International Criminal Tribunal finds George Bush GUILTY OF WAR CRIMES

[Guest guest]

http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2004/Afghanistan-Criminal-Tribunal10mar04.htm

International Criminal Tribunal For Afghanistan at Tokyo

Final Written Opinion of Judge Niloufer Bhagwat 10mar04

THE PEOPLEVersusGEORGE WALKER BUSHPresident of the United States of America

 

Present: Presiding Judge Professor Osamu Niikura ( Japan ) , Professor Dr. Asaho Mizushima ( Japan ), Professor Dr. R.I .Akroyd ( England ),Professor Peter Erlinder, (USA ) Professor Ms. Niloufer Bhagwat ( India ).

 

Judgement of Professor Ms Niloufer Bhagwat J.

For the Prosecution: Attorneys:

( Japan ) Kohken Tsuchiya Hiroshi Yamaguchi Uyema Tsutomu Kazuko ItoKenta HagioHajime KanbaraKanae DoiChieko TabeAkiko NarumiSayo SarutaAruta KagamiAkio TabeRyosuke KubokiMichael Warren( US) Gyoergy Szell ( Germany) Anya Mukharji (USA)

Amicus CuriaeKen-ichi OkoboFumito MorikawaAkira Obori

 

The Prosecution has presented a formidable Indictment against the Defendant, George Walker Bush, President of the United States and Commander -in-Chief of US military forces for serious crimes ; waging a war of aggression on Afghanistan, war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Afghan people, against prisoners of war ; and the use of radioactive depleted uranium weapons of mass destruction , against the people of Afghanistan ; with serious fall out effects on the military personnel of the United States ,UK and other forces deployed ; and on countries, in and around the region .

The entire case can be read at:

http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2004/Afghanistan-Criminal-Tribunal10mar04.htm

 

 

Excerpt:

 

17.Verdict :

I find the Defendant , George Walker Bush , President of the United States and Commander-in-Chief of United States Armed Forces guilty –

1. Under Article 2 of the Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for Afghanistan and under International Criminal Law ,for waging a war of aggression against Afghanistan and the Afghan people ;

 

2.Under Article 3, Part I , clause (a) , (b), © ,(d), (f),(g) and Article 3, Part II, clause (a),(b),©(d),(e),(f), (h)(i),(k),(l),(n),(o),(p),(q) of the Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for Afghanistan, under International Criminal Law and International Humanitarian Law , in respect of War Crimes committed against the people of Afghanistan by the use of weapons prohibited by the laws of warfare causing death and destruction to the Afghan people ; maiming men , women and children;

 

3.Under Article 4 , clause (a) ,(b),(d ),(e),(f) ,(h) and (i ) of the Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal and International Humanitarian Law , for Crimes Against Humanity committed against the people of Afghanistan; resulting in inhumane acts affecting large sections of the population cause by the military invasion , bombing , and lack of humanitarian relief ;

 

4. Under Article 3, Part I , clause (a),(b),©,(f),(g) and Article 3 , Part II clause (f),(k),(p), and (q) of the Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for Afghanistan , under International Criminal Law and the Hague Convention and Geneva Convention (III ) of 1949 in respect of the torture and killings of Talban and other prisoners of war who had surrendered and their torture and inhumane conditions of detention and deportation of innocent civilians;

In respect of the transport of prisoners in sealed Containers and their death due to suffocation and filing of rifle shots at the Container for creating holes for ventilation with the prisoners inside ; and for conditions at Sheberghan prison; the Defendant is entitled to benefit of doubt at this trial however the issues are left open for trial, before any other court /Tribunal ; as the evidence before the Tribunal is not conclusive on the involvement of United States forces ;

 

5. Under Article 3, Part I (c ) and ( g ); Article 3 Part 2 ( a), (b) ,© ,(d ) ( e) (h) ( i) ( l) and Article 4 (b) ,(l) of (n) ,( p),(q) of the ICTA in respect of the serious humanitarian situation resulting from the refugee exodus in Afghanistan due to the bombing of civilian population and civilian infrastructure in a country already affected by serious famine resulting in mass exodus of people and death from bombing , hunger ,displacement, disease ; and absence of humanitarian relief ;

 

6. Under Article 3 , Part II ,clause(o) (p) and under Article 4 clause (a) ,(b) and (l) of the statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for Afghanistan , and under International Criminal Law and International Humanitarian Law ; in respect of the DU weapons used on the people of Afghanistan to exterminate the population ; and for the crime of "Omnicide " the extermination of life , contamination of air ,water and food resources ; and the irreversible alteration of the genetic code of all living organisms including plant life ; as a direct consequence of the use of radioactive munitions in Afghanistan ; affecting countries in the entire region ;

 

7. Under Article 3, Part II ,clause(o) (p) and under Article 4(a) and ( i) of the Statute of the International Tribunal for Afghanistan , under International Criminal Law , for exposing soldiers and other personnel of the United States ,UK and other soldiers of coalition forces to radioactive contamination by the use of DU weapons , hazarding their lives, their physiology , and that of their future progeny by irreversible alteration of the genetic code .

