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The western world based its own foundation on Justice
for the people but in the same time it created tools that
allowed it to circumvent the foundation of justice when it
deals with other peoples of the world. The United States is
today the leader of this western world and it has flouted all
the rules of justice that it vouched for not long ago.
Children of Iraq
www.worldfutures.info
1
Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal
www.worldfutures.info
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tled Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal, Justice by the People.
2
The Charter of the
United Nations
WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED
to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our
lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the
human person, in the equal rights of men and women, and of nations large
and small, and
to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations
arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained,
and
Article 2
4. All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or
use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any
state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United
Nations.
3
Chapter Vl: Pacific Settlement of Disputes
Article 33
2. The Security Council shall, when it deems necessity, call upon the parties
to settle their disputes by such means.
Note: This charter is clear enough in its explanation of the rights of the
nations, members of the UN and the violations of this charter by the US and
the British, Australians and even the Israelis in Palestine are indications of
their culpability of war crimes
4
Introduction
Do we need a War crime tribunal to bring justice to the leaders of the world
who have flouted international laws and bring death by the hundreds of
thousands in the Islamic world? We are talking about war criminals who are
indeed leaders of their nations. The issue at stake is how to bring people like
the leaders of the United States of America George W. Bush (President),
Dick Cheney (Vice-President) and Donald Rumsfield (former Defense
Secretary) and Tony Blair the Prime Minister of Britain, not withstanding
John Howard Prime Minister of Australia and Ehud Olmert the Prime
Minister of Israel.
Why these people and not others like Nouri Al-Maliki, the Prime Minister
of Iraq who has signed the hanging papers of Saddam Hussein or some
other presidents and Prime Ministers from the Muslim world? The reason is
because the Muslim leaders hailing from any parts of the world and for any
sorts of reasons, will be easily charged by the International Court of Justice
(ICC) but the Bush, Blair and Olmert’s will never be indicted either by the
UN or by the ICC.
Clearly there is justice at double speed, if not a one sided justice system,
that the world is currently dealing with. The UN is looking at the world
with lenient eyes laid on the West and a totally bullish attitude towards the
rest of the world. There is not going to be a ‘Nuremberg’ for Bush, Blair or
Olmert and company.
This should be dealt with and it is imperative that the idea of the Kuala
Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal (KLWCT) be given the proper attention that
it deserves. The KLWCT has been formally established by former Prime
Minister of Malaysia, Tun Mahathir Mohamad in February this year.
When Tun Mahathir Mohamad chaired the newly launched anti-war tribunal
under the aegis of the Perdana Global Peace Organization, it was given
some coverage on the Internet but most of the mainstream madia’s in the
Western world decided to forgo the story.
The organization is campaigning for war to become a crime that is punishable
by international laws. However, the task to criminalize war is monumental
and the leaders targeted by the Kuala Lumpur War Crime Commission are
almost untouchable. The tribunal will have to find a way to bring justice to
the people whose rights has been violated by the US, the UK, Australia and
Israel in particular.
5
The western world based its own foundation on Justice for the people but in
the same time it created tools that allowed it to circumvent the foundation
of justice when it deals with other peoples of the world. The United States
is today the leader of this western world and it has flouted all the rules of
justice that it vouched for not long ago.
In the long process of history, the western world slid into a moral decay that
lead the world to the present war situation. The West, under the leadership
of the United States of America has induced its victims to accept a form
of rough justice. It ‘freed’ Iraq from a stable regime only to allow the new
leaders of the country to execute its own people.
Its military is also to be charged for the war crimes it committed and is still
committing in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. The US is targeting Muslims
who are against its foreign policies, which is one of aggressive military
tactics against its opponents. The ICC, like a sitting bull, is watching while
the UN is going after other underdogs such as Iran and Sudan or some other
weak nations that cannot defend themselves against the pre-emptive military
policies of Washington.
Will the KLWCT create enough attention to bring the ICC to react against
Bush and his allies? The question is palatable and the answer is a forgone
conclusion. It is apparent that there will be no swift justice, if not any form of
justice against the leaders of the western world who are clearly responsible
for the genocidal acts of their soldiers in foreign lands.
This book is published with the aim of creating the much needed attention
among the public in Malaysia regarding the role of the western leaders
mentioned in this Introduction page in the wars that are still ongoing in
Iraq and Palestine. It is also a form of support for the idea of a War Crimes
Tribunal, such as the KLWCT which should be given more attention by the
general public.
In the event that the established court of justice such as the ICC is unable
to charge people like Bush, Blair, Olmert and Howard, then it might be
necessary to send these leaders a clear message of the disapproval of their
acts through the KLWCT. Since democracy is for the people, by the people
and of the people, hence justice will be by the people and history will decide
on the fate of perpetrators of the crimes the KLWCT is after.
THE Kuala Lumpur Global Peace Forum of concerned peoples from all five
continents
UNITED in the belief that peace is the essential condition for the survival and
well-being of the human race,
TERRIFIED that the possession of nuclear weapons and the imminent risk of
nuclear war will lead to the annihilation of life on earth.
7
To achieve peace we now declare that:
• Since killings in peace time are subject to the domestic law of crime,
killings in war must likewise be subject to the international law of
crimes. This should be so irrespective of whether these killings in war are
authorized or permitted by domestic law.
• All commercial, financial, industrial and scientific activities that aid and
abet war should be criminalised.
