Fwd: Campaigners accuse leaders of 'war crimes'

[Guest guest]

Campaigners accuse leaders of 'war crimes'

 

By Colin Brown Deputy Political Editor

Published: 08 December 2005

 

The indictments include: crimes against peace; planning and conducting an

aggressive war using deceit; failure to ensure public order and safety by

disbanding the army and police of Iraq; extensive destruction of service

infrastructure; deliberate damage to hospitals; failure to prohibit looting

and arson; failure to respect cultural property; and economic exploitation

of occupied territories.

 

The governments of Tony Blair and George Bush have been charged with war

crimes! by a distinguished group of anti-war campaigners, who are calling

for an investigation by the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, into breaches

of international law.

 

Harold Pinter, the playwright, Tony Benn, the former Labour MP, Michael

Mansfield QC and Professor Richard Dawkins were among the signatories to 28

charges against the Blair and Bush administrations, covering ministers,

officials and generals who were a party to the decisions that led to war on

Iraq and the chaos in its aftermath.

 

The charges were sent to Mr Annan and the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith,

last night, with a demand that the investigation should go beyond the Prime

Minister and the US President to all those involved in setting the policy

decisions that led to abuses including the ill-treatment of prisoners at Abu

Ghraib.

 

" These charges are carefully documented and we want those responsible to be

held to account! , " Mr Benn said. " We are talking about the top people, not

just Bush and Blair, but ministers, generals, who were responsible for the

decisions that led to prisoners being inhumanely treated or sexually

abused. "

 

The charges will be read out at the weekend at a London conference, and Mr

Benn said his message to the campaigners was that they had succeeded in

ensuring that Mr Blair would not be able to support Mr Bush again, if the US

took military action against Iran. The charges claim that Britain is a

signatory to the Geneva and Hague conventions and the Nuremberg charter of

1945, but had breached them all during the Iraq war in 2003 and its

aftermath to the present day.

 

The use of white phosphorus as a weapon in the assault on Fallujah is also

cited as a war crime. This was initially denied by the Bush administration,

until US troops boasted on! a website that it had been used to flush out

insurgents. The charge sheet includes the use of cable ties as a restraint;

hooding of detainees which causes mental suffering; the use of dogs as a

means of obtaining information, which was authorised by the US Defence

Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, in December 2002; sexual humiliation of

detainees, including rapes; and the use of cluster bombs and depleted

uranium shells.

 

The indictments include: crimes against peace; planning and conducting an

aggressive war using deceit; failure to ensure public order and safety by

disbanding the army and police of Iraq; extensive destruction of service

infrastructure; deliberate damage to hospitals; failure to prohibit looting

and arson; failure to respect cultural property; and economic exploitation

of occupied territories.