 

18. Direction :

 

 

1.The Defendant is a convicted war criminal consequently unfit to hold public office ; citizens ,soldiers and all civil personnel of the United States would be constitutionally and otherwise , justified in withdrawing all co-operation from the Defendant and his government ; and in declining to obey illegal orders of the Defendant and his administration ;including military orders threatening other nations or the people of the United States on the basis of the Nuremberg Principle, that illegal orders of Superior must not be obeyed.

19. Recommendations :

A.Immediate cessation of the use of Depted Uranium Munitions-Moratorium on production , stockpiling and munufacture .

 

It has been conclusively proved that DU Weapons are Radioactive , Omnicidal nuclear weapons( the by product of the uranium enrichment process of manufacture of nuclear weapons and nuclear fuel ) used as weapons of "silent genocide " in Afghanistan ,Iraq and the Balkans and destructive of all life on earth ; irreversibly altering the genetic code of all exposed .The manufacture , stockpiling and use of such weapons is strictly prohibited by existing Conventions of International Humanitarian Law and must cease immediately .Corporations producing these weapons , heads of State , heads and personnel of Defense departments , military officers and others involved in decisions for its use, are liable to be criminally prosecuted before the International Criminal Court , or within national legal systems , and /or face suits for compensation .

ii..The manufacture ,stockpiling, and use of Cluster bombs and Fuel -air

explosives also known as Daisy Cutters , to immediately cease as

these weapons systems are also prohibited by existing Conventions of

International Humanitarian Law and those manufacturing ,purchasing,

stockpiling and permitting such weapons for military use ; including

those using these weapons systems are liable to be prosecuted for war

crimes and face liability for claims of compensation.

 

 

Payment of Reparations to the people of Afghanistan

The people of Afghanistan individually and collectively are entitled to reparations for the war of aggression , war crimes , crimes against humanity , and the use of DU weapons ; in keeping with International historical and legal precedent of the payment of compensation Lockerbie victims; the compensation paid to the Jewish people and the government of Israel, after the holocaust, by the German Government and Corporations ;the compensation paid to Japanese citizens wrongfully interred during the Second World War and in accordance with the legal principles of the Theo Boven Report , adopted by the UN Committee in April 2000 , "On the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Violations of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law ‘ .Reparations to be paid by Unocal company and Centgas consortium , the Defendant , the Government of the United States, UK , NATO countries , Pakistan , and other countries who offered bases or logistic facilities . The valuation of reparation to be

based on the Lockerbie Award paid by Libya and to the to the victims of the French Airlines crash also paid by Libya , even though Libya did not accept guilt .The life of an Afghan man, woman and child is not less than the worth of a life of a citizen of the United States , of Europe or Israel as the planet earth is the common home of all races. Afghanistan must be reconstructed.

 

Revoke the Charter of the Unocal Corporation based in California.

 

In 1998 several citizens groups in the United States had filed a complaint to

the Attorney General of California ,for cancellation of the Charter of the Unocal , for serious violations of human rights of citizens , within the the United States and in countries such as Afghanistan and in Myanmar . It is recommended that a Complaint/Petition be filed again to revoke the Charter of Unocal and

against companies of the Centgas consortium wherever liable ; as records of this trial and the earlier complaint ,establish that the Unocal Company and Centgas have used the military forces of the Republic of the United States ,UK and other forces , paid for by citizens , in conspiracy with the Defendant ,to wage a war of aggression in Afghanistan, to establish direct political and economic control .

 

D.To complete the Unfinished Task of the Nuremberg Trial and Far East Trials - and analyse the real reasons for the wars of the 20th and 21st Century for citizens .

 

As citizens, jurists, law makers , we have to complete the unfinished task of the Trials at Nuremberg and the Trials of the Far East ; to lift the " Corporate Veil" on wars of aggression which the world has been subjected to. It has been concealed from citizens and soldiers alike , that decisions even for war and peace have vested in conglomerates, financial , Banking interests , Corporations and their political allies and lobbies ; manipulating resources and institutions of the state , created of millions of people , even in systems we have termed as democracies and Republics . The reasons for the First and Second World War , was not because the German or Japanese people were inclined towards war ; the Axis and Allied nations with a few exceptions ,were in the crucible of the same system with difference of degrees; oppressing other peoples and nations for economic resources ;which they succeeded in camouflaging at the Nuremberg and Far East Trials. The nuclear

bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ,and of German towns which had no military targets , were also war crimes. Despite the contribution of outstanding Investigators and Prosecutors these realities were swept away , and even as US soldiers were landing on Normandy beach , certain US Corporations were still dealing with the Nazi Party, some US Corporations had used slave labour , held stocks and were partners in German plants ; a continuation of the capital accumulation from the slavery of African people caught and sold across the Atlantic by Companies .