• All nations must strengthen the resolve to accept the purposes and
principles of the United Nations Charter and institute methods to settle
• All legislators and all members of Government must affirm their belief in
peace and pledge to strive for peace.
• Political parties all over the world must include peace as one of their
principal objectives.
8
actively against war.
• The media must actively oppose war and the incitement to war and
consciously promote the peaceful settlement of international disputes.
• Entertainment media must cease to glorify war and violence and should
instead cultivate the ethos of peace
9
International Crimes
as defined by the
10
and Japan are among the major industrialized states that have yet to ratify
this document. However, a sufficient number of nations have ratified the
Rome Statute, and in accordance with its rules, the court now officially
exists.
What are war crimes tribunals?
11
Development of the Geneva Convention
From 1864 to 1949
1864 - Geneva 1899 The Hague 1906 Geneva 1929 Geneva 1949 Geneva
1907 The Hague
First
Revision Revised as
Geneva Convention Revision
Geneva Convention 1
12
Hague Convention III Hague Convention X New
Application of 1864 Application of 1906 Geneva Convention I1
Geneva Convention to Maritime Waters Geneva Convention to Maritime Waters
Second Revised as
Geneva Convention Geneva Convention III
New
Geneva Convention IV
Source: Wikipedia
The Conventions were the results of efforts by Henry Dunant, who was
motivated by the horrors of war he witnessed at the Battle of Solferino in
1859. In 1977 and 2005 three separate amendments, called protocols, were
made part of the Geneva Conventions.
As per article 49, 50, 129 and 146 of the Geneva Conventions I, II, III and
IV, respectively, all signatory states are required to enact sufficient national
laws that make grave violations of the Geneva Conventions a punishable
criminal offense.
13
* Second Geneva Convention “for the Amelioration of the Condition of
Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea”
(first adopted in 1949, successor of the 1907 Hague Convention X)
* Third Geneva Convention “relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of
War” (first adopted in 1929, last revision in 1949)
*Fourth Geneva Convention “relative to the Protection of Civilian
Persons in Time of War” (first adopted in 1949, based on parts of the
1907 Hague Convention IV)
All four conventions were last revised and ratified in 1949, based on previous
revisions and partly on some of the 1907 Hague Conventions; the whole set
is referred to as the “Geneva Conventions of 1949” or simply the “Geneva
Conventions”. Later conferences have added provisions prohibiting certain
methods of warfare and addressing issues of civil wars. Nearly all 200
countries of the world are “signatory” nations, in that they have ratified
these conventions.
Clara Barton was instrumental in campaigning for the ratification of the First
Geneva Convention by the United States; the U.S. signed in 1882. By the
Fourth Geneva Convention some 47 nations had ratified the agreements.
14
Tun Mahathir’s definition of war crimes
Tun Mahathir argued in his speech during “Expose war crimes – criminalize
war” conference and exhibition on February 5th 2007 that conventions such
as the Geneva Convention did not identify war crimes inadequately to cover
the crimes of the warmongers, “the wars they wage and the brutalities they
commit or cause to commit during the war,”
He added that the best jurists in the world must be assembled to draft laws
making warring criminal, making sanctions criminal, the use or production
of depleted uranium in weapons and other WMD as criminal.
The punishments for these crimes must be spelled out in as great a detail as
possible he urged.
And he mentioned the most important aspect of the type of tribunal that
he believe would do justice to the people when he mentioned that “the
people as represented by various organisations and NGOs will carry out the
punishment,” against the warmongers.
Tun Mahathir also suggested that “Laws, the concept of law and punishment,
the jurisdiction of laws change with the times. Now certain nations enforce
their laws extra-territorially. The U.S. invaded Panama to capture Noriega
and to bring him before a U.S. court for trial and punishment under U.S.
laws.
“The jurists should have no qualms about the unorthodox laws they should
draft or the kind of punishment they should prescribe. In a world where
powerful countries can decide on regime change for other countries, the
laws that are designed to criminalise wars are no more unusual than the
regime change laws, the laws to legitimise the attacks against Afghanistan
and Iraq, the extra-territorial laws,” he said.
15
In essence the former Prime Minister is calling for a new type of justice
system that will not be based purely on the United Nations or the Geneva
Conventions laws and principles since these has been violated by the sole
super power of the word.
He believe the new type of laws, the new permanent public tribunal for war
crimes based on the new definition of war crimes will be “as legitimate as
can be” and they will be known as “the laws of the people.”
And the Tribunal should be tasked with trying in absentia if necessary the
war criminals as identified by the victims and the peoples of the countries
which have suffered from the attacks ordered by the leaders of the countries
identified.
16
The Tribunal
A Plan of Action
To ensure the smooth running of such a public tribunal and to guarantee its
credibility, there is the need to broaden the range of acceptance of this idea of
a People’s War Crime Tribunal. The nations that are weary of the massacres
that have been perpetrated by the Allied forces in Afghanistan, Iraq and
recently in Somalia and Lebanon will have to come to a compromise.
Tun Mahathir exposed some of his ideas and the need to propagate the
workings of the KLWCT. He said there was the need to build a base for
spreading the word, the idea that wars are crimes against humanity. He also
mentioned that those who resort to wars in furtherance of their ideology
or agenda are common criminals and must be labeled as such and be
punished.
The whole aim of this tribunal is send the message that war is a crime and
that peace must be established in order for the humans to be called civilized.
According to Tun Mahathir, the first move in the struggle for peace is to
ensure that people know the truth about war, about the dangers which even
the attackers and the victors would be exposed to.
