Guilty on all Counts By Latheef Farook

 

The others unanimously found guilty of war crimes such as torture, inhumane and degrading treatment were former US Vice President Dick Cheney, former Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Counsel to President Bush, Alberto Gonzales, General Counsel to Vice-President, David Addington, General Counsel to Secretary of Defence, William Haynes II, Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee and former Deputy Assistant Attorney-General, John Choon Yoo.

However, the Tribunal failed to probe into the role played by Arab collaborators who, some bribed by America while others seeking protection from US to remain in power and ensure the safety of their looted wealth invested in the west, provided invading American and NATO troops every possible support and facility to commit these war crimes against their own Arab and Muslim brothers and sisters and help turn Afghanistan and Iraq into wastelands.

The weeklong tribunal, from May 7 to 12, was packed with legal experts and law students as witnesses gave testimony and then cross examination by the defence led by lawyer Jason Kay Kit Leon.

Atrocities perpetrated by US-NATO troops

Harrowing disclosures of torture and other atrocities perpetrated by US-NATO troops and their contractors on innocent Afghan and Iraqi victims were recorded by the 'Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal'- organized by Perdana Global Peace Foundation (PGPF) along with its sister foundation, the Kuala Lumpur Foundation.

The Tribunal is purely a Malaysian organization established in 2007 on the initiatives of former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamed as an alternative to the International Criminal court in the Hague, which he accused of bias in its selection of cases to cover. In fact

Dr. Mahathir was the only leader of a Muslim country and one of the few leaders in the entire Third World, who vehemently opposed the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Explaining the circumstance which led to the formation of the War Crimes Tribunal, a Malaysian daily said "Dr. Mahathir Mohamad asked the question: Why is it that the murder of one man is considered a criminal act whereas the killing of hundreds of thousands of innocent people committed in wars, is not considered so?", and founded the Kuala Lumpur Foundation to Criminalize War (KLFCW).

'The Commission' was established to investigate cases of war crimes that have been neglected by established institutions such as the International Criminal Court. It seeks to influence world opinion on the illegality of wars and occupation undertaken by major Western Powers. The aim of the commission is thereby to hold perpetrators of war crimes accountable for their actions especially when relevant international judicial organs fail to do so.

Members of the governance body included Dr Mahathir Mohamad (Chairman),Alfred Webre, Richard Falk, Zacharia Yatim, retired Malaysian Federal Court Judge, Tunku Sofiah Jewa – lawyer and author of numerous publications on International Law, Salleh Buang – former Federal Counsel in the Attorney-General Chambers, Niloufer Bhagwat, Shad Saleem Faruqi – prominent academic and professor of law.

The Tribunal investigated complaints from victims of wars and armed conflict in relation to crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity and other such offences as recognized under International Law.

Bush and Blair found guilty

In the Tribunal's first trial in November 2011, George Bush and former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair were found guilty for committing 'crimes against humanity' during the Iraq war.

Dr. Mahathir who sat through the entire hearing, remains determined to bring Bush and his cohorts to justice. Speaking on the sidelines of the court regarding Malaysian police's authority to arrest the criminals of war, Dr Mahathir expressed the hope that the charged officials won't be invited to Malaysia. I hope people in the world will take notice and they should actually … these are basically murderers and they kill on a large scale'.

The verdicts of the War Crimes Tribunal cite highly documented and definite evidence indicting former Bush administration officials of war crimes, dwindling public confidence in institutions such as the International Criminal Court can be attributed to their failure to recognize these and other conclusions reached by independent judiciaries.

According to reports "Full transcripts of the charges, witness statements and other relevant material will now be sent to the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as well as the United Nations and the Security Council. The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission also asked that the names of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Yoo, Bybee, Addington and Haynes be entered and included in the Commission's Register of War Criminals for public record.

High ranking former UN officials present in the courtroom expressed frustration over the evidence. "The UN is a weak body … and it is corrupted by member states, which use the Security Council for their own interests. They don't respect the charter. They don't respect the international law. They don't respect the Geneva Conventions," said former UN Assistant Secretary General, Denis Halliday. He went on to say that "as long as they continue to use the UN it's going to be somehow redundant possibly a dangerous and certainly corrupted organization."

The president of the tribunal Tan Sri Dato Lamin bin Haji Mohamed Yunus Lamin told a packed courtroom: "As a tribunal of conscience, the Tribunal is fully aware that its verdict is merely declaratory in nature. The tribunal has no power of enforcement, no power to impose any custodial sentence on any one or more of the eight convicted persons.

What we can do, under Article 31 of Chapter VI of Part 2 of the Charter is to recommend to the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission to submit this finding of conviction by the Tribunal, together with a record of these proceedings, to the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as well as the United Nations and the Security Council.

The Tribunal recommended to the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission that the names of all the eight convicted persons be entered and included in the Commission's Register of War Criminals and be publicized accordingly. It also recommended to the War Crimes Commission to give the widest international publicity to this conviction and grant of reparations, as these are universal crimes for which there is a responsibility upon nations to institute prosecutions if any of these Accused persons may enter their jurisdictions.

Organizations in other countries will be sought to continue legal work, against leaders who have ignored international treaties, in the name of the 'war on terror.' This may include the current US Administration.

War crimes expert and lawyer Prof. Francis Boyle, professor of international law at the University Of Illinois College Of Law in America, was part of the prosecution team. After the case he said: "This is the first conviction of these people anywhere in the world."

