebrated document, called aggressive war, that is, Crimes Against Peace, as the greatest of all crimes. The UN Charter has carried forward the idea that all wars that are not fought in self-defense or with the approval of the UN Security Council are illegal wars, and hence a Crime Against Peace. The WTI has been initiated by citizens of many countries who share the belief that the Iraq War is such an illegal war, and that the leaders of the USA and United Kingdom are individually and criminally responsible for its initiation and for the violations of the Law of War that have accompanied the occupation of Iraq.
The work of the Tribunal is divided into a Panel of Advocates and a Jury of Conscience. The role of the Panel of Advocates is to document these charges through analysis and witnesses in a persuasive manner, and to appeal to a Jury of Conscience, composed of distinguished moral authority personalities from around the world, to pass judgment on the actors and their actions from the perspective of international law.
We understand that the WTI is not a court of law with powers of enforcement. It is rather an informed inquiry by concerned, independent, non-partisan, and honest persons into the relevance of international law that is designed to discredit any claims by the governments who have supported the Iraq War that their action is somehow legal and morally and politically acceptable. It is designed to tell the truth as clearly and powerfully as possible with respect to all aspects of the Iraq War. In the end if democracy is to be the true basis of political authority, then leaders must be made accountable, especially if they fail to uphold the Rule of Law in the area of war and peace. If governments and the United Nations are unable and unwilling to discharge this responsibility, then citizens acting on behalf of civil society have the duty to challenge and oppose an illegal war and practices that violate international humanitarian law. It is after all, in the famous words of the UN Charter, “We the peoples of the world” who are “determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.”
The WTI takes these words seriously as a call to action. We who are participating in this Tribunal are speaking here in Turkey as ‘citizens of the world’ who are part of a global movement to oppose aggressive wars and to resist the wider ambitions of the United States Government to override the sovereignty and independence of states. And we of the WTI are calling on others in every country who seek global peace and justice, including the protection of human rights, to join us in doing this vital work. It is time to understand that aggressive war has become something more than a struggle between particular states. It is an assault on the well being of people everywhere, and must be opposed everywhere. Aggressive war is not only a Crime Against Peace, it has also become the greatest Crime Against Humanity.
The WTI is opposing aggressive war, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. It is not opposing the governments or the United Nations. Indeed it hopes to create pressure from below that will encourage law-abiding governments and the UN to do their proper job of protecting weaker countries and their populations against such illegalities. And beyond this protection we are promoting a world movement of peoples and governments to realize a humane form of globalization that is equitable with respect to the world economy, legitimate in upholding the human rights of all, and dedicated above all else to creating the conditions for sustainable peace based on justice for every nation on earth.
Censorship
Dahr Jamail (Reposted by AmigaPhil) 24.Jun.2005 14:45
Iraqi hospitals ailing under occupation
June 23, 2005
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/weblog/archives/dispatches/000256.php
http://www.brusselstribunal.org/DahrReportSummary.htm
At long last, the culminating session of the World Tribunal on Iraq is upon us. As a witness providing testimony, like the other witnesses I’m being interviewed by many outlets. Today, one of them was by reporters for one of the larger newspapers in Turkey, the Yeni Safak Newspaper.
I’ll leave the reporters nameless, for reasons you’ll soon see.
The newspaper has been translating various articles of mine into Turkish and running them, particularly those concerning the most recent Fallujah massacre. The report who was interviewing me today told me that the former American consulate here, Eric Edelman, asked the Prime Minister of Turkey to pressure his paper to not run so many of my stories.
“Why did he do this,” I asked him.
“Edelman said it was the wrong news,” he told me with a smile.
Turns out Edelman also asked that articles by Robert Fisk and Naomi Klein not be run so often in Yeni Safak either.
He smiled at me while he watched the wheels turning in my head before I smiled back and said, “That makes me very happy, it means I’m doing my job as a journalist.”
We laughed heartily together at this, as did everyone else at the table.
Reminds me of the obtuse hate mails I sometimes receive-confirmation that I am doing my job-they always make me smile.
So the American government is pressuring foreign countries to censor their news. Aside from the fact that this act is the height of arrogance by the United States, it makes it exceedingly clear why so many Americans who rely on the corporate media for their news continue to be so misinformed/un-informed about the goings on in Iraq. If the American government is attempting to censor the news in foreign countries, you can imagine what they are doing at home.
Because people like Edelman don’t want citizens of the United States to know that events like the massacre of Fallujah or the atrocities in Abu Ghraib are not isolated incidents.
People like Edelman don’t want people to know what one of my sources in Baquba just told me today.
His email reads:
“Near the city of Buhrez, 5 kilometers south of Baquba, two Humvess of American soldiers were destroyed recently. American and Iraqi soldiers came to the city afterwards and cut all the phones, cut the water, cut medicine from arriving in the city and told them that until the people of the city bring the “terrorists” to them, the embargo will continue.”
The embargo has been in place now for one week now, and he continued:
“The Americans still won’t anyone or any medicines and supplies into Buhrez, nor will they allow any people in or out. Even the Al-Sadr followers who organized some help for the people in the city (water, food, medicine) are not being allowed into the city. Even journalists cannot enter to publish the news, and the situation there is so bad. The Americans keep asking for the people in the city to bring them the persons who were in charge of destroying the two Humvees on the other side of the city, but of course the people in the city don’t know who carried out the attack.”
People like Edelman don’t want people to know about the recent US attacks in Al-Qa’im and Haditha either. Attacks that Iraqis are describing as just as bad as the massacre of Fallujah.
On Haditha and Al-Qa’im, an Iraqi doctor sent me this email yesterday:
“Listen…we witnessed crimes in the west area of the country of what the bastards did in Haditha and Al-Qa’im. It was a crime, a really big crime we have witnessed and filmed in those places and recently also in Fallujah. We need big help in the western area of the country. Our doctors need urgent help there. Please, this is an URGENT humanitarian request from the hospitals in the west of the country. We have big proof on how the American troops destroyed one of our hospitals, how they burned the whole store of medication of the west area of Iraq and how they killed a patient in the ward…how they prevented us from helping the people in al-Qa’im. This is an URGENT Humanitarian request. The hospitals in the west of Iraq ask for urgent help…we are in a big humanitarian medical disaster…”
People like Edelman don’t want the public to know that the same tactics used in Fallujah by the US military-posting snipers around the city to shoot anyone who moves, targeting ambulances, impeding medical care, or the detaining of innocent civilians en masse.
After all, Fallujah is the model. Fallujah is our Guernica. And now, Haditha, Al-Qa’im can be added to the list, with Baquba and Buhrez under deconstruction.
See also: IRAQI HOSPITALS AILING UNDER OCCUPATION -
US caused more deaths in Iraq than Saddam
AmigaPhil (repost) 25.Jun.2005 14:11
Hussein, Bush, Blair: How many civilians have they killed ? DARE TO COMPARE ?
AFP, June 24, 2005.
The World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI), a grouping of NGOs, intellectuals and writers opposed to the war in Iraq, accused the United States of causing more deaths in Iraq than ousted president Saddam Hussein.
"With two wars and 13 years of criminal sanctions, the United States have been responsible for more deaths in Iraq than Saddam Hussein," Larry Everest, a journalist, told hundreds of anti-war activists gathered in Istanbul.
Founded in 2003, the WTI is modelled on the 1960s Russell Tribunal, created by the British philosopher Bertrand Russell to denounce the war in Vietnam. It has held about 20 sessions so far in different locations around the world.
A symbolic verdict was to be handed down on Monday by the 14 "jurors of conscience" -- including the militant Indian novelist Arundhati Roy, winner of the 1997 Booker Prize for "The God of Small Things."
The tribunal has for the past two years been gathering what it says is evidence that the war launched in March 2003 to oust Saddam was illegal, and it has also been gathering evidence of exactions allegedly committed by coalition troops.
Its verdict on Monday after its final session is expected to condemn both the United States and Britain.
Roy told the gathering here: ""The evidence collated in this tribunal should ... be used by the International Criminal Court -- whose jurisdiction the United States does not recognize -- to try as war criminals George Bush, Tony Blair, John Howard, Silvio Berlusconi, and all those government officials, army generals, and corporate CEOs who participated in this war and now benefit from it."
She added that the tribunal was "an act of resistance, a defense mounted against one of the most cowardly wars ever fought in history."
Hans von Sponeck, former director of the UN’s so-called oil-for-food programme for Iraq, told the Istanbul gathering that the humanitarian programme "was totally irrelevant."