Since the world media outlets are owned and controlled by warring nations,
the majority of which would support wars and find or invent excuses for
wars or would lie to encourage wars, said Mahathir, the people has to have
their own means of contact and communication, its own network to counter
the war propaganda machines and their lies.
“We have to build a base for spreading the word, the idea that wars are
crimes against humanity, that those who resort to wars in furtherance of
their ideology or agenda are common criminals and must be labelled as
such and punished,” he said.
The former Prime Minister also suggested that in the countries where
Governments are elected the anti-war activists and supporters must
campaign in favour of candidates who renounce war. He pointed out that
such campaigns are especially important in the militarily powerful countries.
We must make sure that only anti-war candidates get support for Presidency
and Prime Ministership, and for all legislative bodies.
“We must ignore other attributes or promises made by the candidates and
single-mindedly and solidly support anti-war candidates.” is his call to the
voters.
Mentioning anti-war activists he said that they may be a minority but they
have shown a small minority in the United States can actually determine
that only candidates endorsed by them would be elected.
“Only if the leaders elected are pacifists and subscribe to our creed will
there be peace in this world; will the criminalisation of war be possible.
It may take a long time. Rome they say was not built in a day. Creating a
world free of war, a world where the rule of law govern the behaviour of
nations, where the weak and the strong can co-exist may not take as long as
it took to build Rome. But it would still take considerable time,”
The War Crimes Tribunal he insisted is intended to make people understand
the horrors of war, the killings and the brutality. And understanding what
war is capable of doing to us, and more so in the future, hopefully would
galvanise us into taking action.
And it is this action that Tun Mahathir was focusing upon when he called on
the people to work out strategies and to act to sustain the campaign against
war for as long as it takes.
“What we are trying to do is honourable and noble. Civilisation would be
more meaningful if war, killings and destruction is no longer an accepted
option in solving disputes between nations. Until war is criminalised we
would not be truly civilized.” he said
18
He suggested the creation of a permanent tribunal which will be:
I. recognised by the victims of aggression and right-minded people
and
II. empowered by them to hear the charges levelled at the warmongers,
the leaders and Governments of aggressor nations,
III. to determine their innocence or guilt and to prescribe
punishment.
About the tribunal, he suggested that:
IV. it must be made up of respected international jurists who would
have no personal or national interest in the matters referred to
them,
V. whose judgement must be based on evidence and not sentiment.
19
The Execution of Justice
The interesting part in the concretization of the idea of a public or people’s tribunal
against war crimes committed by people of the like of George W. Bush and Tony
Blair and their lackeys would be the deliverance of the justice decided by
the people’s tribunal. In that case we are talking of the eventual successful
implementation of the KLWCT which is still in its infancy but is gathering
momentum.
Tun Mahathir conceded that the Tribunal he is setting up will have no power
of enforcing its punishment meted to the war criminals since the people
the Tribunal would judge may be too powerful. He urged the people to
decide on the ways for the judgment and the punishment to be served to the
accused who would be condemned by the KLWCT.
We should find ways and forms of punishments that are within our capacity
until such time when the International Community respects and upholds the
jurisdiction of the Tribunal he added. Some of the ways he suggests are as
follows:
a. Trial in absentia
20
c. Campaigns by NGO’s
People and the NGO’s for peace should make these War Criminals feel
unwelcome wherever they go. They should be literally hounded. They
should have full frontal and profile pictures put up everywhere as war
criminals. And historians should always refer to them as War Criminals
in history books.
They should be accorded the names they deserve for the evil deeds they
had committed. Prime Minister Blair regretted the hanging of Saddam
Hussein but at the same time, reminded people not to forget that Saddam
was the Butcher of Baghdad. What is Blair if not the Co-Murderer of
500,000 Iraqi children and the liar who told the British that Saddam had
WMD which could be launched against Britain within 45 minutes.
f. Killer of Children
The former Prime Minister also suggested that in the countries where
Governments are elected the anti-war activists and supporters must campaign
in favour of candidates who renounce war.
He pointed out that such campaigns are especially important in the militarily
powerful countries. We must make sure that only anti-war candidates
get support for Presidency and Prime Ministership, and for all legislative
bodies.
21
22
23
“We should find ways and forms of punishments that
are within our capacity until such time when the
International Community respects and upholds the
jurisdiction of the Tribunal” said Tun Mahathir
24
Iraqi Children suffers The sad face of Iraq
malnutrition
They saw the worst of American
International aid efforts and the U.N. occupation of their land. They also
oil-for-food program helped reduce the saw the death of their parents and
ruinous impact of sanctions, and the
siblings. America and its regime
rate of acute malnutrition among the
youngest Iraqis gradually dropped from
is responsible for these deaths.
a peak of 11 percent in 1996 to 4 percent There UN has closed an eye on
in 2002. But the invasion in March the massacres commited by the
2003 and the widespread looting in its American soldiers. The Ameri-
aftermath severely damaged the basic cans are denying the crimes, call-
structures of governance in Iraq, and ing the atrocities the casualties of
persistent violence across the country war or inevitable collateral dam-
slowed the pace of reconstruction ages.
almost to a halt.
25
Oil gains for the West
The Americans, British and other western oil companies will soon reg-
ister windfall gains with their exploitation of Iraqi oil. The new Iraqi
regime in Baghdad has been forced to agree on an oil for security deal
that will allow Western companies to benefit from Iraq’s vast oil re-
serves while the regime gets military protection from the mercenaries
of the ‘coalition of the willing’.
