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CounterPunch
November
23, 2002
On Behalf of
Iraq's 4.5 Million Children
A Petition for Relief from Genocide
by FRANCIS BOYLE
EDITOR'S NOTE: In September of 1991 law
professor and CounterPunch contributor Francis Boyle asked the
Coalition to Stop U.S. Intervention in the Middle East to file
an Indictment, Complaint and Petition for Relief from Genocide
by President George Herbert Walker Bush and the United States
of America. Boyle had prepared the indictment on behalf of the
4.5 million children of Iraq. Boyle filed the Complaint at the
request of several Iraqi mothers whose children were dying as
a result of the sanctions. The Petition was submitted to the
Secretary General of the U.N., members of the General Assembly,
the Economic and Social Council, the Commission on Human Rights,
the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection
of Minorities, UNESCO, and UNICEF.
Despite the best professional efforts
by Professor Boyle, who is working pro bono publico on this
matter, so far the entire United Nations Organization has refused
to act upon this Complaint on behalf of the Children of Iraq.
TO: THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE UNITED
NATIONS, THE MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, THE ECONOMIC AND
SOCIAL COUNCIL, THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, THE SUBCOMMISSION
ON PREVENTION OF DISCRIMINATION AND PROTECTION OF MINORITIES,
UNESCO, UNICEF, THE HEADS OF ALL NGO'S, ETC.
RE: INDICTMENT, COMPLAINT AND PETITION
BY THE 4.5 MILLION CHILDREN OF IRAQ FOR RELIEF FROM GENOCIDE
BY PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
EXCELLENCY:
On behalf of The 4.5 Million Children
of Iraq, I hereby submit to you this Indictment, Complaint and
Petition for Relief from Genocide by President George Bush and
the United States of America (hereinafter referred to as the
"Respondents"). This Indictment, Complaint and Petition
accuses the Respondents (1) of committing the international
crime of genocide against The 4.5 Million Children of Iraq
in violation of the International Convention on the Prevention
and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948 and in violation
of the municipal legal systems of all civilized nations in the
world; (2) of a gross and consistent pattern of violations of
the most fundamental human rights of The 4.5 Million Children
of Iraq as recognized and guaranteed to them by the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights of 1948; (3) of the complete negation
and denial of all the rights guaranteed to The 4.5 Million Children
of Iraq by the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child; and
(4) of the systematic violation of the special protections of
international humanitarian law guaranteed to The 4.5 Million
Children of Iraq by the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and
Additional Protocol I thereto of 1977.
Under the human rights provisions of
the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the Genocide Convention, the Children's Convention,
and the Fourth Geneva Convention and Protocol I, The 4.5 Million
Children of Iraq are proper parties to invoke the jurisdiction
of the United Nations and its various organs in requesting the
following Relief in order to be relieved from the inhuman, degrading,
cruel, criminal, and genocidal conditions perpetrated upon them
by the Respondents: The 4.5 Million Children of Iraq demand
(1) the termination of the international economic embargo and
all forms of bilateral economic sanctions against Iraq; (2)
the massive provision of international humanitarian relief required
in order to save themselves from death, disease, malnutrition,
starvation, and extermination at the hands of the Respondents;
(3) monetary compensation for the harm done to them as well
as all other forms of relief deemed necessary and appropriate;
and (4) the institution of criminal proceedings against Respondent
Bush for committing the international crime of genocide by the
appropriate international organs as well as by all States of
the World Community under their respective municipal legal systems.
The 4.5 Million Children of Iraq have
set forth in the attached Indictment, Complaint and Petition
all of the Facts necessary to constitute a prima facie case
against the Respondents for genocide; grave breaches of the
Fourth Geneva Convention and Protocol I; and a gross and consistent
pattern of violations of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and the International Convention on the Rights of the
Child. Wherefore, The 4.5 Million Children of Iraq demand that
the United Nations and its organs immediately undertake a full
investigation of the matters presented in this Indictment, Complaint
and Petition, and subsequently authorize a complete and public
disclosure of all evidence and findings of fact at the conclusion
of such investigation. I would appreciate receiving a formal
acknowledgment of your receipt of the attached Indictment,
Complaint, and Petition by The 4.5 Million Children of Iraq
at the address listed above as well as all further communications
related to this matter.