Von Sponeck ran the programme until 2000 when he resigned because he said it failed to meet the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people.
The oil-for-food programme ran from 1996 to 2003. It allowed Baghdad to sell oil in exchange for humanitarian goods the country lacked due to international sanctions imposed in 1990 after Iraq invaded Kuwait.
Critics said the sanctions led to the deaths of tens of thousands of children and a drastic decline in living standards for almost the entire Iraqi population.
The Iraqi government under Saddam swindled millions of dollars from the 64-billion-dollar scheme, and the scandal has become a huge embarrassment for the United Nations.
"The UN handling of Iraq will be listed as a massive failure," von Sponeck said. "We didn’t speak out despite knowing what the economic sanctions had created as a human disaster."
He singled out the United States and British governments for allegedly blocking projects that would, he said, have allowed more people to survive.
Some 200 non-governmental organsiations -- including the environmentalist group Greenpeace, the anti-globalization ATTAC and Vietnam Veterans Against the War -- as well as a number of prominent intellectuals such as US linguist Noam Chomsky and Egyptian sociologist Samir Amin are involved in the WTI.
Iraq is now worse than it was under Saddam
AmigaPhil (WTI PR, June 26) 26.Jun.2005 14:11
World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI), June 24
''IRAQ IS NOW WORSE THAN IT WAS UNDER SADDAM,''
http://www.worldtribunal.org/
Iraqi Witness at the World Tribunal on Iraq
Istanbul, 26th June 2005 - Witnesses of the ongoing atrocities in
Iraq testified before the Jury of Conscience at the World Tribunal on
Iraq on the second day of the Tribunal. Their exposure of the impact of
this war on Iraqis revealed a country that is facing worse conditions
than under Saddam Hussein. In the words of Amal Sawadi, an Iraqi lawyer
working for the defenceless in Iraq, ' Atrocities existed under Saddam
Hussein but, unfortunately, things are now much worse.'
Further testimonies to the human rights violations occuring in Iraq on a
daily basis were also given by writer and journalist Hana Ibrahim, Eman
Khammas who is a human rights activist based in Baghdad and journalist
Fadhil Al Bedrani who witnessed the last assault on Fallujah.
They spoke about the illegal detention of citizens, tens of thousands of
Iraqi people who are missing, the ongoing torture in prisons, the
kidnapping and raping of women and the constant fear that now forms part
of the daily life of Iraqi people.
'Snipers hunt people in the streets. People attempting to go to health
centers are shot at. There are many crippled children. There are
thousands of widows and orphans. There are no police for security and
there are no courts. Even hospitals are occupied and bombed and burned.
In Falluja and other places American troops intentionally burnt down the
hospitals,' said Eman Khammas.
Tim Goodrich who was deployed to Saudi Arabia with U.S. troops until he
joined the ranks of anti war protesters gave the Tribunal detailed
insight into how the U.S. military functions: 'To summarize, despite the
war being illegal under international law and being based on lies, there
are many other factors which contribute to military misconduct in Iraq.
Among these are poor intelligence, lack of training, the stress of
fighting in a guerilla war, and finally, the lack of a mission and
clearly defined goals after the fall of Baghdad. Coupled with the fact
that military culture already has many problems with racism, ignorance,
stereotypes, and dehumanization, this clearly shows that the best
solution is an immediate withdrawal of American troops from Iraqi soil.'
In an emotional protest yesterday, the people from Iraq attending the
Tribunal unfolded a banner with the faces of children who have been
killed in Iraq. A father of one of these children was among those
present. Iraqi artists are also exhibiting paintings on Abu Ghraib
prison at Darphane-i Amire, Topkapı Palace Grounds, where the World
Tribunal on Iraq is in its final day of hearings (1).
At a press conference to be held tomorrow at 11 am at the Hotel Armada,
the Jury of Conscience will be announcing the conclusions of the World
Tribunal on Iraq. Renowned author and activist Arundathi Roy who is
chairing the Jury will be one of the main speakers.
1. Artists: Abdulkareem Khalil, Salam Omar, Salem Al-Dabbagh, Nadia
Mohammed Yass, Fadia Mohammed Yass
World Tribunal on Iraq -
Testimonials of Resistance
Jodie Evans (reposted by AmigaPhil) 26.Jun.2005 19:51
Testimonials at the World Tribunal on Iraq prove over and over again that the US and the UK are guilty of waging an illegal, immoral and unjust war.
http://www.codepink4peace.org/ 
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/22308/
The hall is abuzz with the thrill of full-page spreads on the front page of every newspaper in Istanbul, and the woman next to me says with a smile that we are also on the BBC. The bank of cameras and the swarm of photographers have filled the room again this morning. Still absent at the World Tribunal on Iraq is any sign of the US media, except the cameras of Deep Dish TV. The website got 15,000 hits from more than 100 countries.
As the spokesperson for the Jury of Conscience, Arundhati Roy said earlier in the week, "This is what resistance looks like; if we don't show those who resort to violence alternative methods, it will be one of our failings."
For they have been forced to resist an illegal invasion of their country, what would we do if they didn't resist? Our joining together to witness the facts and the experience of those living in Iraq, and to see this jury's evaluation within a void, where there is no rule of law -- this is our act of resistance. But it is yet another non-event in the USA.
The mood quickly changed from the thrills of approval as Dahr Jamail began his stories of torture in Iraq by the US military. The hall was in deep grief within moments. He showed photo after photo of the tragedies in Iraq. Photographs of torture and of families that have been left without aid, and of the appalling conditions in the hospitals and the streets if Iraq.
A group from Japan indicated their opposition against the use of overpowering weapons by listing the number of illegal weapons dropped on Iraq by the US/UK, and their anger with the Japanese government for agreeing to join Bush in invading Iraq. The act violated Article 9 of the Japanese constitution -- to never invade another country.
Dr. Thomas Fasy of Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York led us through a report with charts and graphs describing the rise in cancer in Iraq since the use of depleted uranium during the first Gulf War, the new nuclear weapon of choice that has horrific consequences. Leukemia had risen 450 percent in children under the age of 5 since 1990.
Fasy's testimony reminded me of 5-year-old Atarid, whom we met in Iraq before the invasion. He had already lost all of his hair and had a very sweet smile, but couldn't get the care available to children in the US because cancer therapies were not allowed under sanctions in Iraq. He was sent home to die and to make room for those wounded from the shock and awe that was about to descend on Iraq.
Denis Halliday, who had resigned his position as UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq in protest of the Iraq sanctions, completed the morning's session. He enumerated all the ways in which the UN had failed at its job, both at the level of the UN Security Counsel, the Secretary General and the members. He had watched the US destroy Iraq's potential, simply because it was no longer a useful friend, and set a pattern of militaristic aggression toward the people of Iraq that continues today.
He spoke about the rights of Iraqi self-defense and resistance to foreign military occupation, as set out in UN Charter Article 51, but added there is nothing glorious about killing, "be it of the enemy, or of one's own country-men and women who decide, for whatever reason, to collaborate."
The day continued with testimonial after testimonial from the many brave Iraqis who came to share their stories. By the late afternoon many of the jurors were in tears.
We had sat yet again through nearly 12 hours of testimony. There was no question that the UK and US were guilty of an illegal, immoral and unjust war -- the case had been proven over and over. Nor was there the need to question the Iraqis' right to resist. Of course they had the right if the invasion was illegal. Now the question had become: what do we do about it?
Were we as anti-war activists in the US really resisting? And if not, what would have to change? What do you do with an administration that has degraded the rule of law?
The Tribunal was just the beginning of filling a void. A void created because all the governing bodies that should be carrying out this task, or should have prevented the horror in the first place, have been rocked to sleep, or bound and gagged. We the people need to continue to stand up and not complain about what is lacking, but to fill the voids as citizens -- not just of the United States but of the world.
We must begin by really standing with the Iraqi people and defending their right to resist. I can remain myself against all forms of violence, and yet I cannot judge what someone has to do when pushed to the wall to protect all they love. The Iraqi people are fighting for their country, to protect their families and to preserve all they love. They are fighting for their lives, and we are fighting for lies. We must get out of Iraq now. They will rebuild their country, it will take time, a long time, but they cannot start until we are gone.
I encourage you to visit www.worldtribunal.org, share it with everyone you know, read the testimonies and deepen your knowledge of the facts and the stories from Iraq. Then, join us in action on July 4 as we celebrate and remember the values of our country that are daily being trampled upon by the thugs in power.