26
Muslims are forced to defend themselves...at all cost. This is the result
of the massive war aginst terrosism.
Note: All the photos and cartoons or graphics were taken from the Internet
27
Dick Cheney, Vice President of the US is behind the entire scheme for the
exploitation of Iraqi oil. He is known as the leader of the Neo-Conserva-
tive movement in the US. The Neo-Cons as they are called are extremist
capitalist and they believe in a new century for America. In this century
they intend to ‘capture’ the world resources and dominate Muslim lands
as they see the Muslims as their number one enemy. Islam they say is a
plague that can be eradicated hence their outright murderous campaign
in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Somalia. Soon they will target other
lands that has oil, gold and gas or other resources. Are we seeing the
return of the days of slavery? The Neo-cons defends slavery as a war
necessity!
28
There is no let up in the anti-war campaign. Yet more needs to
be done to end the Iraq and Afghan wars.
29
“In the countries where Governments are elected
the anti-war activists and supporters must
campaign in favour of candidates who renounce
war.
Such campaigns are especially important in the
militarily powerful countries. We must make sure
that only anti-war candidates get support for
Presidency and Prime Ministership, and for all
legislative bodies.”
30
The struggle against oppression
and war crimes by Israel
Photograph of a Palestinian boy shown here standing firm against the Israeli
army in Gaza. This image shows the determination and the will of the oppressed
people to fight the gross injustice of Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
31
The Iraq War
“Yet civilised human society, including and above all those which claim
to be the most civilised and advanced regard the killing of people in war
as legitimate. There is a terrible contradiction here. It cannot be that the
massive killing of people in war is legitimate and morally right, when the
killing of an individual however justified is considered wrong. Either both
are right or both are wrong. If we regard the mass killing of people in war as
right then the murder of individuals within society must also be right. But
we would be horrified if any human society would consider murder as right.
Every human society boasting to be civilised would consider murder as a
crime, a crime so serious as to warrant the highest penalty. How then can
the same society consider indiscriminate mass killings of innocent people,
children, old people, sick people and invalids by the hundreds and thousands
and millions even, as right, proper and legitimate,” said Tun Mahathir.
The Iraq war was unjustified from the very first moment the George W.
Bush administration decided to invade the Muslim country. It was a war
based on fallacies and it did not get the sacrosanct sanctioning of the UN to
begin with. Washington started a war that should be categorized as a crime
if we relate it to the definition of war crimes according to the ICC.
But who has the right to establish the principles of war crimes in the case
of the Iraq war that the US started? The ICC has washed its hands off the
issue while the UN is treating the occupation of the US as sign of stability in
the destroyed nation. The KLWTC feels otherwise and it has put on record
its desire to establish the crimes committed by the Western leaders in the
Iraq war and would surely pursue the prosecution of the same leaders in the
future.
Bush, Blair, Howard were formally charged and sentenced for major war
crimes by The Peoples Court of Christchurch in Australia in 2004. They
were also charged and sentenced by an Egyptian, Philippines and a host of
other such public or peoples courts across the world. Yet they are still free to
visit all those countries without any arrest warrants delivered to them. This
makes them bolder and untouchable.
On 7th February, 2007 the Kuala Lumpur War Crime Commission chaired
by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad heard nine charges against US President
George Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair as well as Australian Prime
Minister John Howard for the sufferings of the people in Iraq, Lebanon and
Palestine. There were no representatives from Afghanistan where the US
and the Nato are reigning supreme.
The charges against the US and its allies were presented by a legal counsel
on behalf of the war crimes victims, Barrister (Inner Temple) & Advocate
& Solicitor High Court of Malaya, Matthias Chang before Dr Mahathir and
the other five commission members at the last day of the three-day war
crimes conference.
Chang said Bush, Blair and Howard through a deliberate plan of deception,
falsehood, forgery and outright lies misled their respective Congress and
Parliament to wage war against Iraq which was a “crime against peace,”
Most of the people’s tribunals heard the same accusations against the trio,
though at times instead of Howard, Ariel Sharon the former Premier of
Israel was included.
What is different from the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission and
the previous people’s war crimes courts is the processes of the war crimes
tribunal and the method it will use to ‘confer’ the tag of criminal against
33
Bush, Blair and Howard.
In the past, the crowd will listen to the speeches by the victims or by the
prosecutors of the public courts where the war criminals are to be judged
in absentia. The crowd will participate in the debate and the judges will
condemn the leaders like Bush, Blair and Howard as war criminals. At the
end, the judgment remains within the court, which is a court that does not
have the power to confer the judgment to the leaders in question.
The KLWCT intend to make it different and this is one significant point
that is going to be crucial in the delivering of the justice against the leaders
found guilty by this new form of war crime court. It must be noted that the
KLWCT has been successful in grabbing the attention of the ICC itself and
of the UN, probably because it had Tun Mahathir as the Chairman of the
courts proceeding and also due to the arguments that were floating during
the proceedings at the Putra World Trade Center (PWTC).
Among the charges brought against the trio, the most significant is the charge
regarding the lies they put forward to mislead their respective Congress and
Parliaments to wage war against Iraq in 2003, which was a “crime against
peace.”
The peak of the war against Islam came with the arrival of George W. Bush
as President of the US thanks to a superb trick that allowed him to win
despite losing to Al-Gore in numbers and percentages in national votes.
