Arrest Blair

From: R
Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2008 1:29 PM
To:
Subject: http.doc tony blair.doc

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3524133.stm

http://www.zpub.com/un/un-tb.html

http://antiwar.com/laughland/

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9021

http://pixelisation.wordpress.com/2008/02/06/tony-blair-under-invesitgation-for-war-crimes/

Officers from Scotland Yard have commenced a criminal investigation into the deaths of Iraqi citizens killed during the armed invasion and occupation of Iraq. The Metropolitan Police are acting in response to crimes reported by peace activists from We Are Change UK and The Campaign to Make War History. In an unprecedented step, the case was handed to the War Crimes division of the Counter Terrorism branch who are now investigating allegations of 14 criminal offences committed by Tony Blair, Lord Goldsmith and others. The offences are under the International Criminal Court Act 2001, which came into effect under English common law, just two days before 9/11.

http://www.911blogger.com/node/13360



A 22 March memo from Ricketts to Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said,

But even the best survey of Iraq's WMD programmes will not show much advance in recent years on the nuclear, missile or CW/BW (chemical or biological weapons) fronts: the programmes are extremely worrying but have not, as far as we know, been stepped up. U.S. scrambling to establish a link between Iraq and al-Qaida is so far frankly unconvincing. To get public and Parliamentary support for military action, we have to be convincing that: the threat is so serious/imminent that it is worth sending our troops to die for; it is qualitatively different from the threat posed by other proliferators who are closer to achieving nuclear capability (including Iran).

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?feature=related&v=l3vsI9j7bSA



http://nasir-khan.blogspot.com/2007/06/pm-tony-blair-war-criminal-and-serial.html



Will a Bahamian judge order the arrest of ex-British PM Tony Blair for war crimes?

The former UN secretary general said the Iraq war was illegal, the cheif prosecutor at the international criminal court has said Bush and Blair could face war crimes charges when Iraq signs up to the court.

No mention of an Iraq war crimes tribunal from the present hand picked UN general secretay Ban Ki Moon.



August 1st, 2008 - 4:39 pm ICT by ANI -

Kuala Lumpur, Aug.1 (ANI): Former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has labelled former British Prime Minister Tony Blair a war criminal, and criticised the present government for extending an invitation to Blair to visit Malaysia.

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/blair-is-a-war-criminal-mahathir-mohamad_10078694.html



The group Legal Action Against War have submitted a petition to the international criminal court in the Hague today, asking them to investigate alleged offences by Mr Blair, Jack Straw, Geoff Hoon, and the attorney general, Lord Goldsmith.

The group said "a principal charge" was "intentionally launching an attack knowing that it will cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians". The legal team said the reasons given for the war - from weapons of mass destruction to the violation of UN resolutions and regime change - were not justified under the UN charter. Michael Mansfield QC, who is leading the campaign, said "The consensus of international legal opinion suggests the basis for the war was illegal."





http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/attack/law/2003/0729greeks.htm

Tony Blair and other British ministers are accused of crimes against humanity in prosecuting the war against Iraq in a case lodged with the international criminal court by Greek lawyers yesterday.

The Athens Bar Association accuses the government of breaching almost every international treaty and the entire spectrum of human rights in the 47-page complaint.

"The repeated, blatant violations by the United States and Britain of the stipulations of the four 1949 Geneva conventions, the 1954 convention of the Hague as well as the charter of the international criminal court, constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity," the lawyers said in a statement.

"[The accused] intended to cause severe psychological distress or major physical or psychological damage to individuals who enjoy the protection of the Geneva conventions."





http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14393.htm





08/06/06 "Sunday Herald" -- -- THE Lebanese government is working behind the scenes to bring Tony Blair before the Scottish courts, charged with war crimes for aiding and abetting the Israeli onslaught against Lebanon.

Ali Berro, the Lebanese government’s special adviser on legal affairs, is assisting Lebanese nationals living in Scotland, and their legal team, in their attempt to take the Scottish Executive and the UK government to court for allowing US aircraft to fly “bunker-buster bombs” from America to Israel via Scottish airports.

Berro is providing the legal team, led by the Glasgow-based human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar, with detailed information about alleged Israel war crimes, and also forwarding information on the casualty rates of Lebanese civilians and the type of weapons being deployed by the Israeli army. In total, some 30 lawyers, including QCs, in Scotland and England are helping prepare the case against the government.

