In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, after two years of investigation by the
Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission (KLWCC), a tribunal consisting
of five judges with judicial and academic backgrounds 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 decision was unanimous. (Aljazeera)
The judges gave their verdict after four days of hearing, on 22
November 2011. Both defendants were absent during the proceedings
as they had declined an offer to present a defence or send a
representative. The court appointed a defence counsel for them in
their absence.
Although the verdict was not enforceable in a normal manner
associated with a criminal court operating within a sovereign state
or as constituted by international agreement, the tribunal
nevertheless hopes that its recommendations will have a legal
weight expected to extend beyond a moral condemnation of the
defendants.
The tribunal added two Orders to its verdict in accordance with the
KLWCC Charter that controlled its operating framework:
1) Report the findings of guilt of Bush and Blair to the
International Criminal Court in The Hague;
2) Enter the names of George W Bush and Tony Blair in the Register
of War Criminals maintained by the KLWCC.
The tribunal and its verdict brings into the public domain once
again the idea of "universal
jurisdiction" whereby states claim criminal jurisdiction
over persons whose alleged crimes were committed outside the
boundaries of the prosecuting state.
In the celebrated Filártiga
v Pena-Irala case, a US court awarded over $10million to the
Filártiga family because of the horrific torture of their
son Joelito by Inspector General Americó Pena-Irala in
Paraguay. In this case however both the Filártiga plaintiffs and
Pena-Irala happened to be in the US jurisdiction at the time the
family sued the torturer.
As Bush and Blair were absent from Kuala Lumpur, they may escape
punishment but the Tribunal could be a precedent for other such
tribunals. At least it's a start.
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