The KL war crimes commission has also heard charges against them
for ordering the destruction of vital facilities essential to civilian lives
in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine while the fourth one for the bombing of
schools, hospitals, mosques, churches, residential areas, historical sites and
conveniently labeling the destruction as “collateral damage”.
34
“We appreciate there are other tribunals but there are so many complaints,
the other tribunals perhaps are not being able to hear the complaint. We feel
there is a need for the setting up this tribunal (Kuala Lumpur War Crimes
Tribunal) and give an opportunity for those war crimes victims to voice out
their complaints and to seek redress,” he said.
35
Can the ICC charge Bush & Blair
In a press statement following the establishment of the
KLWCT, the ICC said that George W. Bush and Tony Blair
could face the prospect of an ICC investigation for alleged
coalition war crimes in Iraq. This was said by the court’s chief
prosecutor to the international press in March, 2007.
36
The court’s chief prosecutor told The Sunday Telegraph that he would be
willing to launch an inquiry and could envisage a scenario in which the
Prime Minister and American President George W Bush could one day face
charges at The Hague.
The ICC is also seen as having breached the sovereignty of Sudan when
it referred to the Darfur issue since it was pressed by Western capitals to
issue condemnations against Khartoum. Biased and unfounded, the ICC
lost credibility a long time ago and it is a bit too late for its chiefs to claim
credibility in the face of mounting criticism world wide against western war
bullies.
The ICC is limited by the fact that it has to have the agreement of the
countries before it decides to bring any of its leaders to face the dock and to
answer charges raised against them. Something which sounds farfetched for
people in the Islamic world since no thieves from the western world would
want to come to court by their own good will.
Some Muslim countries have criticized what they claim is the court’s
reluctance to address offences committed by western governments.
Sudan, which has been investigated over the alleged killing of civilians
in Darfur, has called for the court to investigate coalition actions in Iraq,
while Tun Mahathir has announced plans to set up an alternative war crimes
tribunal to hear complaints against countries including Britain, Israel and
America.
Mahathir has proposed that the KLWTC tries the accused in absentia, which
is something the ICC is yet to be able to do since its strings are obviously
being pulled from western capitals.
37
crimes against the coalition forces in Iraq. Human rights groups in
the western world believe there is little chance of this happening.
EU – US deal on ICC
European Union member states will be allowed to strike deals with the
United States, giving American troops limited immunity from prosecution
by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Such deals will be permitted provided certain conditions are met, such as
granting immunity to diplomats and soldiers only.
European states will also want a guarantee that Americans accused of war
crimes and crimes against humanity will be dealt with by American courts.
Twelve countries have already signed deals promising not to hand over
US citizens on their territory to the Court. The US withdrew its signature
from the ICC treaty last May (2006), saying it feared politically-motivated
trials.
The views of Prof Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi (UiTM)
It can report its findings to the General Assembly of the United Nations with
a view to a “Uniting for Peace Resolution”.
It can submit its findings to the ICC to enable the ICC to wake up from its
stupor.
It can transmit the report of its deliberations to the 104 countries that
have ratified the Rome statute. Some of these states like Germany and
Belgium have laws that permit prosecutions for genocide and for crimes
against humanity no matter where the offence was alleged to have been
committed.
Finally, the KL War Crimes Tribunal can refer its findings to many peace
loving groups in the USA and elsewhere and request them to exert democratic
pressures on their leaders to end this senseless slaughter of the innocents.
In a talking point program on the BBC radio this year, the responses by
citizens from Europe and the US leaves a lot to ponder upon. We publish
here some of the views expressed by the individuals who participated in
the debate on the issue of the ICC and its rights to put American or British
leaders on trial.
The deeper subtext to this debate is whether the United States
believes that its own laws should be subordinated to international
ones. In Europe we are used to this concept, recognising that
no serious progress can be made without harmonisation of the
rules by which nations and societies are bound. I have heard
that the US constitution expressly forbids the state’s powers to
be handed over to a ‘foreign’ jurisdiction. If we are to make
progress on a global level, the US constitution will inevitably
39
have to be amended. The ‘global’ interest cannot be perceived
as ‘foreign’ to any particular country’s interests.
Nick Fraser, Germany
If the ICC can grant immunity to US diplomats and soldiers
then why not Yugoslavian diplomats and soldiers? We may as
well send Slobodan Mylosovic home to face trial in Yugoslavia.
Is the International Criminal Court really an ICC if concessions
are given to individual nations? It has become very clear that
the USA now considers itself in isolation, both in act and in
rhetoric. Situations such as this do little to cement relationships
between the USA and the rest of the world. America needs to
be a player on the big team rather than a dictatorial bully in the
international arena. I see a complete split coming between the
UN and the USA.
David, Denmark
A glance at the proposals put forward for the election of Judges
to the ICC shows that it would be near impossible for the court
to be abused politicaly. The argument has little substance. If we
are to eventually live in a free and fair world, then institutions
like the ICC must be encouraged and the west, which still seems
to think itself supirer to other nations must learn to understand
that they are amoung equals and International Law applies to
them as well as to their neighbours.
David Bourne, United Kingdom
Yes it can technically work, yet it loses its meaning if the US does
not sign up, being the most powerful country at the moment. No
compromise should be made for the US. They should abide or
stay out, and be pressured to join according to the regulations
set for every nation. The US will do anything to preserve its
international interests, just as they refuse to sign the agreement
of mines and chemical weapons.
