NATO GUILTY OF WAR CRIMES BY OWN DEFINITION
TIMOTHY BANCROFT-HINCHEY
According to definitions used by The Hague Tribunal and by the Geneva
Convention on War Crimes, NATO is guilty. Pravda.Ru presents the
evidence
for a case against NATO in a court of law such as the one at The Hague.
Article 3 of the Statute of The Hague International Penal Court states
clearly that one criterion for indictment for war crimes is:
"Attack or bombardment, by whatever means, against undefended cities,
towns, villages, buildings or houses".
NATO's continuous use of civilian targets for military purposes, a
scenario
which this military organization wantonly and callously calls
"collateral
damage", fits this clause exactly and would be the cornerstone of a case
accusing this organisation of being guilty of war crimes.
Another clause of the same Article 3 could also be stipulated:
"Massive destruction of cities, towns or villages or destruction not
justified by military necessity".
Any number of the unprovoked attacks by NATO in Yugoslavia and Iraq in
the
past decade would fit into this category, namely bombing attacks by NATO
on
civilian targets and structures. The bombing of the Chinese Embassy, for
example, was not a "military necessity", by NATO's own definition,
because
it was officially classified by this organisation as a mistake. In which
case, and under Article 3, it was a case of destruction not justified by
military necessity and therefore, by its own definition and using the
Articles from the Court set up by this organisation, NATO is guilty of
war
crimes.
However, the case does not stop here. Article 147 of the Geneva
Convention
on War Crimes, defines the latter as "...deportation or illegal transfer
or
illegal detention of a protected person...or to purposefully deprive a
protected person of his rights of a fair and regular trial..."
What is being done in the case of Mr. Slobodan Milosevic at The Hague,
apart from being a case of piracy, kidnapping and illegal imprisonment,
is
in flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention. Not having been
appointed
by the United Nations General Assembly, the IPC at The Hague is at most
illegal and at least not legal. It is therefore incompetent to try
Slobodan
Milosevic, or anyone else, for alleged crimes.
More ironic still is this case when we discover that by their own
definitions, NATO are guilty of the crimes they accuse others of - in an
organism which has no legal substance whatsoever. How the international
community tolerates such a scandalous state of affairs and apportions to
it
such a degree of seriousness is ridiculous and a shame for any country
which prides itself on saying that it is a state of law.
Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY
PRAVDA.Ru
LISBON PORTUGAL
http://english.pravda.ru/main/2001/07/05/9360.html
TARGETS - Independent monthly paper on international affairs
Sloterkade 20
1058 HE Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Ph. ++ 31 20 615 1122
Fax: ++ 31 20 615 1120
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TIMOTHY BANCROFT-HINCHEY
According to definitions used by The Hague Tribunal and by the Geneva
Convention on War Crimes, NATO is guilty. Pravda.Ru presents the
evidence
for a case against NATO in a court of law such as the one at The Hague.
Article 3 of the Statute of The Hague International Penal Court states
clearly that one criterion for indictment for war crimes is:
"Attack or bombardment, by whatever means, against undefended cities,
towns, villages, buildings or houses".
NATO's continuous use of civilian targets for military purposes, a
scenario
which this military organization wantonly and callously calls
"collateral
damage", fits this clause exactly and would be the cornerstone of a case
accusing this organisation of being guilty of war crimes.
Another clause of the same Article 3 could also be stipulated:
"Massive destruction of cities, towns or villages or destruction not
justified by military necessity".
Any number of the unprovoked attacks by NATO in Yugoslavia and Iraq in
the
past decade would fit into this category, namely bombing attacks by NATO
on
civilian targets and structures. The bombing of the Chinese Embassy, for
example, was not a "military necessity", by NATO's own definition,
because
it was officially classified by this organisation as a mistake. In which
case, and under Article 3, it was a case of destruction not justified by
military necessity and therefore, by its own definition and using the
Articles from the Court set up by this organisation, NATO is guilty of
war
crimes.
However, the case does not stop here. Article 147 of the Geneva
Convention
on War Crimes, defines the latter as "...deportation or illegal transfer
or
illegal detention of a protected person...or to purposefully deprive a
protected person of his rights of a fair and regular trial..."
What is being done in the case of Mr. Slobodan Milosevic at The Hague,
apart from being a case of piracy, kidnapping and illegal imprisonment,
is
in flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention. Not having been
appointed
by the United Nations General Assembly, the IPC at The Hague is at most
illegal and at least not legal. It is therefore incompetent to try
Slobodan
Milosevic, or anyone else, for alleged crimes.
More ironic still is this case when we discover that by their own
definitions, NATO are guilty of the crimes they accuse others of - in an
organism which has no legal substance whatsoever. How the international
community tolerates such a scandalous state of affairs and apportions to
it
such a degree of seriousness is ridiculous and a shame for any country
which prides itself on saying that it is a state of law.
Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY
PRAVDA.Ru
LISBON PORTUGAL
http://english.pravda.ru/main/2001/07/05/9360.html
TARGETS - Independent monthly paper on international affairs
Sloterkade 20
1058 HE Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Ph. ++ 31 20 615 1122
Fax: ++ 31 20 615 1120
---
Questa lista e' provvisoriamente curata da componenti della
ASSEMBLEA ANTIMPERIALISTA (ex Coord. Naz. "La Jugoslavia Vivra'"):
> http://www.tuttinlotta.org
I documenti distribuiti non rispecchiano necessariamente le
opinioni delle realta' che compongono questa struttura, ma
vengono fatti circolare per il loro contenuto informativo al
solo scopo di segnalazione e commento ("for fair use only").
Archivio:
> http://www.domeus.it/circles/jugoinfo oppure:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/messages
Per iscriversi al bollettino: <jugoinfo-subscribe@...>
Per cancellarsi: <jugoinfo-unsubscribe@...>
Per inviare materiali e commenti: <jugocoord@...>
Sito WEB (non aggiornato):
> http://digilander.iol.it/lajugoslaviavivra
---- Spot ------------------------------------------------------------
IL VIAGGIO DEI TUOI SOGNI DIRETTAMENTE VIA EMAIL!
Biglietti, villaggi, vacanze, lastminute.
Da oggi le migliori offerte nella tua casella di posta!
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