Nawal El Saadawi and Sherif Hetata's site

title

Final Declaration of The BRussells Tribunal

Statement by Nawal El Saadawi

This is not the first time I participate in an International Tribunal. The first time was in New York in the International People’s Tribunal which tried George Bush the father, then president of the United States, as a war criminal after a coalition of more than thirty countries led by the United States had attacked Iraq, killed over quarter of a million people, and left the country in ruins.

The second time was almost ten years later in 2002 during the first World Social Forum held in Porto Aleghre. An international popular Tribunal listened to witnesses from thirteen countries exposing the disasters caused by foreign debt, and by the Structural Adjustment and Free Trade Policies imposed on the so-called South., by the World Bank , the IMF , the WTO and other economic institutions .

But today policies followed by neo- colonial and neo-liberal capitalism since the eighties and in which the successive rulers of the United States have played a leading role face us with far bigger dangers than we have ever faced before. The neo-conservative fundamentalists now in power in the United States seek to enforce an economic military domination of the world, an American empire built on war, on the decimation of vast populations, on fear and terror,on the surveillance and control of our lives, on accelerated exploitation of people everywhere.

This what the neo-conservative impelialist rulers headed by men like George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Donald Rumsfeld and Richard Perle and by women like Condoleeza Rice wish to attain. It is what they call the Project for a “New American Century”.

As a writer I believe that writers should make it known where they stand in the present situation, not only in their writings, but also in their actions and in their spoken words because many people read them, listen to them, hear them, and see how they act. As a woman I know that women are the first victims of economic exploitation ,of social distress, of hunger and disease, of war. As a woman I refuse the pretext of womens’ liberation as an excuse to invade Iraq and Afghanistan,and to dominate the Arab peoples whereas oil and money are the real reason. As a citizen of Egypt, I come from what is now described as a “theater for major wars”, for the war in Iraq and its military occupation by the United States and the United Kingdom, for armed aggression against the Palestinians by a technologically advanced Israeli military machine.

I come from an area which Bush , in connivance with Sharon and others plans to deconstruct and restructure as a part of the United States empire, as the part which he has named a “Greater Middle East” and which he wishes to transform into a vast United States settlement and military stronghold.

This Tribunal will contribute to exposing the dangers facing people all over the world from the Project for a New American Century. It is another step on the way to establishing a peoples justice, a new international legal system which can accuse and try the war criminals protected by the systems and institutions of world power. It is a platform which wishes to declare as loudly and as widely as it can that men and women all over the world will continue to resist until they defeat the policies of accelerated exploitation ,of militarisation ,of state terrorism and of war. For all these reasons I am here with you in this peoples Tribunal today.

17 April 2004

Website of the Brussels Tribunal

The BRussells Tribunal is a hearing committee composed of academics, intellectuals and artists in the tradition of the Russell Tribunal, set up in 1967 to investigate war crimes committed during the Vietnam War. The hearing was scheduled for 14-17th April 2004 at The Beursschouwburg and Les Halles in Brussels. It was presided by Professor François Houtart, one of the founding fathers of the World Social Forum in Porto Allegre. It was directed against the war in Iraq and the Imperial war policies of the Bush II administration. Its main focus will be the ‘Project for the New American Century’, the think tank behind this war, in particular three of the co-signatories of the mission statement: Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz, as they are the physical link between the discourse and the brutal practice of the New Imperial World Order as designed by PNAC.

This Tribunal is the opening session of the World Tribunal on Iraq, a series of hearings scheduled to conclude in Istanbul in 2005. The following is the final statement of the tribunal:

Final Statement

Saturday April 17 2004.

People vs Total War Incorporated

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 B Russell s 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 B Russell s 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 examined 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 (1).

The Commission came to the following conclusions:

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.

A significant number of signatories to PNAC's 1997 founding Statement of Principles” became senior members of the current US administration, including Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz. The adoption of those principles by this administration is evidenced by official White House documents such as “The National Security Strategy” of September 2002. These principles have been put into action through the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

According to a clear majority of States and a large consensus of legal experts, the invasion of Iraq constitutes an act of aggression, a breach of one of the most fundamental norms of the international legal order. This demonstrates that the implementation of policies emanating from PNAC and endorsed by the current administration runs counter to the principles of the UN Charter and undermines the United Nations itself, which bears the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.

The invasion of Iraq has resulted in more than 10.000 civilian deaths. With each passing day of occupation, the number of victims grows, as do the gross violations of humanitarian law and human rights, such as arbitrary detention, ill-treatment and deprivation in regard to basic needs. The situation of the Iraqi people has clearly deteriorated and the promises of democracy and freedom have proved to be illusory. The constant use of the words “democracy”, “freedom” and “human rights” in such a context amounts to a complete perversion of those terms.

Far from bringing stability and peace in Iraq and the region, the invasion and occupation have created instability and chaos. Moreover, the deliberate destruction of Iraq has effectively promoted the Israeli government's policies of further unlawful expansion and de facto annexation of territories as well as further annihilation of the rights of the Palestinian people. The Tribunal noted that PNAC itself called explicitly in 2002 for the US administration to align itself with the views of the Israeli government. These developments increase hostility between the peoples of the region and the West, contrary to the proclaimed objectives of making the world a safer place.

There is evidence of a consistent US strategy, as envisioned by the PNAC report entitled “Rebuilding America's Defences”, to establish global domination by military means. Contrary to claims that this domination would be a “benevolent hegemony”, it is more likely to lead to a state of permanent war. PNAC policies are based on brutal unilateralism and disregard for legality. As such, the ideas of PNAC constitute an intellectual crime. The war in Iraq is only one element of a global agenda which is linked with logics of the dominant economic system, inspired by neo-conservative ideology and supported by religious fundamentalism.

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.

[1] The oral and written testimonies as well as official documents are reproduced in a preparatory dossier entitled “Questioning the New Imperial World Order”.

Last updated 26 January 08
Site created May 18, 2001 by Virtual Activism