Along with his briefing, Berro sent Anwar and his clients this message: “We are laying before you all these facts and we count on you to use all possible means of pressure to put an end to the destruction targeting civilians. We are counting on you and thank you.”

The team is accusing Blair of assisting Israel in carrying out war crimes against civilians, citing various pieces of international legislation, including the Geneva Conventions, which say that it is a war crime to aid and abet a nation carrying out attacks targetted against civilians.

Berro has said he is “angry and astonished” that the UK is “assisting” Israel, claiming the UK can no longer be seen as an “honest broker” in the Middle East.





http://www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2005/06/military_famili.html

Military Families Charge Blair with War Crimes - Will Take Case to International Criminal Court

It has been widely reported that release of war documents from Downing Street finished Tony Blair in the last election. While that is true enough, the tide turned in the May 5th election when 10 bereaved families of British soldiers killed in Iraq confronted Tony Blair face to face, charging him with war crimes. .

All the documentary evidence of Bush/Blair war crimes is now laid out for judicial review before the International Criminal, and, thanks to the BBC and the Sunday Times, for the inspection and review before the court of public opinion. This evidence is only now surfacing in the US -- through Knight-Ridder, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Chicago Tribune. This is the beginning of the end of the war in Iraq, and the beginning of the end of George Bush, Alberto Gonzales, & the whole criminal gang.

http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2005/06/27_jury-of-conscience-declaration.htm



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, Östersund, 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
1. 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.

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 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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 archeological heritage of the Iraqi people has been desecrated.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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
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 23 rd 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.

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. The complete destruction of the city of Falluja in itself constitutes a glaring example of such crimes.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6.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.

7.Using deadly violence against peaceful protestors, including the April 2003 killing of more than a dozen peaceful protestors in Falluja.

8. 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.

9. 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 toundermine accountability.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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 be tortured in other countries known to commit human rights abuses and torture prisoners.

15. 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.

16. 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

1. Failing to protect the Iraqi people against the 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 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.

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 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. Disseminating an ideology that glorifies masculinity and combat, while normalizing war as a policy choice.

6.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.

7.Enabling, through the validation and dissemination of disinformation, the fraudulent misappropriation of human and financial resources for an illegal war waged on false pretexts.

8.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:

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, be considered null and void.

4. That the Guantánamo 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 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 Anzar of Spain, Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, José Manuel Durão 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.
6. 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;

7. 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, 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 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.

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 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 Öztürk, Turkey
Ayşe Erzan, Turkey
Chandra Muzaffar, Malaysia
David Krieger, USA
Eve Ensler, USA
François 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 thefollowingessential 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.

PrincipleVI

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.


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Invasion & occupation of Iraq article archives



Hague prosecutor says Bush-Blair could face war crimes charges: 1 million Iraqis killed
By Tom Mellen
Mar 19, 2007, 09:41




International Criminal Court prosecutor announced on Sunday that US President George W Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair could face war crimes charges at the Hague, after it emerged that up to one million Iraqis have been killed since the illegal invasion.

Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said that he could envision a situation in which Mr Bush and Mr Blair found themselves in the dock.

"Of course that could be a possibility. Whatever country joins the court can know that whoever commits a crime in their country could be prosecuted by me," Mr Moreno-Ocampo affirmed.

Days before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, then Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein approached lawyers in Britain about signing up to the International Criminal Court, but his effort was overtaken by events.

Had he succeeded, the actions of the occupation forces in Iraq would fall within the court's jurisdiction.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo said that it was still possible for an investigation to be launched, if Iraq signed up.

Iraq's ambassador to the UN Hamid al-Bayati said that Baghdad is actively considering joining.

Respect [Britain political party, ed.] councillor for Birmingham Salma Yaqoob said: "It would be a step forward for the Iraqi people if Baghdad signed up to the ICC, as seeing Bush and Blair face justice for their flagrant violations of international law would help to relieve the sense of hopelessness in Iraq."



With Australia's John Howard and Britain's Tony Blair now out of office and George Bush starting to count his final days as US President, human rights and other international law organisations are beginning to line-up with submissions to the International Criminal Court to have George Bush, Tony Blair and John Howard charged with various international law offences that include Crimes Against Humanity, breaches of the Geneva Convention, Laws of War as well as breaches of numerous other international laws and conventions.