Pieter, UK/Belgium
Courtesy BBC.co.uk website.
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The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal
Chang said Bush, Blair and Howard, through a deliberate plan of deception,
falsehood, forgery and outright lies, misled their respective Congress and
Parliament to wage war against Iraq which was a “crime against peace.”
The trio were also being charged for embarking on a systematic campaign to
destroy Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine economically and militarily, he said.
He said the third charge against them was for ordering the destruction of
vital facilities essential to civilian lives in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine
while the fourth was for the bombing of schools, hospitals, mosques,
churches, residential areas and historical sites and conveniently labelling
the destruction as “collateral damage”.
The three leaders were also charged with allowing the use of weapons of
mass destruction that inflicted indiscriminate death and suffering against
civilian targets such as the cluster bomb, napalm bomb, phosporous bomb
and depleted uranium ammunition, said Chang.
The sixth charge said that Bush, Blair and Howard have fraudulently
manipulated the United Nations and the Security Council as well as
corrupting its members to commit crimes against peace and war times, he
said.
Through the aforesaid conduct, Chang said the three had destroyed the
environment of Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine.
The eighth charge was that Bush, Blair and Howard ordered and condoned
the violation of human rights, specifically the civilians in the Abu Ghraib
prison in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba as well as other prisons known and
unknown in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and anywhere else in the world.
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The last charge spelled out that Bush, Blair and Howard systematically
controlled and manipulated, directed and misinformed the mass media so
as to incite war to achieve their military objectives in Iraq, Lebanon and
Palestine.
43
Ramsay Clarke’s report
to the International War Crimes Tribunal
Initial Complaint
Charging
With
Crimes Against Peace, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and Other
Criminal Acts and High Crimes in Violation of the Charter of the United
Nations, International Law, the Constitution of the United States and Laws
made in Pursuance Thereof.
In the fact sheet of Clark’s report to the tribunal, it is stated that when
the Iraqi government nationalized the Iraqi Petroleum Company in 1972,
the Nixon Administration embarked on a campaign to destabilize the
Iraqi government. It was in the 1970s that the U.S. first armed and then
abandoned the Kurdish people, costing tens of thousands of Kurdish lives.
The U.S. manipulated the Kurds through CIA and other agencies to attack
Iraq, intending to harass Iraq.
The U.S., sometimes alone among nations, supported Israel when it defied
scores of UN resolutions concerning Palestinian rights, when it invaded
Lebanon in a war which took tens of thousands of lives, and during its
continuing occupation of southern Lebanon, the Golan Heights, the
WestBank and Gaza.
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The United States itself engaged in aggressions in violation of international
law by invading Grenada in 1983, bombing Tripoli and Benghazi in Libya
in 1986, financing the contra in Nicaragua, UNITA in southern Africa and
supporting military dictatorships in Liberia, Chile, E1 Salvador, Guatemala,
the Philippines, and many other places.
The U.S. invasion of Panama in December 1989 involved the same and
additional violations of international law that apply to Iraq’s invasion of
Kuwait. The U.S. invasion took between 1,000 and 4,000 Panamanian
lives. The United States government is still covering up the death toll.
U.S. aggression caused massive property destruction throughout Panama.
According to U.S. and international human rights organization estimates,
Kuwait’s casualties from Iraq’s invasion and the ensuing months of
occupation were in the “hundreds”-between 300 and 600.4 Reports from
Kuwait list 628 Palestinians killed by Kuwaiti death squads since the Sabah
royal family regained control over Kuwait.
The United States changed its military plans for protecting its control over
oil and other interests in the Arabian Peninsula in the late 1980s when it
became clear that economic problems in the USSR were debilitating its
military capacity and Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan. Thereafter,
direct military domination within the region became the U.S. strategy.
With the decline in U.S. oil production through 1989, experts predicted U.S.
oil imports from the Gulf would rise from 10% that year to 25% by the year
2000. Japanese and European dependency is much greater.
The Charges
2. President Bush from August 2, 1990, intended and acted to prevent any
negotiations with the Iraqi regime.
45
Without consultation or communication with Congress, President Bush
ordered 40,000 U.S. military personnel to advance the U.S. buildup in Saudi
Arabia in the first week of August 1990.
After subverting every effort for peace, President Bush began the destruction
of Iraq answering his own question, “Why not wait? The world could wait
any longer..
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3. President Bush ordered the destruction of facilities essential to civilian
life and economic productivity throughout Iraq.
Only the United States could have carried out this destruction of Iraq, and
the war was conducted almost exclusively by the United States.
This conduct violated the UN Charter, the Hague and Geneva Conventions,
the Nuremberg Charter, and the laws of armed conflict.
The conduct violated the UN Charter, the Hague and Geneva Conventions,
the Nuremberg Charter, and the laws of armed conflict.
In aerial attacks, including strafing, over cities, towns, the countryside and
highways, U.S. aircraft bombed and strafed indiscriminately. In every city
and town bombs fell by chance far from any conceivable target, whether a
civilian facility, military installation or military target. In the countryside
random attacks were made on travelers, villagers, even Bedouins. The
purpose of the attacks was to destroy life, property and terrorize the civilian
population. On the highways, civilian vehicles including public buses,
47
taxicabs and passenger cars were bombed and strafed at random to frighten
One Apache civilians from flight, from seeking food or medical care, finding relatives
helicopter crew or other uses of highways. The effect was summary execution and corporal
member yelled “Say punishment indiscriminately of men, women and children, young and old,
hello to Allah” as rich and poor, all nationalities including the large immigrant populations.
he launched a laser-
guided Hellfire
The conduct violates Protocol I Additional, Article 51.4 to the Geneva
Conventions of 1977.