THE PEOPLES AND COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD
MUST NOT TURN THEIR EYES AWAY IN SHAME FROM IRAQ AS HUMANKIND
APPROACHES THE DAWN OF THE NEXT MILLENNIUM OF ITS PARLOUS EXISTENCE.
AS IRAQ'S CHILDREN GO, SO GOES THE ENTIRE WORLD!
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED ON BEHALF OF THE
4.5 MILLION CHILDREN OF IRAQ,
FRANCIS A. BOYLE PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL
LAW
MEMBER OF THE BARS OF THE SUPREME JUDICIAL
COURT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS AND OF THE SUPREME
COURT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DATED: SEPTEMBER 18, 1991
IN THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
SECRETARY GENERAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL, HUMAN RIGHTS
COMMISSION, SUB-COMMISSION ON PREVENTION OF DISCRIMINATION AND
PROTECTION OF MINORITIES, UNESCO, UNICEF, ALL NGO'S
UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS IN NEW YORK,
GENEVA, VIENNA, AND PARIS
THE 4.5 MILLION CHILDREN OF IRAQ, APPLICANTS,
VS.
GEORGE BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES INDICTMENT, COMPLAINT, AND PETITION FOR RELIEF FROM GENOCIDE
IN BOTH HIS OFFICIAL AND PERSONAL CAPACITIES, AND THE UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA, RESPONDENTS.
TO: THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE UNITED
NATIONS, THE MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, THE ECONOMIC AND
SOCIAL COUNCIL, THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, THE SUBCOMMISSION
ON PREVENTION OF DISCRIMINATION AND PROTECTION OF MINORITIES,
UNESCO, UNICEF, THE HEADS OF ALL NGO'S, ETC.
RE: INDICTMENT, COMPLAINT AND PETITION
BY THE 4.5 MILLION CHILDREN OF IRAQ FOR RELIEF FROM GENOCIDE
BY PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
I. INTRODUCTION
1. The Applicants herein, THE 4.5 MILLION
CHILDREN OF IRAQ, invoke the jurisdiction of the United Nations
and its organs by virtue of the provisions of the United Nations
Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the
International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of
the Crime of Genocide, and file this Indictment, Complaint
and Petition on their own behalf. The Applicants charge the
Respondents with committing the international crime of genocide
against The 4.5 Million Children of Iraq. Applicants pray for
the termination of the international economic embargo and all
forms of bilateral economic sanctions against Iraq, and to secure
the massive provision of international humanitarian relief required
in order to save themselves from death, disease, malnutrition,
starvation, and extermination at the hands of the Respondents.
Applicants also pray for monetary compensation for the harm
done to them and all other forms of relief deemed necessary
and appropriate. Finally, Applicants request the institution
of criminal proceedings against the Respondent George Bush for
committing the international crime of genocide by the appropriate
international organs and by all States of the World Community
under their respective municipal legal systems.
II. THE FACTS
2. The Applicants are The 4.5 Million
Children of Iraq.
3. The Respondents are (1) George Bush,
President of the United States of America, in both his official
and personal capacities, and (2) the United States of America,
a Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council.
4. The Respondents are the Person and
State primarily responsible for the imposition of the now year-long
international economic embargo and bilateral economic sanctions
against Iraq.
5. Reports from the United Nations, the
Physicians for Human Rights, the International Red Cross, a
Harvard Study Team, other independent organizations, and private
U.S. citizens have documented the fact that unless the economic
sanctions imposed against Iraq are immediately lifted and Iraq
is allowed to buy and import food, medicine and equipment,
especially for power generation, hundreds of thousands of innocent
Iraqi civilians will die in the upcoming months.
6. A Harvard Study Team estimates that
at least 170,000 Iraqi children under the age of five will die
within the next year from the delayed effects of the war in
the Persian Gulf if the imposition of the sanctions continues.
7. This is a conservative estimate and
does not include tens of thousands of Iraqi children above the
age of five who are expected to die from similar causes.
8. The Catholic Relief Service estimates
that more than 100,000 Iraqi children will die from malnutrition
and disease in the upcoming months due to the economic embargo
and destruction of the war, and the United Nations Children's
Fund estimates that 80,000 Iraqi children may die from these
causes.
9. Malnutrition has become severe and
widespread in Iraq since imposition of the embargo and the war
due to severe food shortages and the inflation of food prices
of up to 1000%, which has effectively priced many Iraqis, especially
the poor and disadvantaged, out of the food market.
