War Crimes Times ● WarCrimesTimes.org
NEWS & VIEWS
January 2009 2
War Crimes Documented
Illegal Invasion
⇒
By invading Iraq, Bush committed the crimeof aggression—“The use of force” in a man-ner “inconsistent with the Charter of theUnited Nations.” The United States has con-demned such aggression in the past. In 1956when Great Britain, France, and Israel in-vaded Egypt, And in 1978 when Vietnam at-tempted to overthrow the brutal Khmer Rougein Cambodia, the U.S. insisted that the UNCharter must be upheld.
Torture and Murder of Detainees
⇒
President Bush issued an order on February 7,2002, that set forth policies that led to willfulkilling, torture, inhuman treatment, and greatsuffering or serious injury to body or health of prisoners in U.S. custody in Afghanistan, Iraq,and Guantanamo Bay.
⇒
Two Afghan prisoners who died in Americancustody in Afghanistan in December 2002were chained to the ceiling, kicked and beaten by American soldiers in sustained assaultsthat caused their deaths, according to Armycriminal investigative reports.
⇒
At least 26 prisoners have died in Americancustody in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002 inwhat Army and Navy investigators have con-cluded or suspect were acts of criminal homi-cide, according to military officials
Civilians Targeted
⇒
In January 2005, American Friends ServiceCommittee reported that in Fallujah, 40% of the buildings were completely destroyed, 20%had major damage, and 40% had significantdamage. That is 100% of the buildings in thatcity.
⇒
Abu Hammad said he saw people attempt toswim across the Euphrates to escape the siege.“The Americans shot them with rifles fromthe shore,” he said. “Even if some of themwere holding a white flag or white clothesover their heads to show they are not fighters,they were all shot....The Americans made an-nouncements for people to come to onemosque if they wanted to leave Fallujah, andeven the people who went there carryingwhite flags were killed.”—Dahr Jamail of Inter Press Service reporting on Fallujah,11/26/04.
U.S. Constitution.
“This Constitu-tion...and all Treaties made, or whichshall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supremeLaw of the Land.
War Crimes Act of 1996.
Defines awar crime as: “…a grave breach in anyof the international conventions signedat Geneva 12 August 1949, or any pro-tocol to such convention to which theUnited States is a party…,” punishable by being “...fined under this title or imprisoned for life or any term of years, or both, and if death results tothe victim, shall also be subject to the penalty of death.”
U.N. Gen. Assembly Res. 3314.
Defines the crime of aggression as “...the use of armed force by a Stateagainst the sovereignty, territorial in-tegrity or political independence of another State…or in any other manner inconsistent with the Charter of theUnited Nations…”
Nuremberg Tribunal CharterPrinciple VI
: “The crimes hereinafter set out are punishable as crimes under international law:
→Crimes against peace:
Planning, preparation, initiation or waging of awar of aggression or a war in violationof international treaties.
→War crimes :
…murder, ill-treatment…of civilian population of or in occupied territory; murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war…plunder of public or private property, wantondestruction of cities, towns, or vil-lages…
→Crimes against humanity:
Murder,extermination…and other inhumanacts done against any civilian popula-tion…when such acts are done…inexecution of or in connection with anycrime against peace or any war crime.”
The Geneva Conventions:
Protocol I, Article 75:
“…persons who are inthe power of a Party to the conflict…shall be treated humanely in all cir-cumstances…The following acts areand shall remain prohibited…▪ violence to the life, health, or physical or mental well-being of per-sons…▪ outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degradingtreatment...
Protocol I, Art. 51:
“The civilian population…shall not be the object of attack.
Broken laws A few specifics:Broken countryBroken people
Note:
The Veterans for Peace website is the source of information onthis page. This is a short list of laws violated by the Bush Administrationand a very short list of specific violations. For a more information seeveteransforpeace.org/Case_for_impeachment.vp.html andsquadron13.com/Impeachment/default.htm.
In 2001 when we invaded Afghanistan,my son, James, had been a Marine for over a year. A child of the 60’s, I had been against his enlistment, but I wasassured that we had entered the “NewMillennium”—when peace, prosperity,and cooler heads would prevail. Never again would we see a Viet Nam; that was behind America.On September 11th, the moment thatfirst plane hit the Twin Towers, I knewwe would be at war. James had phonedme at three that morning from Australia.In good spirits, he was heading to EastTimor for humanitarian missions. But Iknew his unit would be called for what-ever the Commander-in-Chief deemedappropriate and, instinctively, I didn’ttrust President Bush.And so it began. The first Marine Ex- peditionary Unit went into Afghanistan;they pushed on to Kandahar, searchingfor the alleged perpetrator of the 9/11attacks. James would call me whenever he could, recounting details of his mis-sions in the caves looking for “badguys.” I hoped that the searches wouldresult in capture of the “bad guys” and put an end to the aggression. As monthswent by, he became increasingly frus-trated, as did I. Those 3:00 A.M. phonecalls were horrific, and the evening newswas worse.
(See FAMILIES on page 4)
Bush's War Policy: A Crime Against Families
by Elaine Brower
WCT
is partially funded by
Veterans for Peace(veteransforpeace.org),
which is not responsi- ble for opinions expressed within.
VFP hasresolved to see that Bush and Cheney are prose-cuted for war crimes no matter how long it takes.There is no statute of limitations on war crimes.
The War Crimes Times
is published by Veterans for Peace Chapter 099(Asheville, NC).Contact:editor@WarCrimesTime.org
Send donations to VFP(memo: Vets DirectAction) c/o BaltimoreVeterans For Peace,325 E. 25th Street,Baltimore, MD 21218.
Leave a Comment