Jodie Evans is a co-founder of Codepink: Women For Peace -
Alternet -
Culminating Session Of World Tribunal On Iraq
? 27.Jun.2005 00:06
HALLIDAY: ''TO TOP OFF THE U.S./BRITISH LIES WAS THE CHARGE OF ATTACK ON THOSE TWIN TOWERS OF CAPITALISTIC GREED IN NEW YORK CITY''
ISTANBUL, June 26 - Denis Halliday, who served between 1994-98 as Assistant Secretary-General of United Nations, and was appointed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the post of UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq, said on Saturday, ''to top off the U.S./British lies and rubbish was the charge of a close Iraqi linkage to 'al Qaeda' and the attack on those Twin Towers of capitalistic greed in New York City on September 11th, 2001.''
Culminating session of the ''World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI)'' continues in Istanbul's historical building of Darphane-i Amire.
Speaking at today's session, Halliday said, ''since 1990, the people of Iraq have been the victims of continuous U.S./British-driven United Nations Security Council aggression. Triggered by the Iraq take-over of Kuwait, this aggression on the Iraqi people cannot be justified. I say that in no way defending the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait for there can be no justification for such aggression. The United Nations failed to protect and safeguard the children and people of Iraq before and after the 2003 invasion.''
''When 20 months later the Secretary-General remembered his responsibility to speak up as per Article 99 of the United Nations Charter, he mumbled off-the-record, but was sadly much too late,'' he said.
''U.S. President George W. Bush/British Prime Minister Tony Blair invasion of Iraq is in complete breech of international law. The war crimes committed in that blatant military aggression, the most serious of international crimes, must be charged to Bush as the Commander-in-Chief, and to Blair as the Prime Minister who abused war powers. Bush should be charged with use of State terrorism. This is the kind of state terrorism that provides a tragic reminder of the US nuclear crime of bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is the kind of state terrorism besides which small scale 'terrorist' resistance pales in comparison. However, both forms of terrorism are internationally unlawful and unacceptable,'' he stressed.
Halliday said, ''The United Nations member states listened mutely and swallowed, some painfully, the false arguments of Iraqi capacity to threaten not only its neighbors, none of whom appeared to share this fear, and the physical threats to Britain and the United States. The world tried desperately to believe the nonsense of massive stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction residing in Iraq. And to top off the U.S./British lies and rubbish was the charge of a close Iraqi linkage to 'al Qaeda' and the attack on those Twin Towers of capitalistic greed in New York City on September 11th, 2001.''
''This World Tribunal in Istanbul has the opportunity and obligation to demand full international prosecution of the U.S./British war leaders and war criminals involved in the destruction of Iraq, the lives of its people and their human rights and well being, through unlawful and unjustifiable armed invasion and military occupation,'' he added.
Meanwhile, Eman Khammas, an Iraqi human rights activist, said in her part that 15 thousand Iraqis had been missing.
She noted that families of those missing Iraqis had been trying desperately to find them.
PRELIMINARY DECLARATION OF THE JURY OF CONSCIENCE WORLD
AmigaPhil (WTI PR, June 27) 27.Jun.2005 14:54
WTI - World Tribunal on Iraq
In February 2003, weeks before war was declared on Iraq, millions of people protested in the streets of the world. That call went unheeded. No international institution had the courage or conscience to stand up to the aggression of the US and UK governments. No one could stop them. It is two years later now. Iraq has been invaded, occupied, and devastated. The attack on Iraq is an attack on justice, on liberty, on our safety, on our future, on us all. We the people of conscience decided to stand up. We formed the World Tribunal on Iraq, to demand justice and a peaceful future.
http://www.worldtribunal.org/
The legitimacy of the World Tribunal on Iraq is located in the collective conscience of humanity. This, the Istanbul session, was the culmination of a series of 20 hearings held in different cities of the world focusing on the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq.
We the Jury of Conscience, from 10 different countries, met in Istanbul. We heard 54 testimonies from a panel of advocates and witnesses who came from across the world, including from Iraq, the United States and the United Kingdom.
The World Tribunal on Iraq met in Istanbul from 24-26th of June 2005. The principal objective of the WTI is to tell the truth about the Iraq war as clearly as possible, and to draw conclusions that underscore the accountability of those responsible and underline the significance of justice for the Iraqi people. Saddam Hussein’s crimes against his people are not the focus of this Tribunal. We believe it is up to the Iraqi people to investigate these crimes in an independent and free trial.
I. Overview
1. The reasons given by the US and UK governments for the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq in March 2003 have proven to be false. The real motive was to control and dominate the Middle East. Establishing hegemony over the Middle East serves the goal of controlling the world’s largest reserves of oil and strengthening the position of the US’s strategic ally Israel.
2. Blatant falsehoods about the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and a link between Al Qaeda terrorism and the Saddam Hussein régime were manufactured in order to create public support for a “preemptive” assault upon a sovereign independent nation.
3. Iraq has been under siege for years. The imposition of severe inhuman economic sanctions at the end of the first Gulf war in 1991; the establishment of no-fly zones in the Northern and Southern parts of Iraq; and the concomitant bombing of the country were all aimed at degrading and weakening Iraq’s human and material resources and capacities in order to facilitate its subsequent invasion and occupation. In this enterprise the US and British leaderships had the endorsement of a complicit UN Security Council.
4. In pursuit of their agenda of empire, the Bush and Blair blatantly ignored the massive opposition to the war expressed by millions of people around the world. They embarked upon one of the most unjust, immoral, and cowardly wars in history.
5. The Anglo-American occupation of Iraq of the last 27 months has led to the destruction and devastation of the Iraqi state and society. Law and order have broken down completely, resulting in a pervasive lack of human security; the physical infrastructure is in shambles; the health care delivery system is a mess; the education system has ceased to function; there is massive environmental and ecological devastation; and, the cultural and archeological heritage of the Iraqi people has been desecrated.
6. The occupation has intentionally exacerbated ethnic and confessionnal divisions in Iraqi society, with the aim of undermining Iraq’s identity and integrity as a nation. This is in keeping with the fam liar imperial policy of divide and rule.
7. The imposition of the UN sanctions in 1991 caused untold suffering and thousands of deaths. The situation has worsened after the occupation. At least 100,000 civilians have been killed; 60,000 are being held in US custody in inhuman conditions, without charges; thousands have disappeared; and torture has become virtually routine.
8. The privatization, deregulation, and liberalization of the Iraqi economy has transformed the country into a client economy that serves the Washington Consensus. The occupying forces have also accomplished their primary goal of acquired control over the nation’s oil.
9. Any law or institution created under the aegis of occupation is devoid of both legal and moral authority. The recently concluded election, the Constituent Assembly, the current government, and the drafting committee for the Constitution are therefore all illegitimate.
10. There is widespread opposition to the occupation. Political, social, and civil resistance through peaceful means is subjected to repression by the occupying forces. It is the brutality of the occupation that has provoked a strong armed resistance and certain acts of desperation. By the principles embodied in the UN Charter and in international law, the popular national resistance to the occupation is legitimate and justified. It deserves the support of people everywhere who care for justice and freedom.
II. Findings and Charges
On the basis of the preceding findings and recalling the Charter of the United Nations and other legal documents quoted in the appendix, the jury has established the following charges.
A. Against the Governments of the US and the UK
1. Planning, preparing, and waging the supreme crime of a war of aggression in contravention of the United Nations Charter and the Nuremberg Principles.
Evidence for this can be found in the leaked Downing Street Memo of 23rd July, 2002 in which it was revealed that: “military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were fixed around the policy.” Intelligence was manufactured to willfully deceive the people of the US, the UK, and their elected representatives.
2. Targeting the civilian population of Iraq and civilian infrastructure, by intentionally directing attacks upon civilians and hospitals, medical centers, residential neighborhoods, electricity stations, and water purification facilities in violation of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights (“ICCPR”), Articles 7(1)(a), 8(2)(a)(i), and 8(2)(b)(i). The complete destruction of the city of Falluja in itself constitutes a glaring example of such crimes.
3. Using disproportionate force and indiscriminate weapon systems, such as cluster munitions, incendiary bombs, depleted uranium (DU), and chemical weapons. Detailed evidence was presented to the Tribunal by expert witnesses that leukemia had risen sharply in children under the age of five residing in those areas which had been targeted by DU weapons.