10. Cholera, typhoid, and gastroenteritis
have become epidemic throughout Iraq since the war due to the
critical scarcity of medicine and the inability of Iraq to process
sewage and purify the water supply.
11. The system of medical care has broken
down in Iraq, resulting in the closure of up to 50% of Iraq's
medical facilities due to acute shortages of medicines, equipment,
and staff.
12. The incapacitation of 18 of Iraq's
20 power plants during the war is a principal cause of the deterioration
in public health due to the resultant inability of Iraq to
process sewage, purify its water supply, and supply electricity
to health facilities.
13. The health care crisis cannot be
addressed without the reconstruction of electrical facilities
that enable the purification of water and treatment of sewage.
14. Before the economic embargo of Iraq,
three quarters of the total caloric intake in Iraq was imported
and, moreover, 96% of Iraqi revenue to pay for imports, namely
food and medicine, was derived from the exportation of oil now
prohibited under the embargo.
15. The summer heat in Iraq has both
accelerated the spread of disease and impeded its treatment
due to the lack of refrigeration facilities even in hospitals.
16. The acute shortages of food in Iraq,
the inflation of up to 1000% in food prices caused by these
shortages, the critical scarcity of medicine, and the essential
need to reconstruct Iraq's capacity to generate electricity
to enable sewage treatment and water purification, cannot be
addressed or rectified without Iraq's re-entry into global
commerce, at present effectively prohibited by the economic
sanctions.
17. The immediate lifting of the sanctions
would drastically reduce the number of Iraqi children who will
die in the upcoming months from malnutrition and disease and
would relieve the suffering of the innocent Iraqi population
which is now bearing the burden of the embargo.
18. Approximately 500 Iraqi children
are dying each day from disease, malnutrition, and lack of proper
medical treatment due to the continuation of the international
economic embargo and bilateral economic sanctions upon Iraq
that have been organized and imposed by the Respondents.
III. CONTENTIONS
19. The Harvard Study Team Report, Public
Health in Iraq After the Gulf War, estimated that as of May
1991, 55,000 additional deaths of Iraqi children under five
had already occurred because of the Gulf Crisis, and projected
that at least 170,000 Iraqi children under five will die in
the coming year from the delayed effects of the Gulf Crisis.
The Study also emphasized that these projections are conservative:
"In all probability, the actual number of deaths of children
under five will be much higher."
20. The continuation of multilateral
and bilateral economic sanctions against Iraq prevents the massive
infusion of international humanitarian assistance necessary
to prevent these mortality projections from becoming a reality.
The Harvard Report directly raises the question whether Respondents
are responsible for the commission of the international crime
of genocide against the Applicants, The 4.5 Million Children
of Iraq, because of their obstinate insistence that economic
sanctions be maintained in order to produce the deposition of
the President of Iraq despite the fact that the original purpose
for their imposition was achieved with the so-called "liberation"
of Kuwait.
21. Respondent United States of America
is a Contracting Party to the International Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948,
which will hereinafter be referred to as "the Genocide
Convention" for sake of convenience.
22. Article I of the Genocide Convention
provides that the Contracting Parties confirm that genocide,
whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime
under international law, which they undertake to prevent and
to punish.
23. Article II of the Genocide Convention
defines the international crime of "genocide" as follows:
Article II. In the present Convention,
genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent
to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial
or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental
harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group
conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction
in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent
births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of
the group to another group.
24. Article III of the Genocide Convention
provides that the following acts shall likewise all be punishable:
(a) genocide; (b) conspiracy to commit genocide; (c) direct
and public incitement to commit genocide; (d) attempt to commit
genocide; (e) complicity in genocide.
25. According to Article IV of the Genocide
Convention, persons committing genocide or any of the other
acts enumerated in Article III shall be punished, whether they
are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials,
or private individuals. This basic requirement of the Genocide
Convention is fully applicable to Respondent George Bush.
26. According to Article V of the Genocide
Convention, the Contracting Parties undertake to enact, in accordance
with their respective Constitutions, the necessary legislation
to give effect to the provisions of the Genocide Convention
and, in particular, to provide effective penalties for persons
guilty of genocide or of any of the other acts enumerated in
Article III.
