| From: | <WDDM webmaster> |
|---|---|
| Date: | Mon, 17 Apr 2006 03:03:47 -0600 |
| Subject: | ICC complaint re UK-US war crimes |
From:
Doug Everingham <dnevrghm(at)powerup.com.au>
Date:
Thu, 22 Dec 2005 12:00:43 +1000
To:
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CC:
jrmundialist(at)tiscali.co.uk, earthstarradio(at)aol.com,
g.bierbrauwer(at)conflict-prevention.net, iacenter(at)action-mail.org
Dear Dr Polya,
I share your horror at the war crimes of the "coalition of the willing".
Unfortunately the court you have complained to may not be authorized
by its protocols to act upon your charges.
I copy this to some groups and individuals who may be able to advise
on alternative or supplementary approaches.
Sincerely
-- Doug N Everingham
(1998-2000 member
National Consultative Council on Peace & Disarmament
Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade)
===========================>
*Formal complaint to the International Criminal Court over Coalition war
crimes in Occupied Iraq & Afghanistan*
19 December 2005
Office of the Prosecutor,
International Criminal Court,
The Hague, The Netherlands
Dear Mr Moreno-Ocampo, Mr Brammertz and Mrs Bensouda,
On 14 October 2004 I made a formal complaint against the Australian
Government and its Coalition allies over war crimes in Iraq,
specifically illegal invasion and subsequent horrendous civilian
mortality in contravention of international law (for details of this
complaint and a prior complaint sent to the 2 dozen top law officers of
Australia see:
http://www.newscentralasia.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1019).
Since that complaint was made, it can be estimated from the latest
UNICEF reports (see: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html)
that a /further/ 560,000 under-5 year old infants have died in US
Coalition-occupied Iraq and Afghanistan in gross contravention of the
Geneva Conventions for the protection of civilians in time of war (1949).
I am accordingly /renewing/ and /extending/ my formal complaint of
egregious war crimes against the US-led Coalition leaders responsible
for (1) the irresponsible and illegal invasions and occupations of Iraq
and Afghanistan; (2) deliberate conduct of military operations to
minimize politically-sensitive invading military deaths at the expense
of the lives of utterly innocent civilians; (3) subsequent horrendous
civilian mortality in these occupied countries in gross contravention of
the Geneva Conventions (1949); and (4) collateral damage involving mass
mortality elsewhere in the world as a consequence of Coalition actions
in Iraq and Afghanistan.
*I have amplified these charges briefly below.*
*(1). Irresponsible and illegal invasions.*
The invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan were manifestly /irresponsible/
(as borne out by the immense mortality estimates given below) and
/illegal/ in lacking sanction from the United Nations. Indeed, by way of
example, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr Kofi Anan, has
repeatedly indicated the illegality and un-wisdom of the invasion of
Iraq and the late Holy Father of the Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II,
a major source of moral wisdom for humanity, also opposed the invasion
of Iraq. Further, the obvious must be stated, namely that ordinary,
decent people universally regard hatred, violence, war and both
non-state terrorism and state terrorism as utterly abhorrent.
*(2). Criminal application of high technology war yielding huge “enemy
civilian death”/US military death ratios. *
In World War 2 the Axis civilian deaths totalled 5.1 million as compared
to Allied civilian losses in Europe and Asia totalling 54 million; US,
British Empire, Axis and Soviet military losses totalled 0.29 million,
0.45 million, 5.9 million and 13.6 million, respectively. Accordingly
the "enemy civilian"/"military death" "kill ratios" were 0.4 (for the
Soviet forces), 9.2 (Axis), 11.3 (the British Empire) and 17.6 (the US).
Implicit in the 1944 Italian Ardeatine Caves Massacre of 335 civilians
ordered by Hitler in revenge for 33 German military deaths was a Nazi
German attitude that regarded an "enemy civilian death"/"German soldier
death" "kill ratio" (or "death ratio") of 10 as quite appropriate.
It has been possible to assess "civilian deaths" in various post-war
conflicts using UN Population Division demographic data from 1950
onwards. Using this data it is possible to calculate "avoidable
mortality" ("excess mortality"), which is the difference between the
ACTUAL deaths in a country in a given period and the deaths EXPECTED for
a peaceful, decently-run country with the same demographics (see:
http://globalavoidablemortality.blogspot.com/).
