Victims want Bush, Blair and Howard tried for war crimes

KUALA LUMPUR: Sitting for the first time, the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission heard a petition seeking US president George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Australian Prime Minister John Howard to be tried for war crimes. 

Presenting the case, Matthias Chang said the petitioners were victims of crimes against peace, crimes against humanity and war crimes and should be tried by the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal. 

“Don’t let them down. They have nowhere to go. This is their last stop,” he pleaded before the Commission. 

Still smarting: Najwa Jehad Aref Jalamneh, 17, from Jenin in Palestine was seen wiping her tears asChang made his closing statement. She was one of the witnesses who put forward her petition at the KualaLumpur War Crimes Commission yesterday.

Chang, a lawyer and former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's political secretary, was almost in tears with his voice cracking when he presented his case. 

The commission – headed by Dr Mahathir – and the tribunal were set up by the Perdana Global Peace Organisation. 

Besides Dr Mahathir, the commission comprises advocate and solicitor Datuk Dr Yaacob Hussain Merican who has a doctorate in international law and international relations, lawyer and former Malaysian Bar president Zainur Zakaria, lawyer and former magistrate Musa Ismail, and law lecturers Prof Dr Mohd Akram Shair Mohamad and Prof Gurdial Singh. 

Chang argued that the leaders had, among other things, directed the destruction of vital facilities in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine; ordered the use of prohibited weapons of mass destruction; fraudulently manipulated the United Nations and the UN Security Council to commit war crimes; and violated human rights. 

Expert witness Prof Niloufer Bhagwat, who is a judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for Afghanistan, told the Commission that the US-led war on terror had no enemy. 

“Not a single Afghan was connected with the 19 hijackers in the Sept 11 attack. None of them were from Iraq. They were not from Lebanon nor Palestine,” she said. 

Dirk Adrieansens, co-ordinator of S.O.S Iraq and member of executive committee Brussels War Crimes Tribunal, told the commission that the International Criminal Court acknowledged that it had received 240 formal complaints of violation from Iraq but had described them as “not grave enough to open up a case.” 

Seven victims from Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon also came forward with their testimonies and statutory declarations. 

Dr Mahathir said the commission would study the case and decide whether there was a basis for it to be brought to the tribunal. 

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