I thought I’d bring this over here too. Diaried at Kos with initially no takers. When I mentioned this in a comment to TXsharon she asked my permission to diary it at Texas Kos and it’s now being FP’d there.
Abstract
This diary is a project for the institution of War Crime Tribunals to be held at Crawford, Texas, the home town of George W Bush, the 43rd president of the United States of America. George W Bush will be one of the defendants at these tribunals.
The tribunals at Crawford are to be mirrored on the War Crime Tribunals at Nuremberg, Germany, in the past century. The Nuremberg Tribunals ultimately convicted the German leadership and officers for the war crimes of planning and initiating a war of aggression and the subsequent misconduct during warfare.
The charges to be brought at the tribunals of Crawford will be based on the principles of the Nuremberg Tribunals.
More on the flip.
The principles of the Nuremberg Tribunals are these:
Principle I
Any person who commits an act which constitutes a crime under international law is responsible therefore and liable to punishment.
Principle II
The fact that internal law does not impose a penalty for an act which constitutes a crime under international law does not relieve the person who committed the act from responsibility under international law.
Principle III
The fact that a person who committed an act which constitutes a crime under international law acted as Head of State or responsible Government official does not relieve him from responsibility under international law.
Principle IV
The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him.
Principle V
Any person charged with a crime under international law has the right to a fair trial on the facts and law.
Principle Vl
The crimes hereinafter set out are punishable as crimes under; international law:
a. Crimes against peace:
i. Planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances;
ii. Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the acts mentioned under (i).
b. War crimes:
Violations of the laws or customs of war which include, but are not limited to, murder, ill-treatment or deportation to slave-labor or for any other purpose of civilian population of or in occupied territory, murder or illtreatment of prisoners of war, of persons on the seas, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity.
c. Crimes against humanity:
Murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation and other inhuman acts done against any civilian population, or persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds, when such acts are done or such persecutions are carried on in execution of or in connection with any crime against peace or any war crime.
Principle VII
Complicity in the commission of a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity as set forth in Principles VI is a crime under international law.
Feasibility
Am I out of my mind? Will this ever happen?
As I see it, this will happen if we work towards it and continue to educate people about the realities about what the current administration and its sycophants have wrought in the name of the American people and how it has brought shame on previously proud country. When people begin to see that the one way they can wash this stench away is by bringing Bush and his cohorts to justice. Nothing less than international justice will do since American “justice” under Bush is but a mockery of justice. The ICC (International Criminal Court) was set up just for this kind of scenario: when a country isn’t capable or willing to bring its own leaders or citizens to justice the ICC will have jurisdiction and are obligated to step in.
Well, didn’t Bush withdraw from the ICC as one of his preparations for the war on Iraq? He did. But I submit that withdrawal is null and void. The precedent for such a submittal is, again, the Nuremberg tribunals and the reasoning they insisted on to be able to indict, and subsequently convict, the German war criminals; Hitler had, as Bush later did, withdrawn from international treaties before his grand adventures. The Nuremberg tribunals considered such a withdrawal null and void since the treaties withdrawn from were merely an extension of universally accepted laws of war.
So, it can be done. At least it should be done. I would be out of my mind if I thought it couldn’t be done.
Charges
To be developed. Looking at the principles of the Nuremberg tribunals I see there’s ample grounds for bringing charges. Especially the one which at Nuremberg was deemed the supreme crime: Crime against peace. That one’s evident.
Petition
Whereas the administration of George W Bush (hereafter defendants)
1. conspired in preparation of, initiation of and waging a war of aggression on Iraq in violation of international treaties
2. destroyed villages wholesale in Iraq without consideration for the civilian population
3. used depleted uranium in ordinance leveraged at Iraq thereby contaminating the environment for decades to come
4. used White Phosphorous in indiscriminant attacks against populated areas, though the use of such a chemical as an anti-personnel weapon is outlawed.
5. inflicted torture on detainees, many of whom after years of incarceration was released without charges of any kind brought.
6. …
We, the undersigned, hereby demand the institution of War Crime Tribunals, with members of the George W Bush administration as defendants, at Crawford, Texas and for those tribunals to be grounded in the wisdom and principles of the Nuremberg Tribunals.
This is my challenge to -Kossacks- Tribbers! Are we willing to call for war crime tribunals against George W Bush and his administration? If we mean anything by denouncing Bush and his crimes this is the least we can do. And, of course, it’s the logical thing to do as well.
Please use the comments to sign up for bringing this project further. Let’s get going!