4. Failing to safeguard the lives of civilians during military activities and during the occupation period thereafter, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Articles 13 and 27, and the ICC Statute, Articles 7 (1)(a) and 8(2)(a)(i). This is evidenced, for example, by “shock and awe” bombing techniques and the conduct of occupying forces at checkpoints.
5. Using deadly violence against peaceful protestors, beginning with, among others, the April 2003 killing of more than a dozen peaceful protestors in Falluja.
6. Imposing punishments without charge or trial, including collective punishment, on the people of Iraq, in violation of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Geneva Conventions, and customary international law requiring due process. Repeated testimonies pointed to “snatch and grab” operations, disappearances, and assassinations.
7. Subjecting Iraqi soldiers and civilians to torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment in violation of the Geneva Conventions, the ICCPR, other treaties and covenants, and customary international law. Degrading treatment includes subjecting Iraqi soldiers and civilians to acts of racial, ethnic, religious, and gender discrimination, as well as denying Iraqi soldiers Prisoner of War status as required by the Geneva Convention. Abundant testimony was provided of unlawful arrests and detentions, without due process of law. Well known and egregious examples occurred in Abu Ghraib prison as well as in Mosul, Camp Bucca, and Basra.
The employment of mercenaries and private contractors to carry out torture has served to undermine accountability.
8. Re-writing the laws of a country that has been illegally invaded and occupied, in violation of international covenants on the responsibilities of occupying powers, in order to amass illegal profits (through such measures as Order 39, signed by L. Paul Bremer III for the Coalition Provisional Authority, which allows foreign investors to buy and takeover Iraq’s state-owned enterprises and to repatriate 100 percent of their profits and assets at any point) and to control Iraq’s oil. Evidence listed a number of corporations that had profited from such transactions.
9. Willfully devastating the environment, contaminating it by depleted uranium (DU) weapons, combined with the plumes from burning oil wells, as well as huge oil spills, and destroying agricultural lands. Deliberately disrupting the water and waste removal systems, in a manner verging on biological-chemical warfare. Failing to prevent the looting and dispersal of radioactive material from nuclear sites. Extensive documentation is available on air, water pollution, land degradation, and radiological pollution.
10. Actively creating conditions under which the status of Iraqi women has seriously been degraded contrary, to the repeated claims of the leaders of the coalition forces. Women’s freedom of movement has been severely limited, restricting their access to education, livelihood, and social engagement. Testimony was provided that sexual violence and sex trafficking have increased since the occupation of Iraq began.
11. Failing to protect humanity’s rich archaeological and cultural heritage in Iraq, by allowing the looting of museums and established historical sites and positioning military bases in culturally and archeologically sensitive locations. This took place despite prior warnings from UNESCO and Iraqi museum officials.
12. Obstructing the right to information, including the censoring of Iraqi media, such as newspapers (e.g., al-Hawza, al-Mashriq, and al-Mustaqila) and radio stations (Baghdad Radio), targeting international journalists, imprisoning and killing academics, intellectuals and scientists.
13. Redefining torture in violation of international law, to allow use of torture and illegal detentions, including holding more than 500 people at Guantánamo Bay without charging them or allowing them any access to legal protection, and using “extraordinary renditions” to send people to torture in other countries known to commit human rights abuses and torture prisoners.
B. Against the Security Council of United Nations
1. Failing to protect Iraq against a crime of aggression.
2. Imposing harsh economic sanctions on Iraq, despite knowledge that sanctions were directly contributing to the massive loss of civilian lives and harming innocent civilians.
3. Allowing the United States and United Kingdom to carry out illegal bombings in the no-fly zones, using false pretense of enforcing UN resolutions, and at no point allowing discussion in the Security Council of this violation, and thereby being complicit and responsible for loss of civilian life and destruction of Iraqi infrastructure.
4. Allowing the United States to dominate the United Nations and hold itself above any accountability by other member nations.
5. Failure to stop war crimes and crimes against humanity by the United States and its coalition partners in Iraq.
6. Failure to hold the United States and its coalition partners accountable for violations of international law during the occupation, and giving official recognition to the occupation, thereby legitimizing an illegal invasion and becoming a collaborator in an illegal occupation.
C. Against the Governments of the Coalition of the Willing
Collaborating in the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
D. Against the Governments of Other Countries
Allowing the use of military bases and air space, and providing other logistical support, for the invasion and occupation.
E. Against Private Corporations
Profiting from the war with complicity in the crimes described above, of invasion and occupation.
F. Against the Major Corporate Media
1. Disseminating the deliberate falsehoods spread by the governments of the US and the UK and failing to adequately investigate this misinformation. This even in the face of abundant evidence to the contrary. Among the corporate media houses that bear special responsibility for promoting the lies about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, we name the New York Times, in particular their reporter Judith Miller, whose main source was on the payroll of the CIA. We also name Fox News, CNN and the BBC.
2. Failing to report the atrocities being committed against Iraqi people by the occupying forces.
III. Recommendations
Recognising the right of the Iraqi people to resist the illegal occupation of their country and to develop independent institutions, and affirming that the right to resist the occupation is the right to wage a struggle for self-determination, freedom, and independence as derived from the Charter of the United Nations, we the Jury of Conscience declare our solidarity with the people of Iraq.
We recommend:
1. The immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the coalition forces from Iraq;
2. That coalition governments make war reparations and pay compensation to Iraq for the humanitarian, economic, ecological, and cultural devastation they have caused by their illegal invasion and occupation;
3. That all laws, contracts, treaties, and institutions established under occupation which the Iraqi people deem inimical to their interests, should be considered null and void;
4. That the Guantanamo Bay prison and all other offshore US military prisons be closed immediately; that the names of the prisoners be disclosed, that they receive POW status, and receive due process;
5. That there be an exhaustive investigation of those responsible for crimes of aggression and crimes against humanity in Iraq, beginning with George W. Bush, President of the United States of America; Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; and other government officials from the coalition of the willing;
6. That we initiate a process of accountability to hold those morally and personally responsible for their participation in this illegal war, such as journalists who deliberately lied, corporate media outlets that promoted racial, ethnic and religious hatred, and CEOs of multinational corporations that profited from this war;
7. That people throughout the world launch actions against US and UK corporations that directly profit from this war. Examples of such corporations include Halliburton, Bechtel, Carlyle, CACI Inc., Titan Corporation, Kellog, Brown and Root (subsidiary of Halliburton), DynCorp, Boeing, ExxonMobil, Texaco, British Petroleum. The following companies have sued Iraq and received “reparation awards”: Toys R Us, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Shell, Nestlé, Pepsi, Phillip Morris, Sheraton, Mobil. Such actions may take the form of direct actions such as shutting down their offices, consumer boycotts, and pressure on shareholders to divest.
8. That soldiers exercise conscience and refuse to enlist and participate in an illegal war. Also that countries provide conscientious objectors political asylum.
9. That the international campaign for dismantling all US military bases abroad be reinforced.
10. That people around the world resist and reject any effort by any of their governments to provide material, logistical, or moral support to the occupation of Iraq.
We, the Jury of Conscience, hope that the specificity of these recommendations will lay the groundwork required for a world where the international institutions will be shaped and reshaped by the will of people and not fear and self-interest, where journalists and intellectuals will not remain mute, where the will of the people of the world will be central, and human security will prevail over state security and corporate profits.
World Tribunal on Iraq -
Wake up Calls
Dahr Jamail (reposted by AmigaPhil) 02.Jul.2005 21:16
The jury of conscience has just released it’s recommendations after the culminating session of the World Tribunal on Iraq came to its conclusion. I’ll post the news story I wrote on this later, which will provide more details.
http://www.bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=6752
I will add now, as a preface to a letter I received just now from an Iraqi who asked me to pass it on to the American people, that the jury made the following recommendations:
“The recommendations made by the jury included the demand for an immediate, unconditional withdraw of all occupation forces, the governments of the coalition to pay full compensation to Iraqis for any and all damages, and that all laws, contracts, treaties and institutions created under the occupation that Iraqi people deem harmful or un-useful to them be banished.
Other recommendations included immediate investigations of crimes against humanity for Mr. George Bush, Tony Blair, and every other president of countries belonging to the coalition. In addition, the jury called for a process of accountability to begin to bring justice to journalists and media outlets that lied and promoted the violence against Iraq, as well as including corporations who have profited from the war.”
