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Jury of Conscience Votes on Bush

By Jeralyn, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Wed May 12, 2004 at 11:05:30 PM EST
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Here's a press release (pdf) from the World Tribunal on Iraq--New York Session held on May 8, 2004. An international jury of conscience found the Bush Administration guilty of a wide range of war crimes in Iraq and demanded accountability.

The thirteen-member jury considered evidence on a range of violations
including the continued arbitrary detention and torture of Iraqi civilians, the use of cluster munitions in heavily populated civilian areas, the extrajudicial killings of Iraqi civilians, and the destruction of vital services.

The jurors found that "instead of caring for Iraqi people, the US authorities have killed, starved, maimed and tortured thousands of Iraqi people, destroying their infrastructure, including their water and health facilities. ... This was done by the US government. The people of the US are responsible and must hold their government accountable."

As outrage over the torture of Iraqi prisoners by the U.S. military continues to grow both domestically and internationally, the evidence at the tribunal highlighted the systematic brutality of the U.S. invasion and military occupation for the people of Iraq....The Jury's statement (pdf) emphasizes that "the responsibility for defining the future of their country has always rested with the people of Iraq and not with any outside power, or external military force, let alone one that previously encouraged and collaborated with Saddam Hussein in some of his most violent escapades."

The jury wisely noted:

War is a fundamental collapse of human reason and failure of imagination, and should always be an absolute last resort undertaken only in strict adherence with the charter of the United Nations. The current war and occupation of Iraq were undertaken in disregard of the most fundamental principles of international law and with obvious contempt for truth, posterity, and the morality which should guide all human actions. The result has been the occupation and colonization of Iraq and the destruction of its economy and increased violence and insecurity for the overwhelming majority of the Iraqi population. The world cannot sit by passively and watch the continued deterioration of the future of our planet.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) provides an opportunity for the expansion and enhancement of the international rule of law. Unfortunately, the current administration in Washington has not only chosen to separate itself from the evolving international consensus on respect for the rule of law, but has also
chosen to undermine the rule of law through its actions against the International Criminal Court and other legal regimes. It must be noted that the majority of professional legal associations in the United States have expressed support for the ICC even while the administration works against it.

What is the World Tribunal?

Global anti-war activists created the World Tribunal on Iraq in 2003 to hold the Bush administration and its allies accountable for their actions, to establish facts about what happened in Washington and Iraq, and to inform the public of those facts. Precedents for this process include the 1967 Russell Tribunal to investigate crimes by the U.S. and allies in Vietnam, and the International War Crimes Tribunal against weapons of mass destruction by the German Green Party in Nuremberg in 1983. Hearings are being held in sixteen cities across the world and will culminate in the final session in Istanbul, Turkey on the second anniversary of the invasion, March 20, 2005.

This group is doing great work. Bookmark them, and check out their origins and platform page.

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