In October 2009, we filed in Madrid our first legal challenge against four US presidents and four UK prime ministers under laws of universal jurisdiction, one day before the Spanish Senate voted — under much pressure — to radically circumscribe the practice of universal jurisdiction in Spain.
We cannot allow the total destruction of a state and nation to be by law’s inaction established as a precedent
The law was judged retroactive, and led to the closing in Spain of our case and others. But this is not the end of the struggle for justice for Iraq. We cannot allow the total destruction of a state and nation, entailing more than a million dead, to be by law’s inaction established as a precedent.
We remain committed to working towards the prosecution of responsible US and UK officials for the crimes detailed in the case we have developed.
Unless law is useless, it must be taken up as a shield, and a means of defence The crime of genocide is the intended destruction, in whole or substantial part, of an enumerated group as such. Iraq has been intentionally destroyed as a state and nation.
Over one million dead, a fifth of the population exiled, and millions more injured, alongside total infrastructural collapse and an unprecedented promotion of corruption, sectarianism and death squads, constitutes destruction substantial enough to negate the possibility of Iraq functioning as a viable entity. This is and heralds genocide.
This initiative — the prosecution of US crimes in Iraq — can give the antiwar movement a focus. If such a vast genocide can be brought impartially, comprehensively and accurately before law, and the criminality of the persons and policies involved established, perhaps it will never happen again.
Justice for Iraqi victims
1Over one million killed since 2003. Over three million excess deaths from 1990 until 2003. Billions of life-years lost in suffering. Iraqis deserve justice, restitution and compensation.The first step towards this is to establish the nature and extent of the harm, and to identify those responsible for it.
Upholding international law
2The war on Iraq is not only an attack on a sovereign country. It is a frontal attack on international law. If the destruction of Iraq goes unaccounted for, what happened to Iraq can happen anywhere.Every precedent set in human history is repeated. The destruction of Iraq and international law will be a precedent unless we act.
Exposing the genocide
3The Iraq catastrophe is not a blunder. Nor has the US wandered blind into a quagmire. The humanitarian disaster that is present day Iraq was an end in itself.Understanding the full nature of the US attack on Iraq is key to understanding the synchronicity of the crimes committed and the strength of the claim to justice of Iraqi victims.
Focusing the antiwar movement
4The task of bringing a legal case consistent to the reality of the Iraq catastrophe is vast, complicated and demanding. It cannot be done by isolated individuals, but must be done by a coalition of forces, each working towards the same purpose.Together, prosecute the crimes!
