Linked on our blogs with Failure of the Globalization Model: The Arab Spring of Democracy.
The BRussells Tribunal are intellectuals, artists and activists who denounce the logic of permanent war promoted by the American government and its allies, affecting for the time being particularly one region in the world: the Middle East. It started with a people’s court against the PNAC and its role in the illegal invasion of Iraq, but continued ever since. It tries to be a bridge between the intellectual resistance in the Arab World and the Western peace movements …(Homepage) …
All pages have the same URL, as – in english: Homepage, Hearing on the Project For The New American Century PNAC, International Anti-Occupation Network, Associate of the Perdana Global Peace Organisation, Members … and all links in the left column, as The BRussels Tribunal Committee, Conclusions of the commission …
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Conclusions of the commission (available in Dutch, Français, English, Arabic, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian – click in the left column on BRussels Tribunal /Conclusions … To reach the conclusions in the other languages, continue to scroll down):
Consistent with the tradition of the 1967 Russell Tribunal on the Vietnam War and the work of the People’s permanent tribunal and other similar tribunals such as the one held in Brussels in 1991, the BRussells Tribunal met on 14-17 April 2004. This Tribunal is the opening session of the World Tribunal on Iraq, a series of hearings scheduled to conclude in Istanbul in 2005.
The BRussells Tribunal focused on the programs and policies proposed by “The Project for the New American Century” (PNAC), a predominantly neo-conservative “think-tank” that has advocated global US hegemony, primarily through the threat or use of military power. The objective of the Tribunal, working as a commission of inquiry, was to establish whether there was a link between PNAC’s proposals and the foreign and military strategy of the current US government, and the subsequent invasion and occupation of Iraq. The Commission also exaned the impact of policies and programs advocated by PNAC on the stability and security of international relations.
To establish its findings and shape its report the Commission heard testimony from specialists on international affairs and witnesses knowledgeable about the current conditions in Iraq. The Commission also relied on PNAC’s reports and official US government documents, as well as written analyses (*). The Commission came to the following conclusions:
- First. The PNAC program consists of three main components: to establish US hegemony in the new century, relying primarily on military and technological superiority; to prevent the emergence of any competing global or regional powers by imposing what is sometimes termed a “Pax Americana”; to exercise pre-emptive action against all perceived threats to American “interests” and security … //
- … Seventh: Due to the growing resistance encountered by the occupying powers in Iraq and other unanticipated difficulties, the United States and United Kingdom have made cynical requests for the involvement of the United Nations in Iraq, thereby pre-empting the sovereign rights of the Iraqi people to determine their future. The United Nations should avoid complicity with — let alone legitimise in any way — the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq. Any such action would further discredit this world body. The UN should restore its legitimacy through ensuring the complete withdrawal of all occupying forces and assisting the Iraqi people in recovering their full sovereignty. Any involvement of the European Union or of NATO to help the occupying powers should be refused.
Finally, the Tribunal calls upon the peoples of the world to demand that their governments deny military, political, financial or any other support to the occupying powers; and oppose the illegal implementation by occupation forces or their surrogates of any plans for the wholesale privatization of the Iraqi economy. The Tribunal also expresses its solidarity with the Iraqi people and its support for their attempts at recovering their full sovereignty … (full long text, click in the left column on BRussels Tribunal /Conclusions). To reach the conclusions in the other languages, continue to scroll down …