Blair faces war crimes suit
rikki | 26.05.2003 22:48
Greek lawyers say they are going to sue British officials - including Prime Minister Tony Blair - for their role in the Iraq war. The Athens Bar Association says it will file a suit
against Britain at the International Criminal Court - the recently created tribunal for cases of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
against Britain at the International Criminal Court - the recently created tribunal for cases of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
Greek lawyers say they are going to sue British officials - including Prime Minister Tony Blair - for their role in the Iraq war. The Athens Bar Association says it will file a suit
against Britain at the International Criminal Court - the recently created tribunal for cases of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
The lawyers call the attacks by the United States and British forces against Iraq "crimes against humanity and war crimes".
They have listed a number of international treaties they say the two countries have violated.
We have received more than 200 communications from different parts of the world ICC spokeswoman These include the United Nations Charter, the Geneva Conventions, the
Hague Convention and the International Criminal Court's statute.
Dimitris Paxinos, the head of the lawyers' association, told the BBC the lawsuit will be filed within a fortnight.
He said American officials could not be prosecuted as the US is not a signatory to the ICC's founding treaty.
Eighty-nine countries signed up to the treaty creating the court, which was formally inaugurated in March in The Hague.
Mr Paxinos, who was elected by a conservative majority, says he is confident that the evidence compiled by the lawyers is strong, adding that the case would be a test of the ICC's
credibility.
Anti-war Greeks
The ICC is not working yet. Last month it appointed an Argentine lawyer, Luis Moreno Ocampo, to be its first prosecutor.
A spokeswoman for the court told BBC News Online that only after Mr Ocampo was sworn in on 16 June would the court consider the Greek lawyers' case.
"We have received more than 200 communications from different parts of the world," she said.
The British Prime Minister's office has declined to comment on the announcement.
According to the BBC's Panos Polyzoidis in Athens, the move is also unlikely to go down well with the Greek Government as it will act as a reminder of the Greek public's strong
anti-war feeling, which cuts across party lines.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/2933140.stm
Published: 2003/05/23 16:31:55 GMT
© BBC MMIII
against Britain at the International Criminal Court - the recently created tribunal for cases of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
The lawyers call the attacks by the United States and British forces against Iraq "crimes against humanity and war crimes".
They have listed a number of international treaties they say the two countries have violated.
We have received more than 200 communications from different parts of the world ICC spokeswoman These include the United Nations Charter, the Geneva Conventions, the
Hague Convention and the International Criminal Court's statute.
Dimitris Paxinos, the head of the lawyers' association, told the BBC the lawsuit will be filed within a fortnight.
He said American officials could not be prosecuted as the US is not a signatory to the ICC's founding treaty.
Eighty-nine countries signed up to the treaty creating the court, which was formally inaugurated in March in The Hague.
Mr Paxinos, who was elected by a conservative majority, says he is confident that the evidence compiled by the lawyers is strong, adding that the case would be a test of the ICC's
credibility.
Anti-war Greeks
The ICC is not working yet. Last month it appointed an Argentine lawyer, Luis Moreno Ocampo, to be its first prosecutor.
A spokeswoman for the court told BBC News Online that only after Mr Ocampo was sworn in on 16 June would the court consider the Greek lawyers' case.
"We have received more than 200 communications from different parts of the world," she said.
The British Prime Minister's office has declined to comment on the announcement.
According to the BBC's Panos Polyzoidis in Athens, the move is also unlikely to go down well with the Greek Government as it will act as a reminder of the Greek public's strong
anti-war feeling, which cuts across party lines.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/2933140.stm Published: 2003/05/23 16:31:55 GMT
© BBC MMIII
rikki
Homepage:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2933140.stm
Comments
Hide the following 7 comments
bring it on!
27.05.2003 00:17
1) Blair et al. are war criminals.
2) The ICC is a complete sham (more likely).
I wholeheartedly support this endeavour!
oekdotis
e-mail:
oekdotis@yahoo.com
Sign the Blair War Crimes petition to the ICC
27.05.2003 00:26
Sign the Blair War Crimes petition to the ICC
To: International Criminal Court
This is the peoples chance to show the New Labour Government what Democracy really means.
We the undersigned, want Prime Minister Tony Blair extradited to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to face serious war crimes charges related to the recent 'Operation Iraqi Freedom'. The Prime Minister sent British Troops to Iraq under the assertion that Iraq possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, he did this knowingly and wilfully despite 60% of the U.K. population being against this war and also knowing that forces would be deploying cancer causing depleted uranium shells as well as crippling cluster bombs.
Thus far, no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq. To go to war under false pretences is against the Geneva Convention, not to mention all the innocent victims of this attack on the sovereign nation of Iraq.
Our parliamentarians whom we elected, seem to be unable or unwilling to bring Prime Minister Blair to account for his grave misdemeanours, so it's up to you the people to send a strong message to the world, we will not tolerate a war criminal as the leader of our country.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
verity
No WMD = Blair is a war criminal.
27.05.2003 10:49
Blair is in a complete state of denial and is still insisting that WMD will be found!! Even though the American Unit tasked with searching the sites identified before the invasion have gone back home with their collective tails between their legs.
The offer of $200.000 to any Iraqi to point out where these elusive weapons are/was has not even raised a whimper in Iraq.
I have also heard from the C.N.D. that a group of their lawyers have also been following the events as they unfolded and will be presenting their own evidence very shortly.
The sooner Blair is tried at the I.C.C. the better for the rest of the world and also TRUE democracies where governments listened to their public and didn't stick up the proverbial 2 fingered salute.
J. Briggs
Homepage:
http://warcrimes.yoll.net
Where are the WMD?
27.05.2003 10:50
Blair is in a complete state of denial and is still insisting that WMD will be found!! Even though the American Unit tasked with searching the sites identified before the invasion have gone back home with their collective tails between their legs.
The offer of $200.000 to any Iraqi to point out where these elusive weapons are/was has not even raised a whimper in Iraq.
I have also heard from the C.N.D. that a group of their lawyers have also been following the events as they unfolded and will be presenting their own evidence very shortly.
The sooner Blair is tried at the I.C.C. the better for the rest of the world and also TRUE democracies where governments listened to their public and didn't stick up the proverbial 2 fingered salute.
John Briggs
Homepage:
http://warcrimes.yoll.net
Realist - even dumber than Harlequin?
27.05.2003 12:14
johnny_boy
Hang on...
27.05.2003 14:14
Thomas J
also.....
28.05.2003 00:50
oi!