Human Rights Watch urged indictment of "Saddam," as such indictment is said to be conducive to "regime change" in Iraq, based on the successful "regime change" in Yugoslavia after indictment of Milosevic:
***** he Wall Street Journal March 22, 2002
Indict Saddam
By Kenneth Roth(*)
The Bush administration's frustration with a decade of increasingly porous sanctions against Iraq has led to active consideration of military action. Yet one alternative has yet to be seriously tried -- indicting Saddam Hussein for his many atrocities, particularly the 1988 genocide against Iraqi Kurds.
As deposed Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic discovered, indictment for grave abuses can delegitimize a dictator and undermine his grasp on power. Even if Saddam escapes arrest, his indictment for heinous crimes would demonstrate that Iraq's desire for normal international relations is a pipe dream so long as Saddam is at the helm. That would weaken Saddam's support among the many governments that have been lining up for years to do commercial deals with him in anticipation of an end to sanctions. It would also encourage Iraqi officials to overthrow him....
Mr. Roth is executive director of Human Rights Watch.
<http://www.hrw.org/editorials/2002/iraq_032202.htm> *****
Human Rights Watch had argued for prosecution of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of PKK, for "crimes against humanity" [!] as well:
***** HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Turkey -- 1999 World Report Chapter
Rights Group Decries Missed Opportunity to Prosecute PKK Leader Urgent Need for an International Criminal Court Cited
(New York, January 20, 1999)--Human Rights Watch today condemned the failure of the Italian government to prosecute Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Workers' Party of Kurdistan (PKK), for crimes against humanity, such as extrajudicial executions and massacres of civilians. The Kurdish leader, who has been in Italy since mid-November, was allowed to flee the country this past weekend on the eve of a court decision on whether Italy would prosecute him. His whereabouts are currently unknown.
"The Italian government in particular, but also the international community as a whole, has in this case missed an important opportunity to signal that those who commit atrocities will be held accountable," stated Holly Cartner, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia Division. "The case underscores the need to operationalize the commitments made by Italy and other countries to a system of international criminal justice: they need to enact legislation enabling them to prosecute crimes of universal jurisdiction, such as crimes against humanity. And, though it could not have been a forum for adjudication of this case, they need to ratify the treaty creating an international criminal court, so that future gross violations can be adjudicated outside of the political realm where this case was resolved."
Ocalan is wanted in Turkey on terrorism charges related to the fourteen-year conflict that his PKK has waged against Turkish government forces. Italy declined to extradite Ocalan to Turkey on the grounds that he might face the death penalty there. Upon Ocalan's departure from Italy, decisions by the Italian authorities were still pending on both his request for political asylum in Italy and a possible Italian charge of terrorism against him. In repeated recent public statements, apparently concerned that an Ocalan trial would be politically unpopular, particularly with western Europe's large Kurdish population, Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema encouraged Ocalan to leave the country. Italian authorities expressed relief upon Ocalan's departure....
... "We have repeatedly demanded that the Turkish government investigate and hold accountable those members of its security forces responsible for serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed against the Kurds, including torture, extrajudicial killings, and indiscriminate fire," Cartner explained. "
<http://www.hrw.org/press/1999/jan/tur0120.htm> *****
So, Human Rights Watch sought to pressure governments to indict Hussein _and_ Ocalan for "crimes against humanity" but merely demanded "the Turkish government investigate and hold accountable those members of its security forces responsible for serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed against the Kurds, including torture, extrajudicial killings, and indiscriminate fire" (@ <http://www.hrw.org/press/1999/jan/tur0120.htm>). Impressive work on behalf of the empire.... -- Yoshie
* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>