The "Tribunal Movement" Holds Court in Istanbul
   
    By Brendan Smith
    t r u t h o u t | Report

    Sunday 26 June 2005

    Istanbul, Turkey - These are not your average court proceedings. One indication is that the famed novelist and Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy sits on the jury. She is joined by a professor of international law at Princeton, a member of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and an Indian judge.

    Welcome to the World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI), which began Thursday in Istanbul, Turkey. This is where some of the world's most powerful leaders are on trial for war crimes in Iraq. But here, the defendants are not present (although American and British embassies in Japan, Brussels, and elsewhere were served summons for the appearance of President Bush and Prime Minister Blair), the Tribunal is composed of scholars, doctors, judges, former UN Staff, artists, and lawyers, and the proceedings are sanctioned by no government or international institution.

    Drawing on the tradition of Bertrand Russell's 1967 International War Crimes Tribunal on Vietnam, the WTI jury heard expert testimony from eminent lawyers and scholars on the application of international humanitarian law to US and British conduct in Iraq. The jury will also hear testimony from Iraqi victims of alleged American war crimes, including residents of Fallujah, survivors of carpet bombing, and victims of torture.

    There have been twenty similar tribunals held in South Korea, Paris, Brussels, New York, and elsewhere around the world over the last three years. According to Professor Richard Falk, author of more than 30 books on international law, this "Tribunal movement" works "to reinforce the claims of international law by filling in the gaps where governments and even the United Nations are unable and unwilling to act, or even speak. When governments are silent, and fail to protect victims of aggression, tribunals of concerned citizens possess a law-making authority."

    After hearing evidence, the Tribunal jury will "draw legal, moral, and political conclusions," as well as offer recommendations and send the various witness depositions to the International Criminal Court.

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Tribunal on Iraq Findings
   
  World Tribunal on Iraq

    Monday 27 June 2005

The attack on Iraq is an attack on justice, on liberty, on our safety, on our future, on us all - The Jury of Conscience
   
    Istanbul, 27 June, 2005 - With a Jury of Conscience from 10 different countries hearing the testimonies of 54 members of the Panel of Advocates who came from across the world, including Iraq, the United States and the United Kingdom, this global civil initiative came to an end with a press conference at the Hotel Armada where the chair of the Jury of Conscience, Arundathi Roy, announced the Jury's conclusions.

    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. They embarked upon one of the most unjust, immoral, and cowardly wars in history. 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.'

    On the basis of the preceding findings and recalling the Charter of the United Nations and other legal documents, the jury has established the following charges against the Governments of the US and the UK:

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