Here is the letter from my friend:
From an Iraqi citizen to the American people:
We always have thought that you are citizens; away from the savageness which controls many people in the world because you suffered from the injustice of your own occupation more than two hundred and fifty years ago. Therefore, you picked up weapons against the occupiers until you forced him to go out of your state which was a great victory for you.
Naturally, this occupier was giving unreasonable justifications for his stay in your country. Like any occupation, no country ever admit that they occupy some land but always says that they are a liberator of the people who are then unable to govern themselves and so on...
Such reasons cannot change the origin of occupation.
Nowadays, your army is occupying our homeland, destroying our homes and killing our men, women, and our children. The occupation is leaving this country full of chaos to the point we are now facing so many disasters, including suffering from looting and robbery.
Sudden attacks and cruel murders have been perpetrated by your army who then prevent all people from submitting judicial complaints. This encourages all soldiers to kill thoughtlessly without any threat of trial.
We have seen our Holy Quran desecrated by soldiers, but you continue to say your soldiers do not do what the Mogul and Barbarians did in the lands they occupied.
Your soldiers did many immoral acts but your government leaders have done even more.
We, the Iraqi people, do not put the responsibility of this on your shoulders because you are a people and not your government. But when the people have a decision in the fate of their country and decide to go in a direction which only benefits the government, this means that the people are satisfied with their governments’ actions.
When you elected Mr. Bush for the second time, this was a declaration from you of being satisfied with all his acts in violation of the holiness of a state which shares a place with yours in the United Nations Security Council
Has the age of occupation returned back to a place where agreements and treaties and international laws which forbid aggression are useless? When the people who chose to defend their land and reject the occupier are then described by your government as a terrorist? How long have you heard that an occupation which continues will have no resistance against it? Do you refer to the patriots of your own country as terrorists in your history books?
Have you ever heard that there is a peaceful occupation? One that ended in victory for the occupier?
American people, please remember the land of Iraq and remember the Iraqi people and think of yourselves as if you were in our place. In this way you will realize what Iraqis suffer.
I am an Iraqi who bears no grudge against any person all over the world. We simply wish that other people may realize our suffering now, especially the people who do not support their thoughtless governments and their aggressive acts. For the people who support these corrupted governments will be responsible for them, and history will hold them responsible for allowing this tragedy to have occurred.
This will be a shame on their ancestors who will not be able to hide this black page of history.
Thank to the American people for listening attentively, and I am wishing you reasonableness and the ability to comprehend the truth.
This article and other related links on Bellacio :
World Tribunal on Iraq : Final Declaration of the Jury of Conscience
AmigaPhil 02.Aug.2005 02:03
WTI - The jury of conscience
DECLARATION OF THE JURY OF CONSCIENCE
http://www.bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=7323
WORLD TRIBUNAL ON IRAQ - ISTANBUL
23rd - 27th JUNE 2005
27th June 2005, Istanbul
In February 2003, weeks before an illegal war
was initiated against Iraq, millions of people protested in the
streets of the world. That call went unheeded. No international
institution had the courage or conscience to stand up to the threat
of aggression of the US and UK governments. No one could stop them.
It is two years later now. Iraq has been invaded, occupied, and
devastated. The attack on Iraq is an attack on justice, on liberty,
on our safety, on our future, on us all. We, people of conscience,
decided to stand up. We formed the World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI) to
demand justice and a peaceful future.
The legitimacy of the World Tribunal on Iraq
is located in the collective conscience of humanity. This, the
Istanbul session of the WTI, is the culmination of a series of 20
hearings held in different cities of the world focusing on the
illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq. The conclusions of these
sessions and/or inquiries held in Barcelona, Brussels, Copenhagen,
Genoa, Hiroshima, Istanbul, Lisbon, London, Mumbai, New York,
Ostersund, Paris, Rome, Seoul, Stockholm, Tunis, various cities in
Japan and Germany are appended to this Declaration in a separate
volume.
We, the Jury of Conscience, from 10 different
countries, met in Istanbul. We heard 54 testimonies from a Panel of
Advocates and Witnesses who came from across the world, including
from Iraq, the United States and the United Kingdom.
The World Tribunal on Iraq met in Istanbul
from 24-26 June 2005. The principal objective of the WTI is to tell
and disseminate the truth about the Iraq War, underscoring the
accountability of those responsible and underlining the
significance of justice for the Iraqi people.
I. Overview of Findings
The invasion and occupation of Iraq was and
is illegal. The reasons given by the US and UK governments for the
invasion and occupation of Iraq in March 2003 have proven to be
false. Much evidence supports the conclusion that a major motive
for the war was to control and dominate the Middle East and its
vast reserves of oil as a part of the US drive for global
hegemony.
Blatant falsehoods about the presence of
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and a link between Al Qaeda
terrorism and the Saddam Hussein regime were manufactured in order
to create public support for a "preemptive" assault upon a
sovereign independent nation.
Iraq has been under siege for years. The
imposition of severe inhumane economic sanctions on 6 August 1990,
the establishment of no-fly zones in the Northern and Southern
parts of Iraq, and the concomitant bombing of the country were all
aimed at degrading and weakening Iraq's human and material
resources and capacities in order to facilitate its subsequent
invasion and occupation. In this enterprise the US and British
leaderships had the benefit of a complicit UN Security Council.
In pursuit of their agenda of empire, the
Bush and Blair governments blatantly ignored the massive opposition
to the war expressed by millions of people around the world. They
embarked upon one of the most unjust, immoral, and cowardly wars in
history.
Established international political-legal
mechanisms have failed to prevent this attack and to hold the
perpetrators accountable. The impunity that the US government and
its allies enjoy has created a serious international crisis that
questions the import and significance of international law, of
human rights covenants and of the ability of international
institutions including the United Nations to address the crisis
with any degree of authority or dignity.
The US/UK occupation of Iraq of the last 27
months has led to the destruction and devastation of the Iraqi
state and society. Law and order have broken down, resulting in a
pervasive lack of human security. The physical infrastructure is in
shambles; the health care delivery system is in poor condition; the
education system has virtually ceased to function; there is massive
environmental and ecological devastation; and the cultural and
archaeological heritage of the Iraqi people has been
desecrated.
The occupation has intentionally exacerbated
ethnic, sectarian and religious divisions in Iraqi society, with
the aim of undermining Iraq's identity and integrity as a nation.
This is in keeping with the familiar imperial policy of divide and
rule. Moreover, it has facilitated rising levels of violence
against women, increased gender oppression and reinforced
patriarchy.
The imposition of the UN sanctions in 1990
caused untold suffering and thousands of deaths. The situation has
worsened after the occupation. At least 100,000 civilians have been
killed; 60,000 are being held in US custody in inhumane conditions,
without charges; thousands have disappeared; and torture has become
routine.
The illegal privatization, deregulation, and
liberalization of the Iraqi economy by the occupation regime has
coerced the country into becoming a client economy that is
controlled by the IMF and the World Bank, both of which are
integral to the Washington Consensus. The occupying forces have
also acquired control over Iraq's oil reserves.
Any law or institution created under the
aegis of occupation is devoid of both legal and moral authority.
The recently concluded election, the Constituent Assembly, the
current government, and the drafting committee for the Constitution
are therefore all illegitimate.
There is widespread opposition to the
occupation. Political, social, and civil resistance through
peaceful means is subjected to repression by the occupying forces.
It is the occupation and its brutality that has provoked a strong
armed resistance and certain acts of desperation. By the principles
embodied in the UN Charter and in international law, the popular
national resistance to the occupation is legitimate and justified.
It deserves the support of people everywhere who care for justice
and freedom.
II. Charges
On the basis of the preceding findings and
recalling the Charter of the United Nations and other legal
documents indicated in the appendix, the jury has established the
following charges.
A. Against the Governments of the US and the
UK
Planning, preparing, and waging the
supreme crime of a war of aggression in contravention of the United
Nations Charter and the Nuremberg Principles. Evidence for this
can be found in the leaked Downing Street Memo of 23rd
July, 2002, in which it was revealed: "Military action was now seen
as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam through military
action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the
intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."
Intelligence was manufactured to willfully deceive the people of
the US, the UK, and their elected representatives.
Targeting the civilian population of Iraq
and civilian infrastructure by intentionally directing attacks
upon civilians and hospitals, medical centers, residential
neighborhoods, electricity stations, and water purification
facilities. The complete destruction of the city of Falluja in
itself constitutes a glaring example of such crimes.
Using disproportionate force and weapon
systems with indiscriminate effects, such as cluster munitions,
incendiary bombs, depleted uranium (DU), and chemical weapons.
