January
18, 2004 World Social Forum
Mumbai,
India
The
Asian Women’s Human Right Council and El
Taller International in partnership with several regional and international
organisations held the World Court of Women on US War Crimes on January
18, 2004 during the World Social Forum in Mumbai, India. The Court that drew
the support of more than 140 organisations and networks from all over the
world, was the nineteenth in the series of Courts of Women being held since
1993 in different regions - Asia, Africa, the Arab world, Pacific, Central
America and the Mediterranean. As Corinne Kumar, the International Coordinator
said in the opening session when sharing the vision that informs the Court
“The Courts of Women are an unfolding of a space, an imaginary: a horizon
that invites us to think, to feel, to challenge to connect, to dance, to
dream. It is an attempt to define a new space for women, and to infuse this
space with a new vision, a new politics. It is a gathering of voices and
visions of the global south, locating itself in a discourse of dissent: it is
in itself a dislocating practice, challenging the new world order of
globalisation, crossing lines, breaking new ground: listening to the voices
and movements in the margins”
This
Court was held in the context of the many genocidal wars initiated, instigated
and ignited by the USA, in its insatiable greed for global hegemony and
control.. Wars, whose violent memories it seeks to sanitise and erase through
recasting them as crusades for civilising and bringing in freedom, democracy
and justice to ‘brutal’ and ‘authoritarian societies’.
The
Context
Remembering
for instance the
invasion of South Vietnam and the experiment with Agent Orange that killed a
few million and maimed generations to come; the extensive terror operations
against Cuba from the early 1960’s that continues till today through the
sanctions; the operations against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua through the
1980’s; the support of the racist rulers of South Africa and the Zionist
rulers of Israel whose genocidal policies against the Palestinians it
continues to condone; the
installation of puppet regimes in Iran, Indonesia, Nigeria and Somalia – all
of who killed thousands of innocent civilians ; the assassination of Nasser in
Egypt and of Patrick Lumumba in the Congo; the slaughter of hundreds and
thousands of Filipinos at the turn of the century; the violent balkanisation
of former Yugoslavia, in which
was reborn yet another weapon of war that targets very specially the women –
gynocide or rape as a strategy for ethnic cleansing.
Remembering
that perhaps the killings in total of two and a half crore civilian people all
over the world since 1947 in overt and covert operations of the CIA is perhaps
the price worth paying by the world’s only surviving superpower to
protect this way of life even while maintaining, by the way, global
domination. As also the death of 500,000 Iraqi children as stated by Madeline
Albright when justifying the cold blooded violence unleashed by another weapon
of mass destruction – that of economic sanctions.
“It
was a hard choice but we think the price is worth it”, she said.
This
number of course does not take into consideration the horror of a Hiroshima
when the Atom bomb was dropped by America not only to crush Japan, but also to
conduct an experiment using human as guinea pigs; as it did when it tested
nuclear weapons against the indigenous people of the Pacific 1957. Remember
the famous lines of the US official who came to Chief Juda of the Bikini
Islands asking him to lave the island with his people saying “We are
testing these bombs for the good of mankind and to end all wars”. And so
to end all wars 66 bombs were tested by the US, stronger than those
they dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Sometimes
the burden of these memories are also too much to bear.
this
eye is not for weeping
it’s
vision
must
be unblurred
though
tears are on my face
it’s
intent is clarity
it
must forget
nothing
The
Court was organised in five sessions in which 30 powerful testimonies of the
expert witnesses and survivors/resistors were heard by a six member jury and a
1000 audience that gathered for over
a period of eight hours. The
members of the Jury included Ramsey Clark, former Attorney General, USA, Fatima
Meer from the Institute for
Black Research, University of Natal, South Africa, Luisa Morgantini
from the European Parliament, Italy, Genevieve Vaughan
from the Foundation For a Gift Economy, USA, Denis
Halliday, Former Assistant Secretary General, United Nations, Ireland and Biljana
Kasic from the Centre for Women’s studies, Croatia.
