3 STEPS

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press

Monday November 15, 2004 20:19

by gabriele zamparini - the cat's dream

info at thecatsdream dot com

To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.

To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.

Judgment of the International Military Tribunal for the Trial of German Major War Criminals - Nuremberg, Germany 1946

The supreme international crime of the invasion of Iraq needs to be addressed with the instruments of the international law. We, the people around the world who have strongly opposed this invasion, need to have our objective clear in our minds and to focus our energy and time to a sensible and daring plan. It’s time for the international anti-war movement to step in with concrete propositions and face our own responsibilities.

1. Occupation forces have no rights. Occupation forces have only obligations. The first obligation is WITHDRAWING. If United Nations troops are required in the immediate aftermath of the withdrawing, they must exclude totally those from the countries that have been responsible for the supreme international crimes of invasion and occupation.

2. Withdrawing is the first step. The second is REPARATION. The international community has the legal and moral responsibility to provide NOT AID but REPARATION to Iraq and its people. Reparation for what has been done to the people of Iraq since 1990: a brutal and terroristic war of aggression against Iraqi civilians and Iraqi economy that’s been going on for the last 14 years.

3. The third step is the most difficult but at the same time the most important for the prevention of future supreme international crimes. We must bring those responsible for political decisions to JUSTICE, applying to ourselves the same moral and legal standards we always demand from others. International law provides plenty of instruments to do so. The most important of them are:

a. United Nations Charter
b. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
c. International Criminal Court
d. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
e. Geneva Conventions of 1949 and 1977

We, the people of the world who opposed this supreme international crime, must take on ourselves the responsibility of what our governments have done (or have let happened) in our names and with our tax money. We have many peaceful means to do so. Demonstrations, vigils, civil disobedience, strikes, pressure on the media, keep organizing and work together. Martin Luther King Jr. is still reminding us “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

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3 STEPS