While most of the allegations relate to the illegal invasion of Iraq, a substantial number of other allegations concern the illegal activities of the various intelligence agencies including the CIA at the behest of the US, British and the Australian Governments.



The allegations against George Bush are numerous and they include the same allegations against Secretary of State Rice and former Secretary of Defence Rumsfeld.


They include allegations of knowingly conducting an illegal invasion of an independent State that State being Iraq following which the US, and its two allies Britain and Australia, knowingly failed to comply with the articles of conduct in relation to the duties and responsibilities of an occupying power.





The International Criminal Court Act 2001
Britain’s Parliament ratified the Rome Statute by enacting The International Criminal Court Act 2001. This new law incorporated the crimes of ‘genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes’ into UK criminal law whilst ceding ultimate authority over these crimes to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The Act holds that:



It is an offence against the law of England and Wales for a person to commit genocide, a crime against humanity or a war crime, or to engage in conduct ancillary to such an act. This applies to acts committed in England or Wales or outside the United Kingdom by a UK national, resident or person subject to UK service jurisdiction .

For the purposes of this Statute “Genocide” means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

For the purposes of this Statute “Crime against humanity” means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population with knowledge of the attack: murder; extermination; enslavement; deportation or forcible transfer of population; imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law; torture; rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity; persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court; enforced disappearance of persons; the crime of apartheid; other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.

(a) “Attack directed against any civilian population” means a course of conduct involving the multiple commission of acts referred to in paragraph 1 against any civilian population, pursuant to or in furtherance of a State or organizational policy to commit such attack; (b) “Extermination” includes the intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population; (c) “Enslavement” means the exercise of any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership over a person and includes the exercise of such power in the course of trafficking in persons, in particular women and children; (d) “Deportation or forcible transfer of population” means forced displacement of the persons concerned by expulsion or other coercive acts from the area in which they are lawfully present, without grounds permitted under international law; (e) “Torture” means the intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, upon a person in the custody or under the control of the accused; except that torture shall not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions; (f) “Forced pregnancy” means the unlawful confinement of a woman forcibly made pregnant, with the intent of affecting the ethnic composition of any population or carrying out other grave violations of international law; (g) “Persecution” means the intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to international law by reason of the identity of the group or collectivity; (h) “The crime of apartheid” means inhumane acts of a character similar to those referred to in paragraph 1, committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime; (i) “Enforced disappearance of persons” means the arrest, detention or abduction of persons by, or with the authorization, support or acquiescence of, a State or a political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to give information on the fate or whereabouts of those persons, with the intention of removing them from the protection of the law for a prolonged period of time.
3. For the purpose of this Statute, it is understood that the term “gender” refers to the two sexes, male and female, within the context of society. The term “gender” does not indicate any meaning different from the above.

For the purposes of this Statute “war crimes” means:

(a) Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely, any of the following acts against persons or property protected under the provisions of the relevant Geneva Convention: (i) Wilful killing; (ii) Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments; (iii) Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health; (iv) Extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly; (v) Compelling a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile Power; (vi) Wilfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial; (vii) Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement; (viii) Taking of hostages.