Session
One, In the Hour of the Fire Storm focusing On U.S. and
Weapons of Mass Destruction, remembered that the global paranoia whipped
up over the elusive search for weapons of mass destruction that pose a
threat to mankind and the U.S.A could perhaps have been stemmed had the search
been launched closer home. It remembered that apart from the fact that all
modern genocidal military technology including nuclear, chemical, biological
and bacteriological has been researched and developed to perfection in the
United States, it is a fact that it is the first nation state in the world
that has consciously, clinically and rationally deployed this warfare on and
against humanity. Witness to this were the voices of testifiers and survivors
of U.S. deployed Weapons of Mass Destruction in different parts of the world.
These
included Satoru Konishi , a Hibakusha, from the Japan Confederation of
A& H Bomb
Survivors
of Hiroshima, Japan who spoke of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki;Sahar
Sabha from the Revolutionary AfghanistanWomen’s Association (RAWA), who
spoke of the use of Depleted
Uranium in Afghanistan;Akira Maeda from the Tokyo Zokei University, who
spoke of the International Criminal Tribunal on Afghanistan;Li Thi Quy
from the Research Centre for
Gender and Development Hanoi University, Vietnam, who spoke of the use of
Agent Orange in Vietnam;Gilberto Guiterrez Valdez and Humberto
Miranda from the Institute of Philosophy, Cuba who spoke of Bacteriology
Warfare in Cuba and Jo Chol Ryong
from the Korean Democratic Lawyers Association from North Korea, who spoke of
the Bacteriological Warfare by the Americans in North Korea.
Fatima
Meer
of the Jury responded to the testimonies heard in this session.
Session
Two, In the Hour of the Wind Storm focusing on US Militarisation And
Economic Crimes remembered that apart from eliminating large populations
in different parts of the world through genocidal military technology, through
it’s military and economic presence in different parts of the world, the US
is consolidating and deepening its hegemonic hold over other countries,
cultures and peoples. The testifiers in this session who stood witness to the
effects and implications of such systematic and systemic military and economic
interventions in different regions of the world included Susan Pineda
from Gabriela Central Luzon, Philippines who spoke of Toxic Waste Dumping and
sexual violence in the US Military Bases; Eunice Santana from the
Alliance for Peace, Puerto Rico who spoke of the US Military Base in Veques
Island; Roger Normand from the Centre for Economic and Social Rights -
USA who spoke of the Economic Crimes of the US in different parts of the world
and Pol de Vos from STOP.USA, Belgium who spoke about the Project for a
New American Century; Kim II Bong from the Korean Democratic Lawyers
Association from North Korea who spoke of the U.S war crimes in Korea, in
particular the massacre of the Korean people by the U.S Military in 1952.
Genevieve
Vaughan
from the Jury responded to the testimonies heard in this session.
Session
Three In the Hour of the Desert Storm remembered the genocide in Iraq
and the destruction of an entire people in the name of democracy and freedom,
a sordid saga of how the U.S has invented, reinvented and patented the
technology of terrorism in its pursuit of total power and control.
The
testifiers in this session who bore witness to the economic, political and
cultural devastation of a people and their civilisation included Ismaeel
Mohammed Dawood from the National Association for Defence of
Human Rights in Iraq who spoke of the Disappearances, Killings and
Confiscations that happen as a matter of routine, unknown and unheard in Iraq;
Hana Ibrahim Saleem who spoke of the cultural destruction of a
civilisation; Colette Moulaert from the Medical Aid for the Third World
who spoke on the use of depleted uranium in Iraq; Alejandro Bendana from
the Jubilee South who spoke of the debt owed to the Iraqi people; Eman
Ahmed Khammas from Occupation Watch Centre who spoke of the resistance
within the country and Alyn Ware from the International Association of
Lawyers against Nuclear Arms, spoke on International Law and the illegal and
unethical use of nuclear weapons and in particular the use of Depleted Uranium
in Iraq.