This is how the US
pilots murdered
100,000 Iraqis 6. The United States intentionally bombed and destroyed Iraqi military
personnel, used excessive force, killed soldiers seeking to surrender and
in disorganized individual flight, often unarmed and far from any combat
zones and randomly and wantonly killed Iraqi soldiers and destroyed
materiel after the cease fire.
Without significant risk to its own personnel, the U.S. led in the killing of at
least 100,000 Iraqi soldiers at a cost of 148 U.S. combat casualties, according
to the U.S. government. When it was determined that the civilian economy
and the military were sufficiently destroyed, the U.S. ground forces moved
into Kuwait and Iraq attacking disoriented, disorganized, fleeing Iraqi forces
wherever they could be found, killing thousands more and destroying any
equipment found. The slaughter continued after the cease fire. For example,
on March 2, 1991, U.S. 24th Division
The conduct violated the Charter of the United Nations, the Hague and
Geneva Conventions, the Nuremberg Charter, and the laws of armed
conflict.
Among the known illegal weapons and illegal uses of weapons employed
48
by the United States are the following:
* napalm;
The conduct violated the Hague and Geneva Conventions, the Nuremberg
Charter and the laws of armed conflict.
President Bush violated the Charter of the United Nations, the Hague and
Geneva Conventions, committed crimes against peace, war crimes and
violated the U.S. Constitution and numerous U.S. criminal statutes in
ordering and directing the assault on Panama.
The conduct violates the Charter of the United Nations and the Constitution
and laws of the United States.
The conduct violates the Constitution and laws of the United States, all
committed to engage in the other impeachable offenses set forth in this
Complaint.
The conduct violated the UN Charter, the Hague and Geneva Conventions,
the laws of armed conflict and constituted war crimes and crimes against
humanity.
13. President Bush encouraged and aided Shiite Muslims and Kurds to rebel
against the government of Iraq causing fratricidal violence, emigration,
exposure, hunger and sickness and thousands of deaths. After the rebellion
failed, the U.S. invaded and occupied parts of Iraq without authority in order
to increase division and hostility within Iraq.
The conduct violated the Charter of the United Nations, international law,
the Constitution and laws of the United States, and the laws of Iraq.
This conduct violates the Hague and Geneva Conventions, the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and other covenants and constitutes a crime
against humanity.
15. The United States continued its assault on Iraq after the cease fire,
invading and occupying areas at will.
The United States has acted with dictatorial authority over Iraq and its
external relations since the end of the military conflict. It has shot and killed
50
Iraqi military personnel; destroyed aircraft and materiel at will occupy vast
areas of Iraq in the north and south and consistently threatened use of force
against Iraq.
16. The United States has violated and condoned violations of human rights,
civil liberties and the U.S. Bill of Rights in the United States, in Kuwait,
Saudi Arabia and elsewhere to achieve its purpose of military domination.
The conduct violates the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, the Hague and Geneva Conventions and the
Constitution and laws of the United States.
17. The United States, having destroyed Iraq’s economic base, demands
reparations which will permanently impoverish Iraq and threaten its people
with famine and epidemic.
The conduct violates the Charter of the United Nations and the Constitution
and laws of the United States.
This conduct violates the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States and is part of a pattern of conduct intended to create support for
conduct constituting crimes against peace and war crimes.
19. The United States has by force secured a permanent military presence in
the Gulf, the control of its oil resources and geopolitical domination of the
Arabian Peninsula and Gulf region.
The U.S. has committed the acts described in this complaint to create a
permanent U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf, to dominate its oil
resources until depleted and to maintain geopolitical domination over the
51
region.
The conduct violates the Charter of the United Nations, international law,
and the Constitution and laws of the United States.
52
Conclusions
We have seen how the super powers of this world have committed severe
violations of the rules and regulations set by the UN and by other bodies. We
have also read in this book of the atrocious killing of hundreds of thousands
of Iraqis, civilians or soldiers, either through wars or via UN sanctions. These
have motivated Tun Mahathir and the Perdana Global Peace Organization
to create a War Crimes Tribunal in Kuala Lumpur. Several of the victims of
the illegal war launched against Iraq by the current American administration
in Washington were present at the Putra World Trade Center (PWTC) to
expose the crimes perpetrated against them or against their nation.
Also present were people from the occupied territory of Palestine where
Israel has carried out decades of monstrous killings and the brutal elimination
of young Palestinians to serve the agenda of Zionism.
The World stood by and watched when the former Prime Minister of Israel,
Ariel Sharon, and then General of the Army attacked innocent civilians in
Chabra and Shatilla in Lebanon, killing thousands.
The World did nothing when the US attacked Iraq on the basis of a series of
lies and as Ramsay Clarke says, with the intent to steal the nation’s resources
and eliminate its leaders.
The same regime is now planning attacks against 5 more Muslim nations.
In an interview broadcasted on Democracy Now, a TV broadcast service in
the US, General Wesley Clark who is a retired four-star general in the U.S.
Army said the US had; before 911 prepared plans to attack at lest 7 Muslim
countries. The General mentioned Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia,
Sudan and Iran as the nations to be attacked by the US in 5 years time.
