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Following the
publication of the open letter to Amnesty International on April 18,
2003 to set up the independent War Crimes Tribunal, there was a barrage
of responses from peace and human rights activists, jurists, academics,
medical practitioners, media persons and political workers in support of
constituting an independent Tribunal. Most agreed that the lead has to
come from the people of the once colonized countries, while the support
of anti-war activists from the countries of the West and the examples
set by them remain valuable and as inspiring as ever.
Events;
Nov 2003:
Draft Dossier on crimes perpetrated on Iraq since 1991.
As a corollary to our location and history as people from once colonized
nations, the dossier will seek to expand the scope of internationally
recognised war crimes to include the systematic destruction of the social
capital, moral resources and cultural heritage of the Iraqi peoples,
challenging the false binaries of savage-saviour or the barbarian-civilized
imposed by the victors. The draft will be circulated, responses invited
and subsequently revised.
Feb 2004:
International Meeting to set up an International Commission
An international meeting will be convened where the Dossier will be
adopted and a panel nominated of eminent persons from both participants
and others who will constitute the International Commission. A
Secretariat will be set up to support the International Commission.
Subsequently the Commission will empower a five member fact finding team
to visit Iraq to investigate some five or six charges. On the basis of
the Commission's report, an International Tribunal may be set up.
Nov 2004:
International War Crimes Tribunal
The tribunal will comprise eminent judges drawn from countries colonised and
semi-colonised in the past, and other international jurists committed to
human rights and peace. The cases investigated by the Commission and its
investigators will be presented before this International Tribunal. The
Tribunal will frame charges and these will be given wide publicity
through media and various alternative networks. The public trial of the
war criminals will be held in open court and will follow internationally
established norms and procedure for such trials - laws, norms and
institutions, that the US and its allies have violated and tried to
destroy.
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