Detailed evidence was presented to the Tribunal by expert witnesses
that leukemia had risen sharply in children under the age of five
residing in those areas that had been targeted by DU weapons.
Using DU munitions in spite of all the
warnings presented by scientists and war veterans on their
devastating long-term effects on human beings and the
environment. The US Administration, claiming lack of
scientifically established proof of the harmful effects of DU,
decided to risk the lives of millions for several generations
rather than discontinue its use on account of the potential risks.
This alone displays the Administration's wanton disregard for human
life. The Tribunal heard testimony concerning the current
obstruction by the US Administration of the efforts of Iraqi
universities to collect data and conduct research on the issue.
Failing to safeguard the lives of
civilians during military activities and during the occupation
period thereafter. This is evidenced, for example, by "shock
and awe" bombing techniques and the conduct of occupying forces at
checkpoints.
Actively creating conditions under which
the status of Iraqi women has seriously been degraded, contrary
to the repeated claims of the leaders of the coalition forces.
Women's freedom of movement has severely been limited, restricting
their access to the public sphere, to education, livelihood,
political and social engagement. Testimony was provided that sexual
violence and sex trafficking have increased since the occupation of
Iraq began.
Using deadly violence against peaceful
protestors, including the April 2003 killing of more than a
dozen peaceful protestors in Falluja.
Imposing punishments without charge or
trial, including collective punishment, on the people of Iraq.
Repeated testimonies pointed to "snatch and grab" operations,
disappearances and assassinations.
Subjecting Iraqi soldiers and civilians to
torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. Degrading
treatment includes subjecting Iraqi soldiers and civilians to acts
of racial, ethnic, religious, and gender discrimination, as well as
denying Iraqi soldiers Prisoner of War status as required by the
Geneva Conventions. Abundant testimony was provided of unlawful
arrests and detentions, without due process of law. Well known and
egregious examples of torture and cruel and inhuman treatment
occurred in Abu Ghraib prison as well as in Mosul, Camp Bucca, and
Basra. The employment of mercenaries and private contractors to
carry out torture has served to undermine accountability.
Re-writing the laws of a country that has
been illegally invaded and occupied, in violation of
international covenants on the responsibilities of occupying
powers, in order to amass illegal profits (through such measures as
Order 39, signed by L. Paul Bremer III for the Coalition
Provisional Authority, which allows foreign investors to buy and
takeover Iraq's state-owned enterprises and to repatriate 100
percent of their profits and assets at any point) and to control
Iraq's oil. Evidence was presented of a number of corporations that
had profited from such transactions.
Willfully devastating the environment,
contaminating it by depleted uranium (DU) weapons, combined with
the plumes from burning oil wells, as well as huge oil spills, and
destroying agricultural lands. Deliberately disrupting the water
and waste removal systems, in a manner verging on
biological-chemical warfare. Failing to prevent the looting and
dispersal of radioactive material from nuclear sites. Extensive
documentation is available on air and water pollution, land
degradation, and radioactive pollution.
Failing to protect humanity's rich
archaeological and cultural heritage in Iraq by allowing the
looting of museums and established historical sites and positioning
military bases in culturally and archaeologically sensitive
locations. This took place despite prior warnings from UNESCO and
Iraqi museum officials.
Obstructing the right to information,
including the censoring of Iraqi media, such as
newspapers (e.g., al-Hawza, al-Mashriq, and
al-Mustaqila) and radio stations (Baghdad Radio), the
shutting down of the Baghdad offices of Al Jazeera Television,
targeting international journalists, imprisoning and killing
academics, intellectuals and scientists.
Redefining torture in violation of
international law, to allow use of torture and illegal
detentions, including holding more than 500 people at
Guantanamo Bay without charging them or allowing them any access
to legal protection, and using "extraordinary renditions" to send
people to be tortured in other countries known to commit human
rights abuses and torture prisoners.
Committing a crime against peace by
violating the will of the global anti-war movement. In an
unprecedented display of public conscience millions of people
across the world stood in opposition to the imminent attack on
Iraq. The attack rendered them effectively voiceless. This amounts
to a declaration by the US government and its allies to millions of
people that their voices can be ignored, suppressed and silenced
with complete impunity.
Engaging in policies to wage permanent war
on sovereign nations. Syria and Iran have already been declared
as potential targets. In declaring a "global war on terror," the US
government has given itself the exclusive right to use aggressive
military force against any target of its choosing. Ethnic and
religious hostilities are being fueled in different parts of the
world. The US occupation of Iraq has further emboldened the Israeli
occupation in Palestine and increased the repression of the
Palestinian people. The focus on state security and the escalation
of militarization has caused a serious deterioration of human
security and civil rights across the world.
B. Against the Security Council of the
United Nations
Failing to protect the Iraqi people
against the crime of aggression.
Imposing harsh economic sanctions on
Iraq, despite knowledge that sanctions were directly
contributing to the massive loss of civilian lives and harming
innocent civilians.
Allowing the United States and United
Kingdom to carry out illegal bombings in the no-fly zones,
using false pretenses of enforcing UN resolutions, and at no point
allowing discussion in the Security Council of this violation, and
thereby being complicit and responsible for loss of civilian life
and destruction of Iraqi infrastructure.
Allowing the United States to dominate the
United Nations and hold itself above any accountability by
other member nations.
Failure to stop war crimes and crimes
against humanity by the United States and its coalition partners in
Iraq.
Failure to hold the United States and its
coalition partners accountable for violations of international law
during the invasion and occupation, giving official sanction to
the occupation and therefore, both by acts of commission and acts
of omission becoming a collaborator in an illegal occupation.
C. Against the Governments of the Coalition
of the Willing
Collaborating in the invasion and occupation
of Iraq, thus sharing responsibility in the crimes committed.
D. Against the Governments of Other
Countries
Allowing the use of military bases and air
space, and providing other logistical support, for the invasion and
occupation, and hence being complicit in the crimes committed.
E. Against the Private Corporations which
have won contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq and which have
sued for and received "reparation awards" from the illegal
occupation regime
Profiting from the war with complicity in the
crimes described above, of invasion and occupation.
F. Against the Major Corporate Media
Disseminating the deliberate falsehoods
spread by the governments of the US and the UK and failing to
adequately investigate this misinformation, even in the face of
abundant evidence to the contrary. Among the corporate media houses
that bear special responsibility for promoting the lies about
Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, we name the New York
Times, in particular their reporter Judith Miller, whose main
source was on the payroll of the CIA. We also name Fox News, CNN,
NBC, CBS, ABC, the BBC and ITN. This list also includes but is not
limited to, The Express, The Sun, The Observer
and Washington Post.
Failing to report the atrocities being
committed against Iraqi people by the occupying forces,
neglecting the duty to give privilege and dignity to voices of
suffering and marginalizing the global voices for peace and
justice.
Failing to report fairly on the ongoing
occupation; silencing and discrediting dissenting voices and
failing to adequately report on the full national costs and
consequences of the invasion and occupation of Iraq; disseminating
the propaganda of the occupation regime that seeks to justify the
continuation of its presence in Iraq on false grounds.
Inciting an ideological climate of fear,
racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia, which is then used to
justify and legitimize violence perpetrated by the armies of the
occupying regime.
Disseminating an ideology that glorifies
masculinity and combat, while normalizing war as a policy
choice.
Complicity in the waging of an aggressive
war and perpetuating a regime of occupation that is widely
regarded as guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Enabling, through the validation and
dissemination of disinformation, the fraudulent misappropriation of
human and financial resources for an illegal war waged on false
pretexts.
Promoting corporate-military perspectives
on "security" which are counter-productive to the fundamental
concerns and priorities of the global population and have
seriously endangered civilian populations.
III. Recommendations
Recognizing the right of the Iraqi people to
resist the illegal occupation of their country and to develop
independent institutions, and affirming that the right to resist
the occupation is the right to wage a struggle for
self-determination, freedom, and independence as derived from the
Charter of the United Nations, we the Jury of Conscience declare
our solidarity with the people of Iraq.
We recommend:
The immediate and unconditional withdrawal of
the Coalition forces from Iraq.
That Coalition governments make war
reparations and pay compensation to Iraq for the humanitarian,
economic, ecological, and cultural devastation they have caused by
their illegal invasion and occupation.
That all laws, contracts, treaties, and
institutions established under occupation, which the Iraqi people
deem inimical to their interests, be considered null and void.