However, the plans seem to have gone out of kilter since the US is stuck in
a Mujahideen whack in Iraq. Could 2007 be the year of major wars in the
Middle East?
The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) could also take such steps
and warn the warmongers from the West not to visit OIC member states.
They should be told that the civilized world does not want them and they
will simply be arrested, jailed and shipped back to their destination.
That would deter many a warmongering leaders, who today are elected as
Presidents and Prime Ministers but are in actual fact war criminals.
Killer of Children
“History should remember Blair and Bush as the Killer of
Children or as the Lying Prime Minister and President. What
Blair and Bush had done is worse than what Saddam had
done. We should not hang Blair if the Tribunal finds him guilty
but he should always carry the label War Criminal, Killer of
Children, Liar. And so should Bush and the pocket Bush of
the bushlands of Australia (meaning John Howard).”
Speech by Tun Mahathir Mohamad during the conference
on War Crimes at the PWTC in Kuala Lumpur, February
2007.
54
Criminilizing war may be a daunting task
Malaysia’s former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir Mohamad chaired a
conference-cum meeting of the newly launched anti-war tribunal under
the aegis of the Perdana Global Peace Organization. The organization is
campaigning for war to become a crime that is punishable by international
laws. However, the task to criminalize war is monumental and the
leaders targeted by the Kuala Lumpur War Crime Commission are almost
untouchable.
They were formally charged and sentenced for major war crimes by The
Peoples Court of Christchurch in Australia in 2004. They were also charged
and sentenced by an Egyptian, Philippines and a host of other such public
or peoples courts across the world. Yet they are still free to visit all those
countries without any arrest warrants delivered to them. This makes them
bolder and untouchable
On 7th February, 2007 the Kuala Lumpur War Crime Commission chaired
by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad heard nine charges against US President
George Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair as well as Australian Prime
Minister John Howard for the sufferings of the people in Iraq, Lebanon and
Palestine. There were no representatives from Afghanistan where the US
and the Nato are reigning supreme.
The charges against the US and its allies were presented by legal counsel on behalf
of the war crimes victims, Barrister (Inner Temple) & Advocate & Solicitor
High Court of Malaya, Matthias Chang before Dr Mahathir and the other five
commission members at the last day of the three-day war crimes conference.
Chang said Bush, Blair and Howard through a deliberate plan of deception,
falsehood, forgery and outright lies misled their respective Congress and
Parliament to wage war against Iraq which was a “crime against peace,”
Most of the people’s tribunals heard the same accusations against the trio,
though at times instead of Howard, Ariel Sharon the former Premier of
Israel was included.
What is different from the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission and
the previous people’s war crimes courts is the processes of the war crimes
tribunal and the method it will use to ‘confer’ the tag of criminal against
Bush, Blair and Howard.
55
The obvious suggestion is that the KL War Crimes Commission urges the
governments of the Muslim world and the friendly nations in the non-
Muslim world to put the three leaders on their list of wanted war criminals,
said one observer who visited the exhibition at the Putra World Trace Center
(PWTC).
Among the charges brought against the trio, the most significant is the charge
regarding the lies they put forward to mislead their respective Congress and
Parliaments to wage war against Iraq in 2003, which was a “crime against
peace.”
The Iraq invasion by the US and its allies Britain and Australia remains an
illegal invasion until today. No amount of resolutions at the UN will change
that. The only way to compensate the victims of the war will be formal arrest
warrants against the three and their incarcerations whenever they travel to
any of the nations that would support such warrant of arrests.
Other than that, said the observer, the trio will make a foul of the charges and
will defy the victims of their crimes by traveling to the Muslim countries
– even after they leave office – in all impunity.
The peak of the war against Islam came with the arrival of George W. Bush
as President of the US thanks to a superb trick that allowed him to win
despite losing to Al-Gore in numbers and percentages in national votes.
56
The KL war crimes commission has also heard charges against them
for ordering the destruction of vital facilities essential to civilian lives
in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine while the fourth one for the bombing of
schools, hospitals, mosques, churches, residential areas, historical sites and
conveniently labeling the destruction as “collateral damage”.
Unfortunately they are not the last of the Western leaders that would be
tempted to use cluster bomb, napalm bomb, phosporous bomb, and depleted
uranium ammunition and other chemicals or heavy weaponry against
Muslims. Once Bush-Blair-Howard is out of office, it will be up to the next
American, British and Australian and now NATO leaders to ‘smoke the
Muslims out’.
“We appreciate there are other tribunals but there are so many complaints,
the other tribunals perhaps are not being able to hear the complaint. We feel
there is a need for the setting up this tribunal (Kuala Lumpur War Crimes
Tribunal) and give an opportunity for those war crimes victims to voice out
their complaints and to seek redress,” he said.
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Iraqi government should also be condemned as part of the war
crimes committed by allies of the Bush-Blair-Howard group.
Others said they hoped the exhibition on the war crimes by the US and its
allies since World War 2 should be extended for another month in order to
allow more people to see with their own eyes what the trio is capable of.
Source: www.worldfutures.info
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Stop the War
An increasing number of people are calling for the end of the American occupation of Iraq.
This will only be achieved if there are concerted efforts by the Organization of Islamic
Conference (OIC), the Arab League (AL) and the United Nations (UN) with help from the
EU and Russia/China.
The Iraqi people has been punished enough for the US invasion of their country. It is time
to set a road map for peace in Iraq.
Extracted from www.worldfutures.info
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Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal
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