The following "enemy civilian avoidable mortality"/"US combat death"
"kill ratios" (in parentheses) have been calculated for the Korean War
(1950-1953) (23.8), the Indo-China War (1957-1975) (276.5), the Gulf War
& Sanctions War (1990-2003) (12,259), the Afghanistan War (2001-2005)
(15,716) and the Iraq War (2003-2005) (323.9). The actual calculations
involving the ratios of "avoidable (excess) deaths" (for the Asian
country concerned over the relevant period) to "US combat deaths" (for
the relevant conflict) are reproduced below (actual mortality figures
are rounded off for clarity):
0.8 million Korean excess deaths/33,651 US combat deaths = 23.8
13.1 million excess Cambodian, Laotian & Vietnamese excess deaths/47,378
US combat deaths = 276.5
1.8 million Iraqi excess deaths (1990-2003)/147 US combat deaths = 12,259
1.6 million Afghan excess deaths (2001-2005)/102 US combat deaths = 15,716
0.5 million Iraqi excess deaths (2003-2005)/1,513 US combat deaths = 323.9
The above figures show that in the post-war era the US (and its allies)
have grossly violated the Geneva Conventions in these Asian wars and
have done so in /vast excess/over the "enemy civilian"/"German soldier"
"kill ratio" of 10 in the Ardeatine Caves atrocity – and most clearlyin
the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. The reason for these horrendous US "kill
ratios" is that high technology US warfare preserves
politically-sensitive US military lives at the expense of enemy civilian
lives through high technology killing from afar (e.g. more bombs were
dropped on Laos by the US than on all of Europe in all of World War 2);
“better training” of its soldiers to overcome the natural revulsionfrom
killing; and through improved medical technology to save the lives of
wounded US soldiers. Over half of the civilian victims of these
conflicts have been innocent infants under the age of 5. Thus the
under-5 infant mortality in these conflicts was 0.3 million (Korea,
1950-1953); 5.6 million (Indo-China, 1957-1975); 1.3 million (Iraq,
1990-2003); 1.4 million (Afghanistan, 2001-2005); and 0.3 million (Iraq,
2003-2005). US state terrorism has indeed exacted a horrendous civilian
death toll in US Asian wars (for further details see Senate Inquiry
submission #112:
http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/?url=legcon_ctte/completed_inquiries/2004-07/terrorism/index.htm).
*(3). Horrendous civilian avoidable mortality (excess mortality) in
contravention of the Geneva Conventions.*
The Geneva Conventions (1949) are quite explicit about the
responsibility of the invader and occupier to do everything in their
power to preserve the life of subject civilians (see:
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/92.htm ). However the annual /per
capita/ medical expenditure in Occupied Iraq and Afghanistan is less
than 1% of that in metropolitan USA and thus the horrendous death toll
in post-invasion Iraq and Afghanistan constitutes passive genocide and a
war crime (see:
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/ockham/stories/s1445960.htm).
In general, whether a person dies violently (e.g. from bombs or bullets)
or non-violently (e.g. from deprivation- or malnourishment-related
causes) the end result is the same and the culpability the same.
Further, the Ruler is responsible for the Ruled. Thus the Geneva
Conventions (1949) demand that the foreign occupier of a country acts
“to the fullest extent of the means available to it” to preserve the
health and life of subject civilians (see Articles 55 and 56:
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/92.htm):
“Article 55. To the fullest extent of the means available to it, the
Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring the food and medical supplies
of the population; it should, in particular, bring in the necessary
foodstuffs, medical stores and other articles if the resources of the
occupied territory are inadequate …
Article 56. To the fullest extent of the means available to it, the
Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring and maintaining, with the
cooperation of the national and local authorities, the medical and
hospital establishments and services, public health and hygiene in the
occupied territory, with particular reference to the adoption and
application of the prophylactic and preventive measures necessary to
combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics. Medical
personnel of all categories shall be allowed to carry out their duties …”
The US-led Coalition governments have manifestly failed in their
obligations under the Geneva Conventions. The latest UNICEF estimates
of post-invasion under-5 infant deaths (12 December 2005; see:
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html) are quite shocking: in
2004 the under-5 infant mortality was 122,000 in Occupied Iraq, 359,000
in Occupied Afghanistan and 1,000 in the occupying country Australia
(noting that in 2004 the populations of these countries were 28.1
million, 28.6 million and 19.9 million, respectively). These data
indicate an Iraqi post-invasion under-5 infant mortality of over 0.3
million, about 122,000 such deaths per year or 334 daily (i.e. exceeding
the death toll from the horrendous and evil 9/11 atrocities every 9
days). About 90% of these infant deaths have been avoidable.