That the Guantanamo Bay prison and all other
offshore US military prisons be closed immediately, that the names
of the prisoners be disclosed, that they receive POW status, and
receive due process.
That there be an exhaustive investigation of
those responsible for the crime of aggression, war crimes and
crimes against humanity in Iraq, beginning with George W. Bush,
President of the United States of America, Tony Blair, Prime
Minister of the United Kingdom, those in key decision-making
positions in these countries and in the Coalition of the Willing,
those in the military chain-of-command who master-minded the
strategy for and carried out this criminal war, starting from the
very top and going down; as well as personalities in Iraq who
helped prepare this illegal invasion and supported the
occupiers.
We list some
of the most obvious names to be included in such investigation:
prime ministers of the Coalition of the
Willing, such as Junichiro Koizumi of Japan, Jose Maria Aznar of
Spain, Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, Jose Manuel Durao Barroso and
Santana Lopes of Portugal, Roh Moo Hyun of South Korea, Anders Fogh
Rasmussen of Denmark;
public officials such as Dick Cheney, Donald
H. Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Colin L. Powell, Condoleezza Rice,
Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, Alberto Gonzales, L. Paul Bremer from
the US, and Jack Straw, Geoffrey Hoon, John Reid, Adam Ingram from
the UK;
military commanders beginning with: Gen.
Richard Myers, Gen. Tommy Franks, Gen. John P. Abizaid, Gen.
Ricardo S. Sanchez, Gen. Thomas Metz, Gen. John R. Vines, Gen.
George Casey from the US; Gen. Mike Jackson, Gen. John Kiszely, Air
Marshal Brian Burridge, Gen. Peter Wall, Rear Admiral David
Snelson, Gen. Robin Brims, Air Vice-Marshal Glenn Torpy from the
UK; and chiefs of staff and commanding officers of all coalition
countries with troops in Iraq.
Iraqi collaborators such as Ahmed Chalabi,
Iyad Allawi, Abdul Aziz Al Hakim, Gen. Abdul Qader Mohammed Jassem
Mohan, among others.
That a process of accountability is initiated
to hold those morally and personally responsible for their
participation in this illegal war, such as journalists who
deliberately lied, corporate media outlets that promoted racial,
ethnic and religious hatred, and CEOs of multinational corporations
that profited from this war;
That people throughout the world launch
nonviolent actions against US and UK corporations that directly
profit from this war. Examples of such corporations include
Halliburton, Bechtel, The Carlyle Group, CACI Inc., Titan
Corporation, Kellog, Brown and Root (subsidiary of Halliburton),
DynCorp, Boeing, ExxonMobil, Texaco, British Petroleum. The
following companies have sued Iraq and received "reparation
awards": Toys R Us, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Shell, Nestle, Pepsi,
Phillip Morris, Sheraton, Mobil. Such actions may take the form of
direct actions such as shutting down their offices, consumer
boycotts, and pressure on shareholders to divest.
That young people and soldiers act on
conscientious objection and refuse to enlist and participate in an
illegal war. Also, that countries provide conscientious objectors
with political asylum.
That the international campaign for
dismantling all US military bases abroad be reinforced.
That people around the world resist and
reject any effort by any of their governments to provide material,
logistical, or moral support to the occupation of Iraq.
We, the Jury of Conscience, hope that the
scope and specificity of these recommendations will lay the
groundwork for a world in which international institutions will be
shaped and reshaped by the will of people and not by fear and
self-interest, where journalists and intellectuals will not remain
mute, where the will of the people of the world will be central,
and human security will prevail over state security and corporate
profits.
Arundhati Roy, India, Spokesperson
of the Jury of Conscience
Ahmet Ozturk, Turkey
Ayse Erzan, Turkey
Chandra Muzaffar, Malaysia
David Krieger, USA
Eve Ensler, USA
Francois Houtart, Belgium
Jae-Bok Kim, South Korea
Mehmet Tarhan, Turkey
Miguel Angel De Los Santos Cruz, Mexico
Murat Belge, Turkey
Rela Mazali, Israel
Salaam Al Jobourie, Iraq
Taty Almeida, Argentina
International Law Appendix
Explanatory Note
This international law appendix is intended
to back up the Jury Statement that rests its assessments primarily
on a moral and political appraisal of the Iraq War. The Statement
relies upon the extensive testimony given in written and oral form
by international law experts who have a world-class scholarly
reputation during the Istanbul Culminating Session of the World
Tribunal on Iraq (WTI). It also reflects the testimony and
submissions on related issues of war crimes and the failure of the
United Nations to protect Iraq against aggression.
The Jury of Conscience was not a body
composed of jurists or international law experts. It did not hear
arguments supporting the legality of the invasion of Iraq as would
have been made before a judicial body under the authority of either
the state or an international institution acting on behalf of the
international community. The World Tribunal on Iraq throughout all
of its session proceeded from a sense of moral and political
outrage of concerned citizens from all over the world, with respect
to the war. The Tribunal was not interested in a debate solely as
to legality. The legal issues were relevant to the extent that they
added weight to the moral and political purpose of the Tribunal,
which was to expose the Iraq War as the crime it is, appealing to
and drawing upon the deep bonds that link us all in our humanity.
Therefore the Tribunal sought testimony and evidence to call into
question the mantle of respectability thrown over the Iraq War by
the aggressors, and the false impression disseminated by mainstream
media, that the Iraq War was in any sense justified by political
circumstances, moral considerations, or legal analysis.
The WTI is a worldwide process dedicated to
reclaiming justice on behalf of the peoples of the world. It aims
to record the severe wrongs, crimes, and violations that were
committed in the process leading up to the aggression against Iraq,
during the war, and throughout the ensuing occupation, continuing
with unabated fury to this day. The role of international law is
understood in light of these WTI goals.
The concerns of the WTI range much further
than the demand for the implementation of international law,
especially as much of this law currently serves the interests of
wealth and power. Nevertheless, international law with respect to
the use of force and recourse to war is important in relation to
the work of the WTI. International law is useful for the WTI for
the following reasons:
International law grounds the political and
moral demand for the criminal indictment and prosecution of those
responsible for the Iraq War, and it clarifies the extent of
criminal accountability as extending to corporate and media
participation;
International law rejects the dangerous
imperialist claims of the United States and the United Kingdom to
be exempt from international legal obligations.
In addition, the WTI makes use of
international law to fulfill its mission:
The WTI connects a call for global
justice with the demand for the implementation of international
law, but also for a rethinking of the premises and operations of
international law so that it might be of greater relevance to the
achievement of human security in the future;
The WTI demands an interrogation as to
why international institutions, particularly the United Nations,
proved powerless against US unilateralism and aggression;
The WTI insists that United Nations
exercise its constitutional responsibility to protect its Members
from aggression and illegal occupation;
The WTI possesses the authority, as
representing civil society, to declare and seek enforcement of
international legal obligations when states and the United Nations
fail to uphold international law in matters of war and peace.
It is important to distinguish:
violations of international law, including
the UN Charter, by a state; and
crimes associated with these violation
committed by political and military leaders, government
officials, corporations and their officers, soldiers and private
contractors, journalists and media personnel.
Legal Analysis
International law consists of (1)
international treaties, including the UN Charter [see list of
documents]; (2) international customary law [especially in relation
to the conduct of states in war]; (3) international criminal law [a
sub-category of (1) resting on treaties and agreements among
states, based on the framework of the Nuremberg Judgment in 1945,
unanimously affirmed by the UN General Assembly's adoption of the
Nuremberg Principles in 1946, Res. 95(I)].
In the War on Iraq the three principles
of customary international law have been violated: (1) Principle of
Proportionality: force can only be used to attain permissible legal
objectives, and then only to the extent required by 'military
necessity'; (2) Principle of Discrimination: force and weaponry can
only be used if confined to military targets; indiscriminate
weapons and tactics are prohibited; (3) Principle of Humanity:
force must never be used to cause unnecessary suffering and maximum
care must be taken to protect civilian society, including its
cultural heritage.
The War on Iraq violates the Nuremberg
Principles that set forth the following essential guidelines (as
formulated by the International Law Commission of the UN in 1950 in
response to request from General Assembly):
Principle I
Any person who commits an act which
constitutes a crime under international law is responsible
therefore and liable to punishment.
Principle II
The fact that internal law does not impose a
penalty for an act, which constitutes a crime under international
law, does not relieve the person who committed the act from
responsibility under international law.