Human rights activist Boyle said he was hopeful that Bush and Co., could soon find themselves facing similar trials elsewhere in the world. "We tried three times to get Bush in Canada but were thwarted by the Canadian Government, and then we scared Bush out of going to Switzerland. The Spanish attempt failed because of the government there and the same happened in Germany."

Boyle then referenced the Nuremberg Charter, which was used as the format for the tribunal when asked about the credibility of the initiative in Malaysia. He quoted: "Leaders, organizers, instigators and accomplices participating in the formulation or execution of a common plan or conspiracy to commit war crimes are responsible for all acts performed by any person in execution of such a plan."

"The US is subject to customary international law and to the Principles of the Nuremberg Charter," said Boyle, who also believes the trial was 'almost certainly' being monitored closely by both Pentagon and White House officials. Prof. Francis Boyle also said that "after 9/11, the defendants went around the world and tortured Muslims, Asians, Arabs and 'coloured' people, just like the Nazis did to the Jews, clearly not on the same scale, of course."

Professor Gurdial Singh Nijar, who headed the prosecution said: "The tribunal was very careful to adhere scrupulously to the regulations drawn up by the Nuremberg courts and the International Criminal Courts". He added that he was optimistic the tribunal would be followed up elsewhere in the world.

The Tribunal heard harrowing witness accounts from victims of torture who suffered at the hands of US soldiers and contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. The court heard how;

l Abbas Abid, a 48-year-old engineer from Fallujah in Iraq had his fingernails removed by pliers.

l Ali Shalal was attached with bare electrical wires and electrocuted and hung from a wall.

l Moazzam Begg was beaten, hooded and put in solitary confinement.

l Jameelah was stripped and humiliated and was used as a human shield whilst being transported by helicopter.

The witnesses also detailed how they have residual injuries till today.

A Press release issued by the Tribunal stated; the Tribunal heard the testimonies of three witnesses namely Abbas Abid, Moazzam Begg and Jameelah Hameedi. They related the horrific tortures they had faced during their incarceration. The Tribunal also heard two other Statutory Declarations of Iraqi citizen Ali Shalal and Rhuhel Ahmed, a British citizen.

These witnesses were taken prisoners and held in prisons in Afghanistan (Bagram), in Iraq (Abu Gharib, Baghdad International Airport) and two of them namely Moazzam Begg and Rhuhel Ahmed were transported to Guantanamo Bay.

Sustained perpetration of brutal attacks

According to the prosecution, the testimony of all the witnesses shows a sustained perpetration of brutal, barbaric, cruel and dehumanizing course of conduct against them. These acts of crimes were applied cumulatively to inflict the worst possible pain and suffering.

It is the Tribunal's hope that armed with the findings of this Tribunal, the witnesses will, in the near future, find a state or an international judicial entity able and willing to exercise jurisdiction and to enforce the verdict of this Tribunal against the eight convicted persons and their government. The Tribunal's award of reparations shall be submitted to the War Crimes Commission to facilitate the determination and collection of reparations by the Complainant War Crime Victims.

Giving details about torture Tony Blair's sister-in-law, Lauren Booth, who embraced Islam, recently reporting from Kuala Lumpur had this to state;

"The Tribunal's first witness is Abbas Abid, a 48-year-old man, married, from Fallujah, with five children. He was taken to Al Munhtanna Brigade Headquarters for questioning.

"They beat him up demanding to know the names of 'terrorists' in his neighbourhood.

He was cuffed with hands behind him, a cord with a positive and negative charge attached to his hands and then attached to a power supply. He stands up to show us his hands behind him.

"They tortured some of his cousins to obtain a testimony against him. With seven detainees he was moved to AlJadrya where he was again tortured using a wide range of methods such as electric shocks to his body, especially the penis, hitting with tools, pipes, forced to drink water mixed with diuretics then having his penis tied to prevent urination, hung to wall with weights hanging from his penis, threatened sexual assault, abuse to sexual organs and shooting live rounds around his body

"During the investigation period he was not given food and only drink with diuretics as above. They pulled out his finger nails (the audience gasps) using pliers (more gasps). He was hung with his hands behind his back until his shoulders dislocated. Detainees were forced to have sex with each other. Solid objects were forced into the rectum of detainees. Forced standing for hours.

"He was beaten on every part of his body – his genitals were assaulted. Detainees were used as 'ash trays' by the torturers. In a room 6×6 he was with thirty detainees for three days. This room was a temporary room after torture, where detainees were brought in unconscious. Piles of bodies would lay there. He woke up from time to time and then fainted again.

"A bag was put over his head for two months and only removed when food was given. Some detainees would have a bag on their head for more than five months. All the time in the prison detainees had bags on their heads from the minute they arrived to the moment they left.

"The room he was kept in, was so overcrowded no one could sleep lying down and all had injuries. Everyone had to urinate in plastic bottles by the door. Visits to the toilet were permitted only once every four days. This was timed at one minute per person. At all other times we had to discharge our waste into plastic bags by the door. These would be trodden on or tip over and spill waste all over the floor. The bags were only emptied every four days.

No medical care was available at all and men died from their injuries. He lists the names of almost a dozen men who died from their injuries in the eight weeks he was there. Water was withheld. A litre per detainee every three days was the ration. Sometimes thirst would become so bad that detainees would drink from the urine bottles. He confirms that US troops not only knew about the torture facilities but that they visited them all the time."