Re: war crimes

What does that have to do with this newsgroup?



"starwars" <nobody@tatooine.homelinux.net> wrote in message
news:90dbf172afe5a2bb98cb37bf6a3a53a9@tatooine.hom elinux.net...
> New Report Documents Extensive US War Crimes in Iraq
>
> Report, CESR, 10 June 2004
>
> NEW YORK, NY - The Bush Administration is committing war crimes and other
> serious violations of international law in Iraq as a matter of routine
> policy, according to a report released today by the Center for Economic
> and Social Rights. The report, Beyond Torture: U.S. Violations of
> Occupation Law in Iraq, documents ten categories of war crimes and rights
> violations regularly committed by U.S. forces.
>
> "Torture is only the tip of the iceberg," said Roger Normand, an
> international lawyer who directs the Center. "From unlawful killings, mass
> arrests, and collective punishment to outright theft and pillage, the U.S.
> is violating almost every law intended to protect civilians living under
> foreign military occupation."
>
> The report blames the Bush Administration for misusing the war against
> terrorism to exempt itself from the Geneva Conventions and other legal
> norms, creating a climate of impunity in which ordinary soldiers feel free
> to torture and abuse Iraqis. Rather than scapegoat those caught on camera,
> the report recommends that George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, and other
> responsible U.S. officials be held accountable for war crimes resulting
> from their policies.
>
> According to the report, these crimes are so entrenched in U.S. policies
> towards Iraq that they will end only when the occupation itself is ended.
> This would require withdrawal of U.S. troops and an end to U.S. control
> over Iraq's political, economic and military affairs. Absent these
> fundamental changes, the purported June 30th "transfer of sovereignty" to
> Iraqi authorities is "a form of political theatre with no legal effect" on
> U.S obligations as an occupying power, notwithstanding the diplomatic fig

> leaf provided by yesterday's UN Security Council resolution.
>
> "Under international law, continued military occupation is incompatible
> with self-determination," said Mr. Normand. "For the Security Council to
> legitimize as sovereign an Iraqi government hand-picked by the U.S.-as
> Washington sends more troops to occupy Iraq-merely proves that the UN
> cannot defend its own Charter against American pressure."
>
> CESR is an international human rights organization that has organized
> numerous human rights fact -finding missions to Iraq since 1991. CESR is
> accredited to the United Nations and supported by the Ford Foundation,
> John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and Joyce Mertz-Gilmore
> Foundation.
>