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(HERALD) Analysts hail war crimes verdict against Blair, Bush

Analysts hail war crimes verdict against Blair, Bush
Wednesday, 30 November 2011 00:00
Herald Reporters

ANALYSTS have hailed the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission verdict that found George W Bush and Tony Blair guilty of crimes against peace, crimes against humanity and genocide as a result of their roles in the Iraq War.

The tribunal consists of five judges with judicial and academic backgrounds.
The tribunal called for the reform of the International Criminal Court, saying it was pursuing Western interests.

Former United States vice president Dick Cheney in August said he feared being tried by the ICC for crimes against humanity.
Cheney confided in former White House chief of Staff Lawrence Wilkerson that he feared being tried.
The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal was founded by former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed specifically to try Mr Bush and Mr Blair for the invasion of Iraq.

Though the verdict carries no legal force, analysts said it set good precedence for the two leaders to be tried at an international court.
The verdict was announced last week.

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University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer Dr Charity Manyeruke said the judgment was symbolic and exposed the ICC's bias.
"The problem is international law isn't equal, it is controlled by a few states that are powerful and the court has become subjective and biased against developing countries," she said.
"Ordinarily, the ICC is supposed to show value and practices of the entire world but it's only in favour of the Americans and the European Union.

"However, this verdict shows that Bush and Blair are liable and should be tried in a fair court."
She said Western countries were using the ICC to intimidate developing countries that go against their (western countries) interests.
Dr Manyeruke said it was important for Mr Bush and Mr Blair to be tried for crimes against humanity.

Political Science and International Affairs lecturer at the Midlands State University Dr Mark Chingono said the tribunal's verdict was a major step in bringing the two to book.
"This verdict sets good precedence as it gives moral high ground to the third world countries and it somehow restrains these powerful countries not to invade other countries in future.
"The challenge we have is that in international politics, what matters is power and at the moment those countries hold so much power and the question now is can we be able to bring them before a fair court," Dr Chingono said.

He said it was common knowledge that the British and the Americans invaded Iraq to push for their interests because the invasion was not mandated by the United Nations.
Another political analyst Mr Godwine Mureriwa said the verdict by the tribunal had confirmed that the ICC had been discredited because of its bias towards Western interests.
"Now is the time for developing countries to send a clear message to the Western powers that the ICC has been discredited by its failure to apply the law equally.

"If the ICC was properly set up, Bush and Blair would have been tried for crimes against humanity a long time ago. It appears this court is only there to prosecute Africans and Asians who are victims themselves," he said.

The tribunal has since written to Mr Bush and Mr Blair and is yet to receive a response from the two former leaders.
Two high-profile French lawyers, Jacques Vergès and former Socialist Party minister Roland Dumas have demanded that French president Nicolas Sarkozy be charged with crimes against humanity committed in Libya - "a brutal aggression against a sovereign nation."

Experts have also argued that the NATO alliance that led the unprovoked armed attacks against Libya be declared war criminals against humanity.
"The leaders of the attacking countries, including United States President Barack Obama, Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper should be declared war criminals under International Law", the statement said.

Labels: GEORGE BUSH, TONY BLAIR, WAR CRIMES

posted by MrK @ 7:26 PM