27. Pursuant to Article V, the Congress
of the United States of America adopted what is called implementing
legislation for the Genocide Convention that makes genocide
a crime under U.S. federal criminal law. Basically following
the terms of the Genocide Convention, this Genocide Convention
Implementation Act of 1987 (found in Title 18 of the United
States Code) defines the crime of "genocide" as follows:
28. According to subsection (d), the
basic offense must be committed either within the United States,
or by a national of the United States. The penalty for violating
subsection (a)(1) is a fine of not more than $1 million and
imprisonment for life. The penalty for violating subsections
(a)(2) to (a)(6) is a fine of not more than $1 million or imprisonment
for not more than twenty years, or both.
29. Under the definitional provisions
of this Act, 225,000 dead Iraqi children clearly constitute
a "substantial part" of "a national, ethnic,
racial, or religious group as such." The continuation of
economic sanctions against Iraq will (1) kill at least 170,000
more Iraqi children by the end of the year; (2) "cause
serious bodily injury to" Applicants, The 4.5 Million Children
of Iraq; (3) "cause the permanent impairment of the mental
faculties of" Applicants; and (4) subject Applicants "to
conditions of life that are intended to cause the physical destruction
of the group in whole or in part
30. Only the "specific intent"
of Respondent George Bush to commit genocide against Applicants
remains to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to establish
his criminal responsibility under United States municipal law
and international criminal law. The open publication and widespread
dissemination of the Harvard Report on 22 May 1991 makes that
task possible. Any Bush administration official responsible
for implementing the economic sanctions policy against Iraq
who has knowledge of the conclusions of the Harvard Report would
possess the "specific intent" required to serve as
the mental element or mens rea of the international and municipal
crime of genocide against Applicants, The 4.5 Million Children
of Iraq. Applicants assert that Respondent George Bush has full
knowledge of the genocidal consequences of the continuation
of economic sanctions against Iraq and therefore has the mens
rea necessary for committing the crime of genocide as recognized
by the Genocide Convention and the Genocide Implementation
Act.
31. The same principles of international
criminal law have been incorporated into the municipal legal
systems of almost all States in the World Community today. Wherefore,
there is universality of jurisdiction for any State to prosecute
Respondent George Bush for committing genocide against the
Applicants, The 4.5 Million Children of Iraq. Like unto a pirate,
the Respondent George Bush is hostis humani generis - the enemy
of all humankind.
IV. COMPETENCE
32. Article I of the Genocide Convention
makes it quite clear that all 99 states that are Contracting
Parties have an international legal obligation "to prevent"
the commission of genocide against Applicants, The 4.5 million
children of Iraq.
33. Article VIII of the Genocide Convention
provides that any Contracting Party "may call upon the
competent organs of the United Nations to take such action under
the Charter of the United Nations as they consider appropriate
for the prevention and suppression of acts of genocide ..."
34. Thus, all 99 states parties to the
Genocide Convention have both the right and the duty under international
law to bring the genocidal situation in Iraq to the attention
of the entire United Nations Organization, as well as its affiliated
organizations such as UNESCO, UNICEF, etc.
35. The Genocide Convention expressly
confers international legal competence upon all organs of the
United Nations--including the Security Council, the Economic
and Social Council, the General Assembly, the Secretary General,
the International Court of Justice, the U.N. Commission on
Human Rights, the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination
and Protection of Minorities, UNESCO, UNICEF, etc. - to do something
about the genocidal situation in Iraq. But so far, such individual
steps and collective actions by Member States have not been
taken for fear of running afoul of the all-powerful Respondents,
who represent and constitute the only self-styled "superpower"
sitting as one of the five Permanent Members of the Security
Council.
36. The Respondents bear ultimate legal
responsibility for the imposition of economic sanctions upon
Iraq and therefore for the international crime of genocide against
Applicants, The 4.5 Million Children of Iraq.
37. Under the current desperate circumstances,
responsible officials of Member States permitting the continuation
of economic sanctions against Iraq could commit the separate
international crime of "complicity" in the crime of
genocide that is today being inflicted upon the Applicants by
the Respondents, in violation of Article III(e) of the Genocide
Convention.
V. JURISDICTION
38. That the organs and agencies of the
United Nations, including the Secretary General, the Economic
and Social Council, the General Assembly, the Human Rights Commission,
the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection
of Minorities, UNESCO and UNICEF, inter alia, have the jurisdiction
to receive and hear this Indictment, Complaint and Petition,
and to provide the Relief requested herein.
