UK should face war crime charges, say international lawyers
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, Jan 21, IRNA -- A panel of eight professors of international law has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Britain for alleged war crimes in Iraq. Their report into the legality of the invasion and military occupation of Iraq found that there was "sufficient cause and evidence" in relation to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The executive summary of their findings was launched in parliament on Tuesday evening following an inquiry held by the international lawyers from Britain, Ireland, France and Canada at the London School of Economics last November. The panel cited the use by the British military of cluster bombs in Iraqi civilian areas. It also said the UK was complicit in the actions of the US military, including the killing of international journalists. Professor of human rights and international law at London Metropolitan University, Bill Bowring, said it was evidenced that the UK dropped cluster bombs around Baghdad and fired artillery shells with cluster munitions around Basra, which were not accurate. Among the attacks upon journalists, he referred to deaths that occurred in the offices of the Arab satellite network, al-Jazeera, in Baghdad and on the Palestine hotel in Baghdad that were the result of US assaults. The UK is a signatory of the ICC, set up in 2002 as a permanent court to deal with crimes against humanity and war crimes, while the US has sought opt-outs. The investigation was supported by Peacerights human rights group, which said that many respected organisations and lawyers had expressed serious concerns about the apparently unnecessary and unjustified civilian casualties. "International law does not recognise victor`s justice and both sides to the Iraq war must be fully accountable," its spokesman Phil Shiner said. HC/212 End
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