Principle III
The fact that a person who committed an act
which constitutes a crime under international law acted as Head of
State or responsible Government official does not relieve him from
responsibility under international law.
Principle IV
The fact that a person acted pursuant to
order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from
responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was
in fact possible to him.
Principle V
Any person charged with a crime under
international law has the right to a fair trial on the facts and
law.
Principle VI
The crimes hereinafter set out are
punishable as crimes under; international law:
a) Crimes against peace:
i. Planning, preparation, initiation or
waging of a war of aggression or a war in violation of
international treaties, agreements or assurances;
ii. Participation in a common plan or
conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the acts mentioned
under (i).
b) War crimes:
Violations of the laws or customs of war
which include, but are not limited to, murder, ill treatment or
deportation to slave-labor or for any other purpose of civilian
population of or in occupied territory, murder or ill treatment of
prisoners of war, of persons on the seas, killing of hostages,
plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of
cities, towns, or villages, or devastation not justified by
military necessity.
c) Crimes against humanity:
Murder, extermination, enslavement,
deportation and other inhuman acts done against any civilian
population, or persecutions on political, racial or religious
grounds, when such acts are done or such persecutions are carried
on in execution of or in connection with any crime against peace or
any war crime.
Principle VII
Complicity in the commission of a crime
against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity as set
forth in Principles VI is a crime under international law.
Violations and Crimes:
I. The invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003,
together with the continuing occupation of Iraq, constitutes a
violation of the core obligation of the United Nations Charter:
resolving international conflicts by
recourse to force or the threat of force is unconditionally
prohibited by Article 2(4) of the Charter;
the only exception to this probation is the
right of states to act in self-defense against a prior armed attack
as allowed by Article 51, but with the requirement that defending
state report its claim to the Security Council;
the claims of the US/UK Governments based on
doctrines of 'preemption' or 'preventive war' have no standing in
international law, and reliance on such specious arguments was in
any event unsupported by facts; even if weapons of mass destruction
had existed in Iraq it would not provide a legal justification for
the invasion; nor would the claim that 'regime change' would
liberate the Iraqi people from dictatorial rule violative of human
rights;
with respect to Iraq there existed no basis
for claiming self-defense or acting on the basis of a Security
Council authorization; the invasion of Iraq and the subsequent
occupation of the country constitutes a continuing aggression
against a sovereign state and member of the UN in violation of
international law;
the cumulative effect of these violations is
to create a strong factual and legal foundation for the indictment,
prosecution, and punishment of the individuals responsible for
planning, initiating, and waging a crime of aggression against
Iraq.
II. Iraq War by the invading military
forces, principally those of the United States and United Kingdom,
and subsequent occupation, violated the law of war such as the
Geneva Conventions on the Humanitarian Laws of War (1949),
Additional Protocols to Geneva Conventions (1977) and Hague
Conventions on the Laws of War (1899, 1907) in numerous respects,
including the following:
use of cluster bombs, napalm, depleted
uranium;
bombing of civilian targets and areas (e.g.
markets, restaurants, media facilities, religious and cultural
sites);
intense and indiscriminate military
operations against many cities and towns causing massive civilian
casualties (e.g. Najaf, Falluja);
repeated and systematic use of torture and
degrading treatment of Iraqi civilian and military personnel
detained in prison facilities or covertly transferred to foreign
countries known for torture and severe prison conditions;
overall failure to protect the civilian
population and their property, cultural heritage (shootings at
check points; house raids; lootings of museums and other cultural
sites; refusal to assess extent of civilian death and damage) [see
especially common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions imposing duty
to take special measures to protect civilian population to the
extent possible) (Also Geneva Convention IV specifies the
obligations of the occupying power in Articles 47-78);
the cumulative effect of this pattern of
flagrant and extensive violations of the laws of war is to create
the foundation for the indictment, prosecution, and punishment of
those individuals responsible, as policy makers, leaders, and as
implementers at various levels of command;
Article 1 of the Geneva Conventions reads:
"The High Contracting Parties, including US/UK, undertake to
respect and ensure respect for the present Convention in all
circumstances." The American legal specialists in Office of the
Legal Counsel in the White House, in the Justice Department, and
Department of Defense who advised on the 'legality' of torture and
other behavior that violates the law of war are priority targets
for indictment and prosecution.
III. The occupation of Iraq has fragrantly
violated The Right of Self-Determination of the People of Iraq:
Article 1 of the International Covenant on
Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and of the International
Covenant on Political and Civil Rights (1966): "(1) All peoples
have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they
freely determine their political status and freely pursue their
economic, social and cultural development";
It is evident that the occupation, by its
decrees, practices, imposition of an interim government, managed
elections, and administered constitution-making process has
violated the right of self-determination of the Iraqi people, a
fundamental element of international human rights law.
IV. The occupation of Iraq has included
massive abuses of the Iraqi civilian population, including the
widespread and pervasive reliance on torture, the practice of which
is unconditionally prohibited by international law:
Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights: "No one shall be subjected to torture or cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" (repeated in Article 7
of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966),
including Article 4(2) that affirms there are no exceptions, even
in conditions of war or emergency) and further confirmed by the
widely ratified treaty�- Convention Against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984).
V. The United Nations has failed to uphold
its obligations to protect sovereign states, especially its
members, from violations of their legal rights to political
independence and territorial integrity, passively allowing Iraq to
be threatened and attacked for twelve years prior to the invasion
of 2003:
the UNSC maintained sanctions on Iraq that
had a demonstrated genocidal effect on the civilian population
during the period 1991-2003;
the UNSC refrained from censuring and
preventing repeated air strikes within Iraq territory during the
period 1991-2003;
the UNSC refrained from censuring and
preventing overt calls for the subversion and replacement of the
Iraqi government, as well as the financing and training of exiles
dedicated to armed struggle;
the UNSC failed to condemn or act to prevent
aggressive threats or the actual initiation and conduct of an
aggressive war against Iraq in 2003, and has to a limited extent
cooperated in the illegal occupation of Iraq since the invasion
.
Conclusions
The Jury Statement is consistent with an
objective understanding of international law, including the United
Nations Charter.
Members of the United Nations and
governments of sovereign states have legal obligations to uphold
the Charter and act to ensure respect for the laws of war.
All three categories of Nuremberg Crimes are
associated with the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
The International Criminal Court should
indict, prosecute, and punish the perpetrators and collaborators
for this aggression against Iraq and the related international
crimes arising from the subsequent occupation of the country.
The ICC should be supplemented by a
specially constituted international tribunal with authority to
indict, prosecute, and punish for crimes committed before 2002 when
the ICC was established and to the extent that crimes associated
with states not Parties to the ICC are not addressed.
The UNGA should be encouraged to implement
international law with respect to the Iraq War and occupation.
National courts relying on universal
jurisdiction should be urged to investigate and prosecute
individuals associated with Nuremberg Crimes in Iraq.
Organs of civil society, including the WTI,
should act to ensure that the recommendations and conclusions of
the Jury Statement are promptly and fairly implemented.
Appendix: List of Legal Documents
Hague Convention IV Respecting the Laws and
Customs of War on Land (1907)
Protocol for the Prohibition of the use in
War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of
Bacteriological Methods (1925)
General Treaty ('Pact of Paris') for the
Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy (1928)
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(1948)
Geneva Conventions (I-IV) on International
Humanitarian Law (1949)
Nuremberg Principles Recognized in the
Charter of the Tribunal and in the Nuremberg Judgment (1950)
European Convention on Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms (1950)
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment
of the Crime of Genocide (1948)
Convention on the Political Rights of Women
(1953)
Code of Conduct for the Armed Forces of the
United States of America (1963)
International Convention on the Elimination
of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965)
International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights (1966)
International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (1966)
American Convention on Human Rights
(1969)
Convention on the Prohibition of the
Development, Production and Stockpiling of Biological Weapons and
Toxin Weapons (1972)
Universal (or Algiers) Declaration of the
Rights of Peoples (1976)
Principles of Co-Operation in the Detection,
Arrest, Extradition and Punishment of Persons Guilty of War Crimes
or Crimes Against Humanity (1973)
Protocol Additional (I-II) to the Geneva
Conventions of 1949 (1977)
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination Against Women (1979)
African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights
(1981)
Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984)
International Convention Against the
Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries (1989)
Convention on the Rights of the Child
(1989)
Convention on the Prohibition of the
Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons
(1992)
Declaration for the Protection of War
Victims (1993)
Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court (1998)