(b) Other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international armed conflict, within the established framework of international law, namely, any of the following acts: (i) Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities; (ii) Intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects, that is, objects which are not military objectives; (iii) Intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, as long as they are entitled to the protection given to civilians or civilian objects under the international law of armed conflict; (iv) Intentionally launching an attack in the knowledge that such attack will cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects or widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment which would be clearly excessive in relation to the concrete and direct overall military advantage anticipated; (v) Attacking or bombarding, by whatever means, towns, villages, dwellings or buildings which are undefended and which are not military objectives; (vi) Killing or wounding a combatant who, having laid down his arms or having no longer means of defence, has surrendered at discretion; (vii) Making improper use of a flag of truce, or of the flag or of the military insignia and uniform of the enemy or of the United Nations, as well as of the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions, resulting in death or serious personal injury; (viii) The transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, or the deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory; (ix) Intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not military objectives; (x) Subjecting persons who are in the power of an adverse party to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind which are neither justified by the medical, dental or hospital treatment of the person concerned nor carried out in his or her interest, and which cause death to or seriously endanger the health of such person or persons; (xi) Killing or wounding treacherously individuals belonging to the hostile nation or army; (xii) Declaring that no quarter will be given; (xiii) Destroying or seizing the enemy’s property unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war; (xiv) Declaring abolished, suspended or inadmissible in a court of law the rights and actions of the nationals of the hostile party; (xv) Compelling the nationals of the hostile party to take part in the operations of war directed against their own country, even if they were in the belligerent’s service before the commencement of the war; (xvi) Pillaging a town or place, even when taken by assault; (xvii) Employing poison or poisoned weapons; (xviii) Employing asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and all analogous liquids, materials or devices; (xix) Employing bullets which expand or flatten easily in the human body, such as bullets with a hard envelope which does not entirely cover the core or is pierced with incisions; ....... (xxi) Committing outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment; (xxii) Committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy as defined in article 7, paragraph 2(f), enforced sterilisation, or any other form of sexual violence also constituting a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions; (xxiii) Utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations; (xxiv) Intentionally directing attacks against buildings, material, medical units and transport, and personnel using the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions in conformity with international law; (xxv) Intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including wilfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva Conventions; (xxvi) Conscripting or enlisting children under the age of fifteen years into the national armed forces or using them to participate actively in hostilities.

(c) In the case of an armed conflict not of an international character, serious violations of article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely, any of the following acts committed against persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention or any other cause: (i) Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; (ii) Committing outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment; (iii) Taking of hostages; (iv) The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgement pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all judicial guarantees which are generally recognised as indispensable.

(d) Paragraph 2(c) applies to armed conflicts not of an international character and thus does not apply to situations of internal disturbances and tensions, such as riots, isolated and sporadic acts of violence or other acts of a similar nature.

(e) Other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in armed conflicts not of an international character, within the established framework of international law, namely, any of the following acts: (i) Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities; (ii) Intentionally directing attacks against buildings, material, medical units and transport, and personnel using the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions in conformity with international law; (iii) Intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, as long as they are entitled to the protection given to civilians or civilian objects under the international law of armed conflict; (iv) Intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not military objectives; (v) Pillaging a town or place, even when taken by assault; (vi) Committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, as defined in article 7, paragraph 2(f), enforced sterilization, and any other form of sexual violence also constituting a serious violation of article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions; (vii) Conscripting or enlisting children under the age of fifteen years into armed forces or groups or using them to participate actively in hostilities; (viii) Ordering the displacement of the civilian population for reasons related to the conflict, unless the security of the civilians involved or imperative military reasons so demand; (ix) Killing or wounding treacherously a combatant adversary; (x) Declaring that no quarter will be given; (xi) Subjecting persons who are in the power of another party to the conflict to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind which are neither justified by the medical, dental or hospital treatment of the person concerned nor carried out in his or her interest, and which cause death to or seriously endanger the health of such person or persons; (xii) Destroying or seizing the property of an adversary unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of the conflict.

(f) Paragraph 2(e) applies to armed conflicts not of an international character and thus does not apply to situations of internal disturbances and tensions, such as riots, isolated and sporadic acts of violence or other acts of a similar nature. It applies to armed conflicts that take place in the territory of a State when there is protracted armed conflict between governmental authorities and organized armed groups or between such groups.

“Conduct ancillary” means: aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of an offence, inciting a person to commit an offence, attempting or conspiring to commit an offence, assisting an offender or concealing the offence.
A person is regarded as committing such an act or crime if the material elements are committed with intent and knowledge. A person has ‘intent’ where he means to engage in the conduct or where he means to cause the consequence or where he is aware that it will occur in the ordinary course of events. ‘Knowledge’ means awareness that circumstances exist or will occur in the ordinary course of events.

http://www.makewarshistory.org.uk/index/implications.html



http://news.perdana4peace.org/?p=431



WAR CRIMINAL BLAIR CONDEMNED BY MALAYSIANS ON HIS VISIT TO MALAYSIA TO SPEAK ON THE RULE OF LAW
Posted in War & Peace by Admin on the August 1st, 2008

Thursday, 31 July 2008
BY MATTHIAS CHANG

War Criminal Blair has been invited by the University of Malaya as the Guest Lecturer of the Sultan Azlan Shah Lectures on the “Rule of Law”. The event is co-sponsored by the British Council. It is mind-boggling, given the fact that this war criminal is responsible for the killings of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Lebanon. Is it any wonder that the University of Malaya has slumped in international ranking as a distinguished university?

