AC
WAR CRIMES IN IRAQ and the ICC
Thu Jan 22 22:20:22 2004
64.140.158.58

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: WAR CRIMES IN IRAQ and the ICC
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 19:34:53 -0600
From: AC

Not debating here whether the ICC is a good or bad thing, the point is, is there still any doubt why the U.S. made such an intense fuss about not joining the ICC, and most notably, on the eve of its brutal and illegitimate attack on Iraq and even against Afghanistan and Serbia earlier, for that matter--the Iraq fiasco planned at least as early as when the iron curtain fell in 1989? We recall succinctly, that it is the U.S. intellectual elite (the NWO internationalists) who first introduced the notion of the ICC, years ago, and it was at a special forum attended regularly by international legal scholars at Yale University, that it was debated ad infinitum and from whence all its by-laws were prepared and indelibly written. The truth is, the MAIN, and it could be successfully argued, the ONLY REAL reason, the once profoundly ICC courting U.S. elite fought joining the ICC at this time of heightened imperial compulsions, is that it was fully cognizant of the fact it would be successfully tried and prosecuted for some of the most outrageous genocidal crimes committed in its history--from the time of the Ist Iraq war and spanning the 13 years of the mass murdering sanctions, up to the wholesale massacres of tens of thousands of Iraqis since its second war against Iraq and up to the present atrocities against that once sovereign nation and its people.

ac


http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/comment/0,12956,1128392,00.html

More comment | Special report: politics and Iraq

Letters

War crimes in Iraq

Thursday January 22, 2004
The Guardian

Professor Bowring et al's submission to the International Criminal Court (UK should face court for crimes in Iraq, January 21) has our ringing endorsement. We submitted a notice in October last year, asking the ICC to investigate war crimes against Iraq. This was followed by a petition signed by prominent people last December, which the ICC has acknowledged.

Our petition asserts that "shock and awe" bombing raids indiscriminately killed 15-35,000 people and injured untold others. This is an offence under article 8, schedule 6 of the ICC statute, enacted by the UK in 2001, which outlaws: (a)(iii) "wilfully causing great suffering"; (a)(iv) "extensive destruction and appropriation of property"; (b)(ii) "intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects" and; (b)(iv) "launching an attack in the knowledge that it will cause incidental loss of life".

Tony Blair admitted in parliament (Hansard, March 23 2002): "If there is conflict there will be civilian casualties", proving he knew the attack would kill or injure civilians.

We also allege that the invasion may constitute part of a genocidal campaign against Iraq which began with punitive sanctions in 1990. This blockade starved people of everything, including water purification facilities, to force Iraq to destroy weapons we now know Unscom destroyed in 1991-92. Madeleine Albright proved genocidal intent when, told that 460,000 children had died as a result of sanctions, she said: "It is a price worth paying." The US and UK governments continued the policy in this knowledge. To exacerbate such a tragedy by bombing raids is an offence under article 6, schedule 8 of the ICC Act.

These crimes must be prosecuted by the ICC as the attorney general, the CPS and the police have refused to even investigate.
Michael Mansfield QC and Dr James Thring
Legal Action Against War

The all-party parliamentary group on war and the law is looking at the laws relating to the use of military force and particularly the exercise of the royal prerogative. Several prominent MPs have expressed an interest and a cross-party representation attended a meeting on January 20, chaired by myself. The joint vice-chairmen are Bob Marshall Andrews QC MP (Lab) and Douglas Hogg QC MP (Con), Alan Simpson MP (Lab) is secretary and Lembit Opik MP (Lib), treasurer.

We are keen to engage the public in associate membership and will be meeting again on February 24 at Portcullis House.
Elfyn Llwyd MP
Parliamentary leader, Plaid Cymru
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
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http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12956,1127728,00.html

UK should face court for crimes in Iraq, say jurists

Ewen MacAskill, diplomatic editor
Wednesday January 21, 2004
The Guardian

A panel of international lawyers and academics called on the International Criminal Court yesterday to investigate Britain for alleged war crimes in Iraq.

The eight-member panel, mainly British but including representatives from France, Canada and Ireland, cited the use by the British military of cluster bombs in civilian areas.

It also said Britain was complicit in the actions of the US military, including the killing of international journalists.

A copy of the findings was sent to the ICC, which is based in the Hague, and to the attorney general, Lord Goldsmith.

The panel, which includes Bill Bowring, professor of human rights and international law at London Metropolitan University, took evidence in London in November.

Although its final report has not been completed, the panel yesterday issued an executive summary.

In it the panel said it answered yes to the question "Is there sufficient cause and evidence for the International Criminal Court prosecutor to investigate members of the UK government for breaches of the ICC statute in relation to crimes against humanity and/or war crimes committed during the Iraq conflict and occupation 2003?"

Professor Bowring said the RAF had dropped cluster bombs around Baghdad and the British army had fired artillery shells with cluster munitions around Basra.

He said these bombs were not accurate weapons capable of pinpoint accuracy and had exploded over large areas.

He noted the US attacks which resulted in the death of journalists: on the offices of the Arab satellite network, al-Jazeera, in Baghdad and on the Palestine hotel in Baghdad, where journalists were staying.

Prof Bowring said the panel had also investigated the use of depleted uranium, damage to the civilian infrastructure, including electricity supplies, the conduct of the US-British occupation and the preservation of the cultural heritage of Iraq, but the results had been inconclusive.

The ICC, which came into being in 2002, was set up as a permanent court to deal with crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC's chief prosecutor, was prominent in the trial of former members of the Argentinian junta.

Although, on balance, it seems unlikely that the ICC will investigate the allegations against the British government, an ICC spokeswoman yesterday refused to rule it in or out.

"We do not usually comment on issues that might fall under the jurisdiction of the court," she said.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence defended the use of cluster bombs. "The thing about cluster munitions is they are not classified as unlawful and provide us with a legitimate capability," he said.

"We reserve the right to use them against military objectives and if we did not we might have to use alternative military equipment, such as an artillery barrage that might cause more [civilian] damage."

The international panel, in addition to Prof Bowring, is made up of: William Schabas, professor of human rights law at the National University of Ireland; Christine Chinkin, professor of international law at the London School of Economics; Reni Provost, associate professor at the faculty of law of McGill University in Canada; Paul Tavernier, professor, University of Paris Sud; Nick Grief, professor of law, University of Bournemouth; Guy Goodwin-Gill, QC, senior research fellow, All Souls College, Oxford; and Upendra Baxi, professor of international law, Warwick University.

The panel is supported by Peacerights, a relatively new human rights group.

Phil Shiner, its spokesman, said: "International law does not recognise victor's justice and both sides to the Iraq war must be fully accountable.

"Many respected groups and lawyers have expressed serious concerns about the apparently unnecessary and unjustified civilian casualties, particularly because of the use of cluster bombs in urban areas."
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