Dennis
Halliday
from the Jury who has been a voice of conscience from within the US system and
resigned on the issue of Iraq, responded to the testimonies heard in this
session.
Session
Four, In the Belly of the Beast On Wars inside the U.S
remembered the silenced memories of the American Indians, the Blacks, the
Indigenous and all those marginalised politically and socially including those
of the homeless, the exiled and the interned within America, all of who stand
witness to the genocidal impact of this universalised American way of life
even within the belly of the beast. They stood witness to the fact that the
militarised governance in the world’s largest and model democracy has
resulted in an invisible war against its own people and its sacred text- the Bill
of Rights. A war intensified and justified to an unprecedented
degree after September 11. The speakers included Mililani Trask
from the Indigenous people Network,Hawaii, USA who spoke of the War against
Indigenous Peoples;
Cynthia McKinney, former Senator who spoke of the War against Black
Peoples; Cheri Honkala
from the Kensington Welfare Association, USA who spoke of the War
against the Homeless;
Gloria
La Riva
from the International Action Centre, USA who spoke of the
Cuban Five/US Laws and Leuren Moret an Independent radiation
expert, USA who spoke of Nuclear Experiments on prisoners inside the U.S.
Session
five In the Eye of the Storm, On Storm breakers and Voices of
Resistance sought to remember that the hope that this global hegemony and
control can be challenged and shrunk comes from those thousands of individual
voices of conscience and courageous collective initiatives that are standing
up to the might of the storm in different parts of the world – including
from within the USA. This session that opened with a spirited performance by
the New York Art Collective from the USA sought to give listening to some of
these voices. These included Mary Kelly from Ireland who gave her
personal testimony of how she individually challenged Irish support to the
Iraq war by hacking at military planes that had stopped for refueling at
Shannon Airport, Ireland; Ayse
Berktay from Peace, Turkey spoke of the International Tribunal on Iraq
that is bringing together voices of civil society from all over the world in
condemning the US occupation of Iraq; Magalys Arochas from the
Federation of Cuban Women, Cuba, spoke of the Resistance to the forty year old
US imposed Economic Blockade in their country; Laila Khaleed, Member of the
Palestinian National Council and General Union of Palestinian Women spoke of
the Intifada or resistance to the Israeli occupation of Palestine that
has the silent but active sanction of the US; and Hilda Lini from the
Nuclear Free Pacific spoke of the strong Anti Nuclear Movement in their region
to the policy of nuclearisation that is being unilaterally pursued by the
super power to consolidate its military might. and Paola Menduca from the Anti
War Movement, Italy spoke of how the movement has been able to make itself
heard globally against the war in Iraq. Also
heard in this session was the voice of Stan Goff, a Vietnam war veteran who
wrote to his son, a US marine through
a letter that was shown as a visual.
Luisa
Morgantini
and Biljana Kassic, as members of the Jury responded to the spirit of
resistance that spoke in this session.
Even
as the Court sought to name, through the testimonies/expert witnesses those
global processes and powers that have been responsible for perpetuating newer
and more grotesque forms of war and violence, the Jury through their comments
and interventions that were woven through the sessions, sought to evolve an
incisive indictment that was not so much legal as it was moral and ethical.
For even while seeking indictment their voices reaffirmed the need to recover
a notion of collective wisdom and justice that is compassionate, caring and
connected; connected to a new political imaginary that invites us to an ethic
of sustainability, of life enhancement, of the feminine. For it is only such a
wisdom that can challenge the logic of war as crime; it is only such a
justice that can stop a curse; that of the New American Century.