The post-invasion avoidable mortality (excess mortality) in the Occupied
Palestinian, Iraqi and Afghan Territories now totals about 0.3, 0.5 and
1.6 million, respectively, while the corresponding post-invasion under-5
infant mortality now totals 0.2, 0.3 and 1.4 million, respectively (see
Senate Inquiry submission #112:
http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/?url=legcon_ctte/completed_inquiries/2004-07/terrorism/index.htm).
Most of these deaths were non-violent – thus Iraq Body Count (see:
http://www.iraqbodycount.org/) currently estimates that 27,000-31,000
Iraqis have been killed violently post-invasion (out of an estimated
total of 0.5 million post-invasion avoidable deaths). UK-US state
terrorism – described by Blair and Bush supporters as “democratic
imperialism” but by others as “democratic tyranny” or “democratic
Nazism” - has had a horrendous human cost, with under-5 infant
mortality now totalling about 0.5 million /each year/ in the Occupied
Iraqi and Afghan Territories.
*(4). Collateral global mass mortality as a consequence of the Iraq and
Afghanistan invasions and occupations.*
One major consequence of the US Coalition invasion and occupation of
Iraq has been an increase in the price of oil. It has been estimated
that about 55,000 people die /avoidably/ throughout the world each day
(about 36,000 being under-5 year old infants) through deprivation- and
malnourishment-related causes. I have not been able to quantitatively
assess the inevitably increased avoidable mortality component from
increased poverty due to elevated oil prices. However global mortality
due to criminal distribution, sale and consumption of opiates /can/ be
assessed from UN figures.
Since 2001 there have been about 0.4 million global drug deaths linked
to US Coalition re-establishment of globally-dominant Afghan opium
production (largely destroyed by the Taliban in 2000-2001 but 76% and
86% of global production in 2002 and 2004, respectively, after US
Coalition invasion and conquest). About 2,000 of these 0.4 million
post-2001, US Coalition-complicit, opioid-related deaths have been
Australian, 3,000 Canadian, 3,200 British and 50,000 American (for
detailed documentation see:
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:2uNU_ysF0xQJ:www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%2520editorials/2005%2520Opinion%2520Editorials/October/26%2520o/US%2520Coalition%2520Complicity%2520in%25200.4%2520Million%2520Drug%2520Deaths%2520By%2520Gideon%2520Polya.htm+gideon+polya+al-jazeerah+%22afghan+opium%22&hl=en
and also see Senate Inquiry submission #112:
http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/?url=legcon_ctte/completed_inquiries/2004-07/terrorism/index.htm).
*Comments and conclusions*
The above data clearly indicate that the members of the US-led Coalition
are complicit in passive genocide, mass murder and egregious war crimes
in Iraq and Afghanistan. Accordingly, the US-led Coalition leaders
should be indicted before the International Criminal Court – arraigned,
tried and punished. Peace is the only way but we are inescapably obliged
to inform others about man-made mass mortality of fellow human beings -
silence kills and silence is complicity. We cannot walk by on the other
side. As Edmund Burke famously stated: “/All that is necessary for evil
to succeed is that good men do nothing/.”
The World Tribunal on Iraq, headed as spokesperson by the brilliant
humanitarian writer Arundhati Roy, has charged the UK-US-led Coalition
with war crimes over Iraq (see:
http://www.worldtribunal.org/main/?b=91). Indeed, as you are aware,
in October 2004, after writing to the 2 dozen top Law Officers of
Australia, I wrote to the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal
Court requesting that the Australian Government and its Coalition allies
be charged with war crimes over the illegal invasion of Iraq and the
horrendous post-invasion mass mortality (see:
http://www.newscentralasia.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1019).