What is most interesting is that on the invitation cards to lawyers and distinguished jurists, no mention is made that the War Criminal Blair is the Guest Lecturer. On all previous occasions, the name of the Guest Lecturer was prominently printed in the invitation cards. This time, we have a blank!

It may be that the organizers, harbouring a secret agenda, and fearing the anger and contempt that peace loving Malaysians have for this War Criminal, have decided to keep the matter under wraps.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Iraq

Judgment

12 December 2004

Note: Final Judgment covering all charges, including those raised

in supplementary indictment, is to be issued at the final trial

in March 2005.




The International Criminal Tribunal for Iraq (ICTI), sitting from July 17 to 18, 2004 in Kyoto and from December 11 to 12, 2004 in Tokyo, heard the evidences, testimonies and views presented at these trials as well as numerous public hearings held in various places in Japan throughout this period. The judgment delivered today is the unanimous court opinion of the Tribunal composed of four judges of the ICTI, who participated in this Tribunal from Korea, Indonesia and Japan. This judgment will be complemented by individuals opinions by each judge who wishes to record his or her opinion separately.

The defendants before this Tribunal are George W. Bush, the President of the United States, Tony Blair, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, Koizumi Jun-ichiro, the prime minister of Japan, and Gloria M. Arroyo, the President of the Philippines. They are all serving presidents or prime ministers, and under the current framework of international law, crimes committed by serving heads of state or ministers could be appropriately prosecuted at the International Criminal Court (ICC), which came into existence on July 1, 2002. On the other hand, elements including the fact that most of the home countries of these defendants, except for the United Kingdom, have not yet ratified the Statute of the ICC have made the chances of actualizing such path practically improbable. However, even serving heads of state or ministers shall not be above the law, especially international law, and if the realization of the rule of law is being prevented by malfunction of international legal system, it is the role of civil society of the world to speak the law and act in the name of all human beings who share common values and moral conscience. People's Tribunals established to that effect have long history dating back to the Vietnam War Crimes Tribunal (The Russell Tribunal) in the late 1960s, followed notably by the International War Crimes Tribunal on the United States' War Crimes against Iraq in 1992, the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal in 2000 and the International Criminal Tribunal for Afghanistan in 2003, and this International Criminal Tribunal for Iraq joins such efforts supported by the voices of world opinion, which constitute the essential and genuine basis of the ultimate validity of the body of international law.


Military Families against the War, Stop the War coalition and CND--will lodge a case against Blair at the ICC charging him with war crimes.



ATTEMPTED BELGIAN CASES:

US President George W Bush, General Tommy Franks and other top officials - over 2003 Iraq War

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair - over 2003 Iraq War

Israeli PM Ariel Sharon - over 1982 refugee massacre





The London-based al-Quds al-Arabi said in a front-page commentary the ICC was proving it was politicized and formed precisely to target leaders who "disobey" the U.S. dictates in keeping Israel the main superpower in the Middle East.

It suggested that if the court was seeking real justice, it would also seek to try Bush and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, as well as Israeli leaders, for war crimes against humanity and genocide in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=5972

Former SNP MP Jim Sillars has handed a 10,000-word dossier to Lord Advocate Eilish Angiolini urging her to charge the PM under Scots law.

He claims Blair should be held to account for conspiring to overthrow Saddam Hussein's regime and for starting the war in Iraq.

Both are illegal under international law. An attempt to have Blair hauled before a criminal court in England failed after lawyers said it wasn't the place to deal with international law.

But Sillars claims Scottish courts have the power to try Blair for war crimes if they believe an established offence, such as murder, has been committed in the process.

Sillars said: "There can be no prosecution at the international criminal court because it doesn't have jurisdiction."

"There is no chance of a special court being established by the United Nations because Britain and the United States have the veto at the Security Council. There is no chance of a prosecution in England and Wales."

