NATO Leaders Charged with War Crimes

CounterPunch sitka at teleport.com
Fri May 7 08:48:20 PDT 1999


This is from Canadian law prof Michael Mandel who has filed a complaint naming Clinton, Albright, Solana, Jamie Shea and others as war criminals. I will post the full complaint later on the CounterPunch website (http://www.counterpunch.org).

JSC

Dear Jeffrey St. Clair,

You wanted to know about our charges against NATO leaders before the Hague tribunal. I am attaching the complaint we couriered to Judge Arbour yesterday along with the following letter. Copies have been sent to the accused. I am also enclosing our press release which is being released tomorrow morning in Geneva and Toronto. Please post anything you want.

Yours truly, Michael Mandel

**** Dear Madam Justice Arbour:Re: the attached complaintEnclosed please find a complaint against certain named individuals forcrimes within your jurisdiction. I trust that you will take all the necessary steps to see that these crimesare investigated and indictments prepared against those responsible.I am sure that I need not impress upon you the urgency of the situation.I would be grateful if your office kept us abreast of the progress of yourinvestigations and, in that regard, I am authorized by all of thecomplainants to advise you that all correspondence may be sent to me onbehalf of them. Yours very truly,Michael Mandel, Professor **** PRESS RELEASE MAY 7, 1999LAWYERS CHARGE NATO LEADERS BEFORE WAR CRIMES TRIBUNALA group lawyers
>from several countries has laid a formal complaint with theInternational
Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia against all of theindividual leaders of the NATO countries and officials of NATO itself. Thecomplaint was initiated by professors from Osgoode Hall Law School of YorkUniversity in Toronto -- where Tribunal prosecutor Louise Arbour was also aprofessor before becoming a judge. The group has charged Bill Clinton,Madeleine Albright, Javier Solana, Jamie Shea, Jean Chretien, Art Eggleton,Lloyd Axworthy and 60 other heads of state and government, foreignministers, defence ministers and NATO officials, with war crimes committedin NATOs six-week old bombing campaign against Yugoslavia. The list of crimes includes "wilful killing, wilfully causing greatsuffering or serious injury to body or health, extensive destruction ofproperty, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully andwantonly, employment of poisonous weapons or other weapons to causeunnecessary suffering, wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages, ordevastation not justified by military necessity, attack, or bombardment, bywhatever means, of undefended towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings,destruction or wilful damage done to institutions dedicated to religion,charity and education, the arts and sciences, historic monuments and worksof art and science." The complaint also alleges "open violation" of the United Nations Charter,the NATO treaty itself, the Geneva Conventions and the Principles ofInternational Law Recognized by the Nüremberg Tribunal (the latter of whichmakes "planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression ora war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances" acrime). Under the Statute "a person who planned, instigated, ordered, committed orotherwise aided and abetted in the planning, preparation or execution of acrime shall be individually responsible for the crime" and "the officialposition of any accused person, whether as Head of State or Government or asa responsible Government official, shall not relieve such person of criminalresponsibility or mitigate punishment." The complaint points to the bombing of civilian targets and alleges thatNATO leaders "have admitted publicly to having agreed upon and ordered theseactions, being fully aware of their nature and effects" and that "there isample evidence in the public statements of NATO leaders that these attackson civilian targets are part of a deliberate attempt to terrorize thepopulation to turn it against its leadership;" The complaint cites a recent statement of the President of the Tribunal,Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, urging that: "All States and organisations inpossession of information pertaining to the alleged commission of crimeswithin the jurisdiction of the Tribunal should make such informationavailable without delay to the Prosecutor." The complaint also cites a statement of United Nations High Commissioner forHuman Rights Mary Robinson in which she says that "large numbers ofcivilians have incontestably been killed, civilian installations targeted onthe grounds that they are or could be of military application and NATOremains sole judge of what is or is not acceptable to bomb¼In thissituation, the principle of proportionality must be adhered to by thosecarrying out the bombing campaign. It surely must be right to ask thosecarrying out the bombing campaign to weigh the consequences of theircampaign for civilians in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia." Under the Statue, the Prosecutor is bound to "initiate investigationsex-officio or on the basis of information obtained from any source,particularly from Governments, United Nations organs, intergovernmental andnon-governmental organizations" and to "assess the information received orobtained and decide whether there is sufficient basis to proceed. Upon adetermination that a case exists, the Prosecutor is bound to "prepare anindictment containing a concise statement of the facts and the crime orcrimes with which the accused is charged under the Statute and transmit itto a judge of the Trial Chamber." The complaint asks Judge Arbour to "immediately investigate and indict forserious crimes against international humanitarian law" the 67 named leadersand whoever else shall be determined by the Prosecutors investigations tohave committed crimes in the NATO attack on Yugoslavia commencing March 24,1999." Copies of the charges have been sent to the accused. Participating in the action are 15 lawyers and law professors as well as theAmerican Association Jurists, a pan American organization of lawyer's,judges, law professors and students, with membership in all countries of theAmerican Continent from Tierra del Fuego to Canada, an NGO with consultativestatus before the Social and Economic Council of the United Nations.Professor Michael Mandel said in Toronto today: "The bombing of civilians isnot only immoral, it is criminal and punishable under the laws governing theTribunal. You cannot kill a woman and child in Belgrade on the theoreticalpossibility that it might save a woman and child in Pristina. Even in alegal war you cannot kill civilians and destroy an entire country as amilitary strategy. But this is an illegal war and the NATO leaders areacting like outlaws. So far they have risked nothing by sending others to dotheir killing and destroying. We believe that if they are held individuallyresponsible, as the law requires, they wont feel so free to spill otherpeoples blood." For further information, please contactin Toronto: Professor Michael Mandel (telephone 416-736-5039; e-mailmmandel at yorku.ca) or David Jacobs (telephone 416-539-; emaildavid at ShellJacobs.com in Geneva: Alejandro Teitelbaum, (telephone France: 33-4-78-30-87-78; e-mai Assamjur at aol.com

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