 

E. Assert Public/State control through legislation and autonomous bodies over Armament Industries and Major Corporations in all countries -in the interregnum prevent National Budgets from being hemorrhaged by the Military-Industrial Complex referred to by President Eisenhower- within and across nations -a major cause of wars.

i.)To prevent wars every national budgets has to be protected from the International Arms Industries, diverting scarce resources to armaments with a vested interest in wars, armed conflicts and terrorism .. The continuation of these Industries in private hands ,is itself a threat as the issue of DU weapons has shown .The connection between Krupps ,the Arms Corporation and the Nazi Party cannot be forgotten ; such alliances existed at the relevant time in both countries of the Axis and Allied powers ; such alliances still exist between Corporations and governments as we have seen in this trial not only within nations but globally.

 

ii )It was a President of the United States, General Dwight Eisenhower who stressed among other eminent leaders of the world that-

" Every gun that is made , every warship launched , every rocket fired signifies in the final sense , a theft from those who hunger and are not fed ; those who are cold and not clothed .This World in Arms is not spending money alone .It is spending the sweat of its labourers , the genius of its Scientists , the hopes of its children".

 

 

iii)The economy of the United States in respect of which the IMF has sounded an alarm ; the infrastructure of health , housing , education does not reflect the status of a "super power" ;the people of the United States have paid the price of the subsidies given by its citizens to armament and other corporations , in whose interests these wars have been waged ; with adverse affects on other economies linked or dependent on the US economy .

 

iv) In this context Article XXI of the GATT , provides freedom for military spending for any reason related to national security…to maintain order, so that national defense and security budgets are not subject to scrutiny by International Financial and Bretton Woods Institutions ( World Bank & IMF ) , as an incentive to the Arms industry; whereas social and development budgets of national governments regulated by Structural Adjustment Loans, are strictly controlled by the aid/loan agencies. This must be revoked .

 

F. Revise the concept of permanent membership of the Security Council not in the interest of peaceful solution of disputes ,with the rotational principle; and enhance the powers of the General Assembly of the UN.

The Security Council , continues to reflect the historically outdated principle of 'balance of power' among the Permanent members ; the legacy of the Second World War; giving disproportionate status to certain governments ;this no longer reflects the real world and its democratic aspirations; as a consequence the Security Council at crucial moments has either been paralyzed ; or has been utilized to camouflage military occupations of countries , in private interests . The General Assembly of the United Nations , where the democratic principle prevails, must assume its rightful role in the resolution of conflicts .The Security Council should function on a rotational principle, and the concept of permanent membership abolished ,to restore democracy to the world body , reflecting 21st Century realities.

 

Adherence to the letter and spirit of Article 33

Article 33 of the United Nations Charter provides for mediation, conciliation , arbitration and adjudication prior to resort to war ; any legal defense

or justification by any government of waging a "just" war ; must be subject to the test of Article 33 as to whether these alternative dispute mechanisms were resorted to .The Security Council and General Assembly must secure compliance.

 

It is necessary for me to place on record , the invaluable assistance rendered for this trial ,by organizations working for peace in Japan and the support of humanitarian and other organizations and individuals who came forward to testify from all over the world .In the final analysis the acceptance of a decision in any legal system , is dependent on the confidence of vast numbers of people in the independence , integrity and juridical wisdom of a Court or Tribunal ,and its capacity to reflect the collective conscience of humanity in trials as serious as this one ; all higher forms of social organization have evolved directly out of mankind's yearning for a "just and harmonious society " and for the realization of the worth of every human being.

This judgement is the result of the legal dialogue during hearings , with attorneys from Japan, the United States and Germany appearing for the Prosecution and the amicus curiae team of lawyers , who spared no effort to assist the Tribunal ; and legal discussions with my colleagues , the Judges at this trial ; representing different legal systems discovering principles common to all our legal systems.

Without the assistance of the ICTA Executive and Secretariat based in Japan ,the painstaking task of compilation of documents , translations , interpretation for witnesses and coordination of work across continents would have been impossible .

I believe that "Truth " is a weapon on the side of humanity .If truth is known tyranny and injustice will be defeated .The Tribunal has performed its Judicial task . It is now for people to ensure the implementation of this verdict. .

Professor Ms Niloufer Bhagwat J.Tokyo , 13TH March 2004

 

 

 

 

To send us your comments, questions, and suggestions click hereThe home page of this website is www.mindfully.orgPlease see our Fair Use Notice