39. That the organs of the United Nations
are endowed with explicit and inherent powers to assume jurisdiction
of cases of the kind presented in this Indictment, Complaint
and Petition is reflected in the Charter of the United Nations.
Chapter 1, Article I(1) of the Charter obligates the United
Nations and its members to "maintain international peace
and security." Such peace and security are threatened by
many acts short of open interstate warfare. Genocide by the
Respondents against the Applicants, The 4.5 Million Children
of Iraq, threatens international peace and security.
40. As the situation described above
constitutes a constant threat to the maintenance of international
peace and security, the Secretary General, under the authority
conferred upon him by Article 99 of the Charter, is entitled
to bring this matter to the attention of the Security Council.
He is also authorized by Rule 13(g) of the Rules of Procedure
of the General Assembly to include in the Assembly's agenda
any item which he deems it necessary to put before the Assembly.
Applicants hereby request the Secretary General to include their
Indictment, Complaint, and Petition on the agenda of the 46th
General Assembly, and to bring it to the attention of the Security
Council.
41. The General Assembly is authorized
to act under Chapter IV, Article 22 of the United Nations Charter
to establish an ad hoc Tribunal empowered to grant the Relief
requested herein. For instance, in 1950, the General Assembly
established a special tribunal to deal with various claims
arising in the former Italian colony of Libya. Given the circumstances
detailed in this Indictment, Complaint and Petition, the creation
of such a Tribunal would be justified and necessary to carry
out the very Purposes and Principles for which the United Nations
was established: to ensure peace and security and to guarantee
the protection of fundamental human rights. Applicants request
the 46th General Assembly to establish such a Tribunal as a
subsidiary organ and to charge it with the responsibility to
investigate and adjudicate their Indictment, Complaint and
Petition, as well as to order all forms of Relief requested
in Section VI herein.
42. That all Members of the United Nations
have pledged themselves under U.N. Charter Chapter IX Articles
55 and 56 to take action to ensure respect for human rights.
Article 55 states in part:
With a view to the creation of conditions
of stability and wellbeing which are necessary for peaceful
and friendly relations among nations based on respect for the
principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples,
the United Nations shall promote:
(c) universal respect for, and observance
of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction
as to race, sex, language, or religion.
Article 56 states:
All Members pledge themselves to take
joint and separate action in co-operation with the Organization
for the achievement of the purposes set forth in Article 55.
43. Such a pledge indicates that under
the Charter, Member States must be prepared to take action to
assist in enforcing and protecting human rights. Should an organ
of the United Nations determine that the rights of Applicants
were violated by Respondents and recommend action, Member States
have pledged themselves to co-operate with the United Nations
in taking necessary steps under the Charter to promote "universal
respect for, and observance of, human rights."
44. These human rights provisions of
the United Nations Charter were further elaborated upon and
specified by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which
was adopted by consensus by the United Nations General Assembly
in 1948. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights enunciates
the basic standards of international human rights law to which
all individuals around the world are entitled. Indeed, it is
the official position of the United Nations Organization and
of the Respondent United States of America that the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights is binding upon all States and for
the benefit of all People around the world as a matter of customary
international law.
45. Among the plethora of rights guaranteed
to the Applicants by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
that are currently being systematically violated by the Respondents,
the most sacred and most fundamental right of all is their very
right to life itself, as recognized by Article 3 thereof "Everyone
has the right to life, liberty and security of person."
Respondents act as if the "everyone" referred to in
Article 3 does not include the Applicants, The 4.5 Million Children
of Iraq.
46. Applicants also assert that the Respondents
have grossly, consistently, and systematically violated the
fundamental right that has been guaranteed to them by Article
5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "No one
shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment."
47. Applicants, The 4.5 Million Children
of Iraq, also assert that the Respondents have violated all
of the rights guaranteed to them by the International Convention
on the Rights of the Child of 1989.
48. Applicants also assert that the Respondents
have violated the special protections of international humanitarian
law guaranteed to children by the Fourth Geneva Convention of
1949 and the Additional Protocol I thereto of 1977.