"But of course Scots law is an entirely different entity, an entirely different jurisdiction with different rules, procedures and instruments available to it."

Sillars said he had been told by legal experts that the Prime Minister has a case to answer.

And he warned: "The Lord Advocate would have to give a very good explanation why, with the evidence presented, she didn't instigate an investigation -- because we have jurisdiction."

Sillars spent six months putting together his complaint, which was lodged last Friday.

In a letter to the Lord Advocate, he said: "I am requesting you to investigate this complaint and prosecute in a Scottish court."

"Although I have a political past, this complaint is based on legal principles and case law, and I shall be obliged if you will examine it in that light and in that light alone."



http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/03/286397.html



The Global Women’s Strike with and on behalf of women and men in at least 60 countries serve the following SUBPOENA
TO: Prime Minister Tony Blair & his government, and his master George W Bush
YOU ARE REQUIRED TO APPEAR: AT A WOMEN’S COURT IN TRAFALGAR SQUARE, LONDON Saturday 6 March at 3pm

YOU ARE CHARGED WITH CRIMES AT HOME AND ABROAD, including but not limited to: war crimes including genocide, murder, torture, rape, terrorism, perjury (lying!), supporting coups, perverting the course of justice, poisoning, drug abuse (with pharmaceutical accomplices), environmental offences leading to the destruction of communities, countries and the planet, disability discrimination, incitement to racial hatred, causing mental and physical illness, promoting homophobia, breach of the Sex Discrimination Act, Race Discrimination Act, Equal Pay Act, Human Rights Act (to name a few), extortion, breach of duty of care, detention without trial, endangering people’s safety, criminal negligence, child abuse, conspiracy to cause criminal damage . . .







Congresswoman McKinney is answering a summons to testify before Judge Baltasar Garzon, judge of the Spanish National Court, in his inquiry supporting the prosecution of the 'architects of the Iraq invasion'. Judge Garzon is calling for President Bush and his allies, including former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, to be tried for war crimes over their invasion of Iraq. Baltasar Garzon made the accusation on the anniversary of the beginning of the war saying that "Breaking every international law, and under the pretext of the war against terror, there has taken place since 2003 a devastating attack on the rule of law and against the very essence of the international community."



MADRID, March 20, 2007 (Reuters) - The judge who tried to jail Chile's former dictator Augusto Pinochet said on Tuesday it was time to hold U.S. President George W. Bush and his allies to account for waging war in Iraq.






Egyptian rights lawyer wants Bush, Blair tried for war crimes

Cairo, Egypt (PANA) - US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair should stand trial as "war criminals because of the unjust and barbaric war they are waging on Iraq and the heinous crimes" being committed against civilians by the coalition forces, Egyptian human rights lawyer Mahmoud Kandil said Sunday. 30/03/2003 full text...







By Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent
Last Updated: 1:36AM BST 12 Jun 2007

A former Nationalist MP has called for Tony Blair to be charged in Scotland with war crimes.

The demand was made in a 10,000-word document compiled by Jim Sillars, and backed by his wife Margo MacDonald, an independent MSP.

It has been sent to Eilish Angiolini, the Lord Advocate, and claims that the Prime Minister should face two charges in connection with the invasion of Iraq in 2003.



http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=634&Itemid=27





Name of accused: BLAIR, ANTHONY CHARLES LYNTON
D.O.B: 06/05/1953
Address: 10 Downing St, London N.F.A
Occupation: Professional Liar
Religion: Church Of England Catholic
Ethnic Grouping: X1 Lizard

The above named person is hereby charged with the following offence/s:

DATE OF OFFENCE/S: From 2nd May 1997 to 26th June 2007

MURDER: On MARCH 21st 2003 You did conspire with others to murder civilians of Iraq contrary to the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.

KIDNAPPING: From September 11th 2001 you participated in a scheme of abduction and torture known as ‘extraordinary rendition’ contrary to Common Law.

TERRORISM: (i) It is charged that you were an active member of proscribed terrorist group, namely THE COALITION (ii) that you created fear or 'terror' for ideological goals, attempting to force political change with violence, or the threat of violence, and deliberately targetting non-combatants, contrary to the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2000.

FALSE IMPRISONMENT: You knowingly oversaw the construction of 30,000 new prison places and six new detention facilities for refugees, contravening Section 5 of the The Human Rights Act 1998.