More recently, the 2005 Nobel Laureate for Literature, British
playwright Harold Pinter, in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech entitled
“Art, Truth and Politics” (delivered by videotape on 8 December 2005;
see: http://www.countercurrents.org/arts-pinter081205.htm) accused US
President George Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair of war crimes in
Iraq. After detailing the huge human cost of decades of violent US
interventions in Central and South America, Harold Pinter described the
invasion of Iraq as /“an act of blatant state terrorism”/and calledfor
the arraignment of Bush and Blair before the International Criminal
Court, declaring: /“How many people do you have to kill before you
qualify as a mass murderer and a war criminal? One hundred thousand?
More than enough, I would have thought.”/
I have written this careful analysis with some trepidation and after
considerable, wide-ranging, legal consultation because draconian new
“sedition laws” recently passed in Australia could, potentially,
severely punish humanitarian critics of Coalition war policies,
notwithstanding “good faith commentary” exceptions. It is accordingly
necessary for me to explicitly state that this has been written in the
public interest and in the interests of humanity by an anti-war,
humanist, senior scientist who utterly abhors bigotry, racism, lying,
violence, war and terrorism.
The 2005 Nobel Laureate for Literature, Harold Pinter, in his Nobel
Prize acceptance address (8 December 2005; see
http://www.countercurrents.org/arts-pinter081205.htm) movingly stated
our obligation to define the truth of our world: /“ I believe that
despite the enormous odds which exist, unflinching, unswerving, fierce
intellectual determination, as citizens, to define the real truth of
our lives and our societies is a crucial obligation which devolves upon
us all. It is in fact mandatory. If such a determination is not embodied
in our political vision we have no hope of restoring what is so nearly
lost to us – the dignity of man.”/
The 1957 Nobel Laureate for Literature, Albert Camus, in a 1946 essay
entitled “Neither Victims nor Executioners”, clearly stated a
fundamental moral imperative for decent citizens of the world: /“Over
the expanse of five continents throughout the coming years an endless
struggle is going to be pursued between violence and friendly
persuasion, a struggle in which, granted, the former has a thousand
times the chances of success than that of the latter. But I have always
held that, if he who bases his hopes on human nature is a fool, he who
gives up in the face of circumstances is a coward. And henceforth, the
only honourable course will be to stake everything on a formidable
gamble: that words are more powerful than munitions.”/
I have recently completed the first draft of a large book on global
avoidable mortality from which some of the above data is drawn (for some
other key data see: http://globalavoidablemortality.blogspot.com/) and
I have written a large number of articles around the world on this
matter (see: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~gpolya/links.html). I
would be extremely happy to provide expert assistance /pro bono publico/
to the International Criminal Court in relation to this matter.
As we approach the festivities of Christmas Day 2005, we must appreciate
from the latest UNICEF data that about 2,640 infants in US
Coalition-occupied Iraq and Afghanistan will die over the 2-day period
of Christmas Day-Boxing Day - nearly the same number of innocent victims
as died in the World Trade Centre atrocity on 9/11 – and about 0.5
million more will die in the year to come. An estimated 560,000 under-5
year old infants have died in the US-occupied Iraqi and Afghan
Territories in the 14 months since I made my previous complaint to the
International Criminal Court.
I beg the International Criminal Court to indict the Coalition
governments involved in massive war crimes in their invasion and
occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. In doing so the International
Criminal Court will deliver justice and force an early end to the
egregious Coalition passive genocide in these horrendously abused
countries.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Gideon Polya
Melbourne, Australia
e-mail: gpolya(at)optusnet.com.au
website: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~gpolya/links.html
Credentials: Dr Gideon Polya published some 130 works in a 4 decade
scientific career, most recently a huge pharmacological reference text
"Biochemical Targets of Plant Bioactive Compounds" (Taylor & Francis,
New York & London, 2003), and is currently editing a completed book on
global avoidable mortality (numerous articles on this matter can be
found by a simple Google search for "Gideon Polya" and on his website:
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~gpolya/links.html).