Indict

Indict

The Initiative of a British Member of Parliament, Ann Clwyd

January 15, 1997

INDICT The campaign to indict Iraqi War Criminals

INDICT CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED AT PARLIAMENT ON THE SIXTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GULF WAR

LONDON (15 January): INDICT, the international campaign to indict Iraqi war criminals, was launched at the House of Commons in London today, INDICT, a group of individuals and organizations across the world, has been launched for the purpose of bringing Saddam Hussein and other leading figures in the current regime in Iraq before an international tribunal to face charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes against peace and the crime of genocide.

The host of the launch was Ann Clwyd said, "Saddam Hussein should not continue to escape prosecution for his war crimes and the crime of genocide. It is essential he should not cheat justice and the launch of the campaign will help ensure that justice is done." She also read out messages of all-party support INDICT has received from the Prime Minister John Major, Rt. Hon. Tony Blair leader of the Labor Party, former Prime Minister Lady Thatcher, the Liberal Democrats, the Government of Kuwait, EU Commissioner Emma Bonino, and Madame Danielle Mitterrand among others.

The Prime Minister said in his letter to INDICT, "I fully share your political objective of bringing those responsible, particularly Saddam Hussein, to justice for the atrocities committed by the Baghdad regime. The international community is right to condemn such actions and we need to ensure that these actions remain in the public eye. I am sure your campaign will help".

Ahmad Chalabi, President of the Executive Council of the Iraqi National Congress, the main Iraqi opposition group, said, "We are using the sixth anniversary of the start of the Gulf War to draw the world's attention to the fact that Saddam and his criminal regime are still there. They must be brought to justice."

INDICT will lobby the international community, and particularly the members of the UN Security Council, to establish a tribunal for Iraq similar to the ones already established for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. INDICT will hold a similar event at the US Congress in March.

Contact: Ann Clwyd MP (0171) 219 6609/INC Press Office 233 9034

Speech by Ann Clwyd MP at the launch of INDICT Grand Committee Room 11.00 - 12.30 15 January 1997

INDICT, a group of individuals and organizations across the world, was created in 1996 for the purpose of bringing Saddam Hussein and other leading figures in the current regime in Iraq before an international tribunal to face charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes against peace and the crime of genocide.

Saddam Hussein continues to escape prosecution for his crimes against humanity, After Kuwait, the United Nations Security Council called on states to collect evidence of Iraqi war crimes, but the UN never established a tribunal to consider the ample evidence of atrocities.

But crimes of the Iraqi dictator are well documented. Like Pol Pot's Organization on High and Hitler's SS, Saddam Hussein's security police kept meticulous records, some of which fell into the hands of the Kurds during the 1991 uprising and have been thoroughly sifted by human rights organizations and are held by the US Foreign Relations Committee.

As President of Iraq and commander of its armed forces, Saddam Hussein has contravened a wide range of international laws, including the Geneva Convention. His crimes against humanity include the deportation and extermination of Iraqi citizens, scientific experiments on human beings and the elimination of whole village populations in 'reprisal'.

Saddam committed the crimes of genocide in the 1987-8 'Anfal' operation against the Kurds, when thousands had to flee; in the campaign against the Marsh Arabs in Southern Iraq; and against the Faili Kurds of eastern Iraq in the build-up to the Iran-Iraq war.

His crimes against the peace include the invasion of Iran, Kuwait and -with his attack on the town of Khafji during the Gulf War- Saudi Arabia. His repeated war crimes include shelling civilian hospitals, the torture and execution of prisoners of war, and the use of prohibited chemical weapons.

Yet despite the vast body of evidence, Saddam has not been charged. More than 50 years after the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal tried the Nazi leaders, progress towards establishing a permanent international criminal court has been painfully slow.

Britain has had a special responsibility towards Iraq since it governed the country under international mandates between 1921 and 1932. In supplying Saddam's war machine in the 1980's, Britain bears a direct moral responsibility for the horrendous consequences.

Reports of terror and repression in Iraq in late 1978 led many British Parliamentarians - including myself- and others from across the political spectrum, to sponsor the formation of CARDRI with the aim of exposing the brutality of the Baath regime and developing solidarity with those in Iraq struggling for human and democratic rights in immensely difficult and dangerous conditions.

By bringing to justice, through the INDICT campaign, those individuals who are responsible for mass crime, the Tribunal will emphasize the distinction, in law, between the Iraqi people and the present leadership. It will further deter Saddam Hussein from aggression, cripple any diplomatic moves of those indicted, undermine the remainder of his legitimacy inside Iraq and in the region, and help secure, in due course, the recovery of Iraq under a new leadership and its reintegration into the international community.

INDICT has received all party support from a wide range of national and international figures, including the Prime Minister John Major, Tony Blair - Leader of the Labor Party, the Liberal Democrats, Lady Thatcher, the Government of Kuwait, Madame Danielle Mitterrand, European Commissioner Emma Bonino and many others.

Prime Minister Major wrote: "I fully share your political objective of bringing those responsible, particularly Saddam Hussein, to justice for the atrocities committed by the Baghdad regime. The international community is right to condemn such actions and we need to ensure that their actions remain in the public eye. I am sure your campaign will help."

The Leader of the Labor Party Tony Blair wrote: "Labor condemns atrocities committed by Saddam Hussein against the people of Iraq. The international community has a responsibility to press Saddam Hussein to respect the rights of all Iraqi civilians. Labor would support action by an International Criminal Court to investigate atrocities in Iraq. The peace and security the Iraqi people deserve will be hard to achieve if those committing atrocities against them are going unpunished. May I take this opportunity of wishing you well with the meeting and success in your campaign.

INDICT's Mission

Since 1979, the Baathist regime in Iraq has committed repeated acts of brutality against the people of Iraq and the citizens of the other countries. The charges against Saddam and his associates would include the invasions of Iran and Kuwait, the occupation and destruction of Kuwait, the use of chemical weapons against the Kurdish citizens of Iraq and against Iran, the genocide Anfal Campaign against the Iraqi Kurds, the continued and systematic repression of Iraqi citizens, including repeated massacres of tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians, the systematic destruction of the land inhabited by the Marsh Arabs, politically motivated assassinations inside and outside Iraq, the abduction and continued detention of Kuwaiti citizens, and the continued violation of Security Council resolutions. These well-documented acts violate international law as well as the most basic norms of behavior recognized and accepted by the civilized world. Evidence to be presented to the Tribunal exists in the form of eye-witness accounts, survivors' testimonies, and several tons of captured Iraqi documents which are in the custody of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

By bringing to justice those few individuals who are responsible for mass crime, the Tribunal will emphasize the distinction, in law, between the Iraqi people and the present leadership. It will further deter Saddam Hussein from aggression, cripple any diplomatic moves of those indicted, undermine the remainders of his legitimacy inside Iraq and in the region, and help secure, in due course, the recovery of Iraq under a new leadership and its reintegration into the international community.

INDICT will endeavor to persuade the members of the world community, and particularly the members of the United Nations Security Council, to set up an international tribunal to try the members of the Baathist regime in Iraq for the above-mentioned charges.