49. Under the human rights provisions
of the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, the Genocide Convention, the Children's Convention,
and the Fourth Geneva Convention and Protocol I, Applicants
are proper parties to invoke the jurisdiction of the United
Nations in requesting Relief on their own behalf in order to
be relieved from the inhuman, degrading, cruel, criminal, and
genocidal conditions perpetrated upon them by the Respondents.
50. Due to the fact that the Respondents
represent and constitute the only self-styled "superpower"
sitting as one of the five Permanent Members of the Security
Council, the Respondents have repeatedly and abusively used
and threatened to use their voting power and their so-called
"veto power" to continue the international economic
embargo upon Iraq in a manner that is ultra vires the "primary
responsibility" for the maintenance of international peace
and security that has been conferred upon the Security Council
by Article 24(1) and (2) of the United Nations Charter: "2.
In discharging these duties the Security Council shall act in
accordance with the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations."
According to Article 1(3) of the Charter, one of the foremost
Purposes of the United Nations is proclaimed to be "...
promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental
freedoms for all ..."
51. That as a direct result of the illegal
and ultra vires conduct by the Respondents at the Security Council,
the Applicants have nowhere else to turn for Relief except to
the General Assembly, the Secretary General, the Economic and
Social Council, the Human Rights Commission, the Sub-commission
on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities,
UNESCO and UNICEF, etc. in order to save themselves from the
death, disease, malnutrition, starvation and genocide that is
currently being inflicted upon them by the Respondents.
52. That the General Assembly has the
inherent power to create methods and instrumentalities to carry
out the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations Charter,
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Genocide Convention
and the other aforementioned instruments of international law.
The Secretary General also possesses inherent powers to carry
out these Purposes and Principles. The same is true for the
Human Rights Commission, the Sub-Commission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, as well as for
UNESCO and UNICEF, etc.
53. That the Respondents represent and
constitute a Member State of the United Nations and therefore
would be obligated to act in compliance with any determination
by any United Nations organ concerning this matter.
VI. PRAYER FOR RELIEF
54. Applicants pray for the issuance
of a Directive by the Secretariat, or the General Assembly,
or the Economic and Social Council, or the Human Rights Commission,
or the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection
of Minorities, or UNESCO, or UNICEF or any other competent organ
or agency of the United Nations to hear this Indictment, Complaint
and Petition; to investigate and adjudicate the allegations
of genocide by Respondents against Applicants; and to order
the termination of all forms of multilateral and bilateral economic
sanctions against Iraq.
55. Applicants also pray for the massive
provision of international humanitarian relief to Iraq by the
United Nations Organizations as a whole, its specialized agencies
and affiliated organizations, as well as by all Member States
thereof, in order to save them from death, disease, malnutrition,
starvation, genocide, and extermination at the hands of the
Respondents.
56. Applicants also pray for due compensation
to be paid by Respondents to Applicants and their families for
the deaths as well as physical and mental injury caused by Respondents'
actions in violation of the Genocide Convention and the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, inter alia.
57. Applicants pray that proper sanctions
be taken against Respondents for any refusal to comply with
any of the orders or decisions that the United Nations or any
international organ makes in relation to this matter.
58. Applicants pray that the United Nations
authorize a full investigation of the matters presented in this
Indictment, Complaint and Petition and subsequently authorize
a complete and public disclosure of all evidence and findings
of fact at the conclusion of such investigation.
59. Applicants further pray that the
appropriate organs of the United Nations Organization - as well
as of all the Member States thereof - institute criminal proceedings
against Respondent George Bush for committing the international
crime of genocide against the Applicants, as required by the
Genocide Convention and the municipal legal systems of all civilized
nations, including his own.
VII. CONCLUSION
THE PEOPLES AND COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD
MUST NOT TURN THEIR EYES AWAY IN SHAME FROM IRAQ AS HUMANKIND
APPROACHES THE DAWN OF THE NEXT MILLENNIUM OF ITS PARLOUS EXISTENCE.
AS IRAQ'S CHILDREN GO, SO GOES THE ENTIRE WORLD!
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED ON BEHALF OF THE
APPLICANTS, THE 4.5 MILLION CHILDREN OF IRAQ.
Francis A. Boyle,
Professor of Law, University of Illinois, is author of Foundations
of World Order, Duke University Press, and The
Criminality of Nuclear Deterrence, Clarity Press. He
can be reached at: FBOYLE@LAW.UIUC.EDU
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