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   XPost: soc.culture.egyptian, soc.culture.turkish, soc.culture.vietnamese   
   XPost: soc.culture.pakistan   
   From: sinna_manni@yahoo.com   
      
   Law Suit in Spanish Court directed against George H. W. Bush, William   
   J. Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack H. Obama, Margaret Thatcher, John   
   Major, Anthony Blair and Gordon Brown   
      
   MADRID/CAIRO: Public inquiries on the decision to wage war on Iraq   
   that are silent about the crimes committed, the victims involved, and   
   provide for no sanction, whatever their outcome, are not enough.   
   Illegal acts should entail consequences: the dead and the harmed   
   deserve justice.   
      
   On 6 October 2009, working with and on behalf of Iraqi plaintiffs, we   
   filed a case before Spanish law against four US presidents and four UK   
   prime ministers for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide   
   in Iraq. The case presented spanned 19 years, including not only the   
   wholesale destruction of Iraq witnessed from 2003, but also the   
   sanctions period during which 1.5 million excess Iraqi deaths were   
   recorded.   
      
   We brought the case to Spain because its laws of universal   
   jurisdiction are based on principles enshrined in its constitution.   
   All humanity knows the crimes committed in Iraq by those we accused,   
   but no jurisdiction is bringing them to justice. We presented with   
   Iraqi victims a solid case drawing on evidence contained in over 900   
   documents and that refer to thousands of individual incidents from   
   which a pattern of accumulated harm and intent can be discerned.   
      
   When we brought our case, we knew that the Spanish Senate would soon   
   vote on an amendment earlier passed by the lower house of parliament   
   to curtail the application of universal jurisdiction in Spain. We were   
   conscious that this restriction could be retroactive, and we took   
   account of the content of the proposed amendment in our case filing.   
   As we imagined, 2009 turned out to be a sad year for upholding   
   universal human rights and international law in Spain. One day after   
   we filed, the law was curtailed, and soon thereafter our case closed.   
   Serious cases of the kind universal jurisdiction exists to address   
   became more difficult to investigate.   
      
   One more jurisdiction to fall   
      
   Despite submitting a 110-page long referenced accusation (the   
   Introduction of which is appended to this statement), the Spanish   
   public prosecutor and the judge assigned to our case determined there   
   was no reason to investigate. Their arguments were erroneous and could   
   easily have been refuted if we could have appealed. To do so we needed   
   a professional Spanish lawyer — either in a paid capacity or as a   
   volunteer who wished to help the Iraqi people in its struggle for   
   justice. As we had limited means, and for other reasons mostly   
   concerning internal Spanish affairs, which were not our concern, we   
   could not secure a lawyer in either capacity to appeal. Our motion for   
   more time to find a lawyer was rejected.   
      
   We continue to believe that the violent killing of over one million   
   people in Iraq since 2003 alone, the ongoing US occupation — that   
   carries direct legal responsibility — and the displacement of up to a   
   fifth of the Iraqi population from the terror that occupation has   
   entailed and incited suggests strongly that the claims we put forward   
   ought to be further investigated.   
      
   In reality, our case is a paramount example of those that authorities   
   in the West — Spain included — fear. To them, such cases represent the   
   double edge of sustaining the principle of universal jurisdiction.   
   Western states used universal jurisdiction in the past to judge Third   
   World countries. When victims in the global South began using it to   
   judge Israel and US aggression, Western countries rushed to restrict   
   it. Abandoning universal jurisdiction by diluting it is now the   
   general tendency.   
      
   Call for wider collective effort to prosecute   
      
   We regret that the Spanish courts refused to investigate our case, but   
   this will not discourage us. We have a just cause. The crimes are   
   evident. Those responsible are well known, even if the international   
   juridical system continues to ignore Iraqi victims. Justice for   
   victims and the wish of all humanity that war criminals should be   
   punished oblige us to search for alternative legal possibilities, so   
   that the crimes committed in Iraq can be investigated and   
   accountability established.   
      
      
      
   At present, failed international justice allows US and UK war   
   criminals to stand above international law. Understanding that this   
   constitutes an attack — or makes possible future attacks — on the   
   human rights of everyone, everywhere, we will continue to advocate the   
   use of all possible avenues, including UN institutions, the   
   International Criminal Court, and popular tribunals, to highlight and   
   bring before law and moral and public opinion US and UK crimes in   
   Iraq.   
      
   We are ready to make our experience and expertise available to those   
   who struggle in the same direction. We look forward to a time when the   
   countries of the global South, which are generally victims of   
   aggression, reinforce their juridical systems by implementing the   
   principle of universal jurisdiction. This will be a great service to   
   humanity and international law.   
      
   Millions of people in Iraq have been killed, displaced, terrorised,   
   detained, tortured or impoverished under the hammer of US and UK   
   military, economic, political, ideological and cultural attacks. The   
   very fabric and being of the country has been subject to intentional   
   destruction. This destruction constitutes one of the gravest   
   international crimes ever committed. All humanity should unite in   
   refusing that law — by failing to assure justice for Iraqi victims —   
   enables this destruction to be the opening precedent of the 21st   
   century.   
      
      
   Ad Hoc Committee For Justice For Iraq   
      
   Press contacts:   
      
      
   Hana Al Bayaty, Executive Committee, BRussells Tribunal   
   +20 10 027 7964 (English and French) hanaalbayaty@gmail.com   
      
   Dr Ian Douglas, Executive Committee, BRussells Tribunal, coordinator,   
   International Initiative to Prosecute US Genocide in Iraq   
   +20 12 167 1660 (English) iandouglas@USgenocide.org   
      
   Serene Assir, Advisory Committee, BRussells Tribunal (Spanish)   
   justiciaparairak@gmail.com   
      
   Abdul Ilah Albayaty, Executive Committee, BRussells Tribunal   
   +20 11 181 0798 (Arabic) albayaty_abdul@hotmail.com   
      
   Dirk Adriaensens, Executive Committee, BRussells Tribunal   
   +32 494 68 07 62 (Dutch) dirkadriaensens@gmail.com   
      
   Web:   
      
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