CHILD ABUSE: You are charged with incarcerating 3000 children in prison contrary to Section 5 (iv) of the Guardianship of Minors Act 1971.

FRAUD: You are charged that you willfully and knowingly led the country to war on false representation with malice of forethought contrary to Section 2(ii) of the Fraud Act 2006.

THEFT/ATTEMPTED THEFT: Namely that you introduced laws which robbed U.K citizens of basic civil liberties. Furthermore you conspired to introduce a National Identity Register with the intent to permanently deprive all U.K residents of the last shreds of their privacy contrary to Section 2(iii) of the Theft Act 1968.

DAYLIGHT ROBBERY: Namely that you orchestrated the sale of the last remaining public industries contrary to Section 1(i) of the Theft Act 1968.

CONSPIRING TO PERVERT THE COURSE OF JUSTICE: Namely that you intervened in the investigation of the British Aerospace-Saudi Arabia arms deal to enable the destruction of evidence.

CRIMINAL DAMAGE: You authorised the use of incendiary devices (i.e. white phosphorus), in Fallujah, Iraq, contrary to the Criminal Damage Act 1971.

ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR: In July 1997 you killed Brit-Pop by schmoozing with Noel Gallagher at Downing Street, contrary to Section 4 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003.

BAIL CONDITIONS
The defendant is required to immediately surrender himself to the custody of the SchNEWS Kangaroo Court.

Signature of Proscecuting Custody Officer
Jo Makepeace





Lawsuits and courtcases


[Background articles on International Humanitarian Law]




Petition to Arrest George Bush for the Crimes of Murder and Conspiracy ! (May 2008)

ICC to Get Evidence of 'Illegality' of War (February 2004) | UK 'war crimes' claims examined in The Hague (19 December 2004)| Answer of the ICC prosecutor (PDF) (10 February 2006) | Ocampo Turns Down Iraq Case: Implications for the U.S. (PDF) (10 February 2006) | Open Letter to the International Criminal Court of Justice about war crimes committed in Fallujah (14 March 2008) |

Humanitarian Law groups file rights petition at OAS against the United States for attacks on Hospitals, Clinics in Falluja - 2005 (Lawsuit prepared by the Association of Humanitarian Lawyers, partners of the BRussells Tribunal)

Rights groups file French torture case vs Rumsfeld (26 Oct 2007)

Center For Constitutional Rights Seeks Criminal Investigation in Germany into Culpability of U.S. Officials in Abu Ghraib Torture | German prosecutors refuse to investigate Rumsfeld over Abu Ghraib abuse (PDF) - Court Cases: German Prosecutor dismisses case against US commanders over Abu Ghraib (November 2004) - New War Crimes Complaint against Donald Rumsfeld in Germany by Center of Constitutional Rights. (14 Nov 2006) - GERMAN FEDERAL PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE DISMISSES RUMSFELD WAR CRIMES CASE (27 April 2007) - Lawyers taking Rumsfeld war crimes case to Spain after German rejection (29 April 2007)

Court case against General Tommy Franks in Brussels | Belgium Guts Universal War Crimes Law (2003)

International Criminal Court | U.S.: Congress Tries to Undermine War Crimes Court | Iraq drops the ICC (02 March 2005)

Canadian lawyers charge Bush with torture | Canada blocks torture charges against Bush

German court declares Iraq war violated international law (27 September 2005)

Iraqi civilian abuse case in Court of Appeal - UK (10 October 2005)

Spanish court orders arrest of US soldiers for war crime (21 October 2005) - Spanish Judge calls for architects of Iraq invasion to be tried for war crimes (28 March 2007) - Spain prosecutors appeal indictment of US soldiers in Iraq death of journalist (19 May 2007)


www.Bushprosecution.org/modules/news (Canada)



Formal complaint sent to the International Criminal Court over Coalition war crimes in Occupied Iraq & Afghanistan (Dr. Gideon Polya, 21 December 2005)



Criminal Charges Filed Against George H.W. Bush (Sr.) in Iceland (04 July 2006)

Lieutenant Watada's War Against the War (07 Aug 2006)

THE KUALA LUMPUR WAR CRIMES COMMISSION & WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL





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