WTI: Refusal Against Silence
Roy stated that the tribunal was gathered not to decide whether the U.S. is guilty or not, but rather to document in every way the occupation of Iraq.
"The assault on Iraq is an assault on all of us: on our dignity, our intelligence, and our future," said Roy. "The evidence collated in this tribunal should be used by the International Criminal Court to try as war criminals government officials, army generals, managers of multinational media organizations and corporate CEOs who participated in this war."
WTI is "refusing to be silent or to be silenced," said Professor Falk, who is one of the world's most important experts in international law.
Roy: The tribunal is not for victors but for the "temporarily vanquished."
Writer Arundhati Roy said it is of particular significance that the tribunal it is being held in Turkey where the United States uses air bases.
"The testimonies at the previous sessions of the WTI in Brussels and New York have demonstrated that we are not aware of a fraction of the horrors that have been unleashed in Iraq," said Roy.
She said the tribunal would examine every aspect of the invasion and occupation - its legality, the role of the media, the impact of weapons such as depleted uranium munitions and cluster bombs, the responsibility of Arab governments, the impact of Iraq's occupation on Palestine, and the history of U.S. and British military interventions in Iraq.
Roy added that some people view the tribunal as "a so-called, prejudiced court." They say "that the views of the U.S. government and the so-called Coalition of the Willing headed by President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair have gone unrepresented and that the tribunal isn't aware of the arguments in support of the war," said Roy.
"If in the era of the multinational corporate media and embedded journalism, anybody can seriously hold this view, then we truly do live in the Age of Irony. This tribunal is an act of resistance in itself. It is a defense mounted against one of the most cowardly wars ever fought in history."
"This Tribunal is not in any way a defense of Saddam Hussein," added Roy. "Hussein is being tried as a war criminal even as we speak. But what about those who armed him, who supported him? Those who are now setting up a court to try him and absolve themselves completely? And what about the crimes committed against the Kurdish people and other people's rights by the friends of the United States including Turkey?"
"The evidence, witnesses and documents here should become a weapon in the hands of soldiers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, and elsewhere who do not wish to take the lives of others," said Roy. "It should become a weapon in the hands of poets, singers, plumbers, and mechanics who wish to participate in the resistance."
Roy said the WTI places its faith in the consciences of millions of people. "People who do not wish to stand by and watch while the Iraqis are being slaughtered, subjugated, and humiliated."
Falk: The purpose is to confirm the truth, not to discover it
Richard Falk said that the tribunal is historically significant for two principal reasons:
"* The resistance to the occupation of a country by the greatest military power in the history of the world, has reached a new phase. The Iraqi people are being denied their fundamental rights of self-determination.
* The WTI is set up by, and for citizens, to hold leaders accountable for severe violations of international law.
The WTI is refusing to be silent or to be silenced.
The citizens have come together to "uphold international law and to confirm the truth of the allegation directed at the United States and the United Kingdom, where governments and the United Nations are unable and unwilling to act," said Falk. "We should be aware that such a commitment by the WTI is part of a longer journey of international law."
They knew that this war was unlawful
"This tribunal does not pretend to be a normal court of law," added Falk. "At the same time, it is acting on behalf of the peoples of the world to uphold respect for international law. When governments and the UN are silent, and fail to protect victims of aggression, tribunals of concerned citizens possess a law-making authority."
The basic characteristic of the tribunal is to tell the truth as powerfully and fully as possible.
"The US Government told a pack of lies in its feeble attempt to find a legal justification for the invasion of Iraq," said the spokesman of the Panel of Advocates. "The WTI will expose these lies. The task of exposing lies and confirming truth has become easier as a result of the release of the Downing Street memos. These official documents show that British and American officials understood fully that the Iraq War was unlawful. And not only did they go ahead, but they fabricated evidence to build a completely dishonest legal case."
The Tribunal is an organ of civil society, not of the state
"It is the mission of the World Tribunal for Iraq to tell this story and to appeal to the peoples of the world to join with the people of Iraq," he added.
Falk said that the tribunal is formed on the basis of a Panel of Advocates and a Jury of Conscience. The Panel will present the evidence and the Jury will draw legal, moral, and political conclusions and offer recommendations.
This tribunal differs from a normal court of law in that it is an organ of civil society, not of the state, added Falk. "The purpose is to confirm the truth, not to discover it."
"The jurors are not neutral and indifferent individuals of the community. Their trust for the future is not based on violence and police, but on conscience, political struggle, and public opinion."
The tribunal has the authority to declare the law and to impose its judgment.
Falk said one of their purposes is to look into the legal responsibility of Turkey
"Turkey is an appropriate site for this culminating session of the World Tribunal for Iraq," said Falk. "It stands at the crossroads between the old European geopolitical core and the Third World periphery."
"It was Turkey's proudest moment when its parliament refused the request of the US Government to mount the invasion of Iraq from Turkish territory; this represented an expression of an increasingly robust democratic process here in Turkey," added Falk. "Turkey is also a neighbor of Iraq, and suffers a variety of bad consequences from the war."
"The Turkish government has cooperated with the U.S. for a long time. The Incirlik Airbase has been used for a strategic base that has been extensively used for the bombing of Iraq ever since 1990. It is a purpose of this tribunal to show that such complicity engages legal responsibility for Turkey, and for other governments in the region that support directly or indirectly such aggressive war making," he said.
World Tribunal on Iraq is standing in solidarity with the Iraqi people.
Falk added: "The Iraq war is the eye of a larger global storm. The storm expresses the fury of this American project to dominate the world by force of arms, to exploit the peoples of the world through the medium of economic globalization, and to administer its idea of security from its Washington headquarters. This project hides its true colors beneath the banner of anti-terrorism. It justifies every abuse by pointing to the September 11 attacks."
The attacks of September 11 do not justify aggression against states or the torture of individuals, argued Falk. "The convenors of the WTI are mindful of this wider context of the Iraq War."
A special concern of the World Tribunal on Iraq is to take sharp issue with American claims of "exception" whether based on an alleged freedom to wage war anywhere on the planet as a result of the 9/11 attacks or securing an exemption for itself in relation to the basic obligation to uphold international law, said Falk.
He said the claim of exception moves in two directions:it operates,
1. As an explicit effort to exempt American leaders from individual accountability for violating international law.
2. In relation to the lawless barbarism of the detention of alleged terrorist and insurgency suspects being held in such notorious outposts of torture and official evil as Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq and Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo.
If a different world is possible, it's necessary
"The WTI hopes that truth-telling with respect to Iraq will also revive the emergent normative revolution of the 1990s and will insist that "another world is possible," and add, "if possible, it is necessary," said Falk. "The WTI will not only stimulate resistance to appression and solidarity with victims, but will revive the vision of the 1990s that can be best summarized as the cause of "moral globalization." (TK)