By K.Gajendra Singh

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K. L. War Crimes Tribunal unanimously convicts Bush and Blair for ‘crimes against peace’

According to media reports the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal unanimously found former United States president George W. Bush and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair guilty of “crimes against peace”.

The tribunal found that the two had planned, prepared and invaded the state of Iraq on March 19, 2003, in violation of the United Nations Charter and international law.
 
"The Tribunal deliberated over the case and decided unanimously that the first accused George Bush and second accused Blair have been found guilty of crimes against peace," the tribunal said in a statement.
 
"Unlawful use of force threatens the world to return to a state of lawlessness. The acts of the accused were unlawful."
 
 “The charge is proven beyond reasonable doubt. The accused are found guilty,” read an official media statement from Perdana Global Peace Foundation, organizers of the tribunal.
 
“War criminals have to be dealt with, convict Bush and Blair as charged. A guilty verdict will serve as a notice to the world that war criminals may run but can never ultimately hide from truth and justice,” the statement added.
 
The tribunal noted that the UN Security Council Resolution 1441 did not authorize any use of force against Iraq but the US proceeded to invade Iraq under the pretext of the Sept 11 attacks and weapons of mass destruction.
 
“Weapons investigators had established that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. Iraq was also not posing any threat to any nation at the relevant time that was immediate that would have justified any form of pre-emptive strike.”
 
With the findings, the tribunal has ordered that Bush and Blair’s names be included in the war register of the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission.
 
It also ordered the findings of the tribunal to be publicized to all nations who are signatories of the Rome Statute.
 
The tribunal members were Datuk Abdul Kadir Sulaiman, Tunku Sofiah Jewa, Prof Salleh Buang, Alfred Lambremont Webre and Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi.
 
Prof Niloufer Bhagwat and Datuk Zakaria Yatim were recused as tribunal members.
 
The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal, is part of an initiative by former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad – a fierce critic of the Iraq war . Mahathir  who stepped down in 2003 unveiled plans for the tribunal in 2007 just before he condemned Bush and Blair as "child killers" and "war criminals" at the launch of an annual anti-war conference.

Malaysian activists say they sent information about the charges to Bush and Blair but received no response.

An eye for an eye ; the Code of Hammurabi

Unless criminals are tried and punished , the world will descend into the law of the jungle and chaos , which is what is happening after the collapse of USSR and the symbolic fall of the Berlin Wall. Bush and Blair have also been tried by Tribunals in Spain and Brussels .The two former leaders are now at least afraid to move about freely in the world and have restricted their movement. But that is not enough.

PS: The author had spoken on the Flouting of International Law and Failure of International Institutions along with George Galloway, British MP and Cynthia Mckinny, six times US Congresswoman ,at the Kuala Lumpur International Conference to Criminalize War and War Crimes Tribunal – October-November,2009.

War crimes in Iraq; Fallujah, an example
 
"History is but glorification of murderers, criminals and robbers." - Karl Popper
 
“On February 15, 2003, a month before the US invasion of Iraq, probably the largest protest in human history, between six and ten million protesters took to the streets of some 800 cities in nearly sixty countries across the globe” - William Blum.
 
“The war in Iraq is a historic strategic and moral calamity undertaken under false assumptions – undermining America's global legitimacy – collateral civilian casualties, – abuses, – tarnishing America's moral credentials. Driven by Manichean impulses and imperial hubris, it is intensifying regional instability.” - Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Adviser to US President Jimmy Carter.

Fallujah
 
The list of US crimes will be incomplete without its destruction of the town of Fallujah and lasting destruction and damage on it, reminding one of Nazi war crimes. A film Fallujah ,The Hidden Massacre brings out the war crimes during US  attacks on Fallujah, in particular use of chemical weapons including white phosphorous (both illegal) and depleted Uranium munitions.
 
Following the November 2004 attacks over 6000 civilians were killed, "more than half of Fallujah's 39,000 homes were damaged, and about 10,000 of those were destroyed." According to Mike Marqusee of Iraq Occupation Focus along with the homes destroyed were 60 schools and 65 mosques and shrines. Reconstruction only progressed slowly and mainly consisted of clearing rubble from heavily-damaged areas and reestablishing basic utility services.
 
In July 2010, BBC reported a study by Dr. Chris Busby, detailing increases in infant mortality, such as a 12 fold increase in childhood cancer reported in Fallujah since the attack. In 2004, Iraq had the world's highest rate of leukemia, in which significant increased were also reported. The report also noted that the sex ratio also declined from normal to 86 boys to 100 girls, together with a spread of diseases indicative of genetic damage similar to but far greater than HIROSHIMA.
 
Leaders of USA, UK and other invading nations should be tried along the lines of Nuremberg trial , since the crimes against humanity , war crimes and flouting of human rights and other conventions are similar.