‘Occupiers out; resistance is justified’

After two years of documenting the guilt of the U.S. and UK governments in carrying out an illegal aggression against the sovereign state of Iraq and a criminal occupation of that country, a worldwide people’s organization has met in Istanbul, Turkey, and delivered its verdict.

Veteran anti-war spokespeople from around the world—from Japan to the United States—plus former United Nations officials and Iraqis themselves gave testimony and reports from June 24 to 27 at the culminating session.

Essentially, a world body with popular roots found that the U.S. and UK were guilty of war crimes, that the occupation of Iraq must be ended, and that the Iraqi resistance was completely justified.

The World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI) had opened in April 2004 in Brussels, Belgium. After that, anti-war activists and legal experts in the United States, Germany, Portugal, Japan, Italy, Mexico, Denmark, India, South Korea, Sweden and Spain, among others, held tribunal sessions to review different topics related to the war crimes of the occupying powers in Iraq.

On June 27, Arundathi Roy of India, who chaired the Jury of Conscience from 10 different countries, announced the jury’s conclusions at a news conference at the Hotel Armada in Istanbul.

The jury defined this war as one of the most unjust in history: “The Bush and Blair administrations blatantly ignored the massive opposition to the war expressed by millions of people around the world. ... The Anglo-American occupation of Iraq of the last 27 months has led to the destruction and devastation of the Iraqi state and society.

“Law and order have broken down completely, resulting in a pervasive lack of human security; the physical infrastructure is in shambles; the health care delivery system is a mess; the education system has ceased to function; there is massive environmental and ecological devastation; and, the cultural and archeological heritage of the Iraqi people has been desecrated.

“[T]he jury has established the following charges against the governments of the U.S. and the UK:

“Planning, preparing and waging the supreme crime of a war of aggression in contravention of the United Nations Charter and the Nuremberg Principles.

“Targeting the civilian population of Iraq and civilian infrastructure.

“Using disproportionate force and indiscriminate weapon systems.

“Failing to safeguard the lives of civilians during military activities and during the occupation period thereafter.

“Using deadly violence against peaceful protesters.

“Imposing punishments without charge or trial, including collective punishment.

“Subjecting Iraqi soldiers and civilians to torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

“Rewriting the laws of a country that has been illegally invaded and occupied.

“Willfully devastating the environment.

“Actively creating conditions under which the status of Iraqi women has seriously been degraded.

“Failing to protect humanity’s rich archeological and cultural heritage in Iraq.

“Obstructing the right to information, including the censoring of Iraqi media.

“Redefining torture in violation of international law, to allow use of torture and illegal detentions.

“The jury also established charges against the Security Council of the United Nations for failing to stop war crimes and crimes against humanity, among other failures, against the governments of the Coalition of the Willing for collaborating in the invasion and occupation of Iraq, against the governments of other countries for allowing the use of military bases and air space and providing other logistical support, against private corporations for profiting from the war, against the major corporate media for disseminating deliberate falsehoods and failing to report atrocities.

“The jury also provided a number of recommendations that include recognizing the right of the Iraqi people to resist the illegal occupation of their country and to develop independent institutions, and, affirming that the right to resist the occupation is the right to wage a struggle for self-determination, freedom and independence as derived from the Charter of the United Nations, we the Jury of Conscience declare our solidarity with the people of Iraq and the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the coalition forces from Iraq.”

For more information on the WTI and the evidence behind these damning conclusions, and to help publicize the findings, which have been severely under-reported in the corporate media, see www.worldtribunal.org.

Catalinotto helped organize the August 2004 session in New York, held by the International Action Center, and participated by video in sessions in Portugal and Japan.