A
wisdom summed up by
Ramsay Clark President of the Jury:
Acknowledgements
Coordinating
Team:
Kalpana
Chakravarthy, Vyjayanthi Roy, Prema David, Shakun Mohini and Madhu Bhushan
with the support of Vimochana and CIEDS Collective India;
Anne
Hassani, Philip Thigo, Jouda Matmati with the support of the El Taller
International team in Tunisia; Gilberto Valadez, Humberto Miranda and El
Taller Central America, Cuba Nelia, Sancho, AWHRC, Phillipines, Eman Ahmed
Khammas (Iraq)
Yayoi
Tsuchida (Japan), Gloria La Riva (USA), Angela Dolmetsch (Columbia), Design
and Layout: Bharathy, Poetic
visuals: Chalam Benurkar
This
Court organised by AWHRC and El Taller International was held in partnership
with several regional and international organisations including Institute
for Black Research, University
of Natal, South Africa, The Institute of Philosophy, Cuba; Afro-Arab
Research Center, Egypt; Center for Women’s Studies, Croatia; Lola
Kampanyeras, Philippines; Occupation Watch, Iraq; International
Action Centre, USA; Center for Economic and Social Rights, USA; Third
World Network-ENDA, Senegal; Lebanese Council of Women, Lebanon;
Indigenous Peoples Network, Hawaii; Gender Support Network, University
of the Western Cape, South Africa; Vimochana, India; Women’s
Consensus, Columbia; Pratec, Peru; Migrante,
Morocco/Netherlands; Refugee Council, University of New South Wales,
Australia; Just, Malaysia; Miftah, Palestine; Peace,
Turkey; Puerto Rico Alliance for Peace, Puerto Rico; Nuclear Free
Pacific, Fiji; Nuclear Free Future, Germany; Japan Confederation
of A&H Bomb Survivors of Hiroshima, Japan; Korean Committee for
Solidarity with the World People, Korean Democratic Lawyer’s Association,
North Korea; Research Centre for Gender and Development, Hanoi
University, Vietnam;RAWA, Afghanistan; Foundation for a Compassionate
Society, USA; Kensington Welfare Rights Association, USA; Federation
of Cuban Women, Cuba; Young Arab Lawyers; Women in Black.
Worldwide and Global South; Creative Women’s Alliance, Palestine.
Apart from these the following groups extended their support to the
Court through messages and solidarity.
Aakar
Media Collective,
New Delhi, India. Action Against Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of
Children, Bangladesh, Al Shehab Institution for
comprehensive Development, Egypt. Alianza
Puertorriquena Por La Paz, Puerto Rico. Alliance Against
Trafficking in Women and Children in Nepal (AATWIN), Nepal. Amandamaji
ry, Gerd Söderholm, Finland. Anti-Imperialist League,
Belgium. Arab Commission for Human Rights, Malakoff, France Arab
Women’s Solidarity Association, Egypt. Asian Women Human Rights
Council, Philippine Secretariat. Asociacion Consenso de
Mujeres Barco De La Paz, Colombia. Asociacion Mujer Cabeza de
Familia, Colombia Bay Area
Women in Black, San Francisco Bay Area, USA., Berkeley Women in Black,
Beyond Beijing Committee (BBC), Nepal,
Buhay Foundation for Women and the Girl Child,
Philippines. Business and Community Foundation (BCF), India , Campaign
for Human Rights and Humanitarian LAW, Nepal. Capital Women’s Study
Forum, China. Capitalism, Nature, Socialism Journal, Australia Cawtar,
Centre of Arab Women for Training and Research, Tunis, Tunisia. Centre
for Alternatives Dhaka, Bangladesh Centre for Women's Development
Studies, India , Centro de Derechos Humanos Don Sergio,
Mexico. Centro de Investigaciones Psicoetnologicas, Mexico. Communication
for Development and Learning, Bangalore, India. Convergencia 8 ce Marzo,
Morelos, Mexico. Coordination Committee Against Women Trafficking and Child
Sexual Abuse (CCAWT), Nepal. Cuadernos Feministas, Mexico. DAWN/
Gender and Trade Network Domestic Violence Help Line, South
Africa. East Asia & Puerto Rico Women’s Network against Militarism.
East Asia Women's Forum, Hong Kong Environment, Culture,Agriculture,
Research & Development Society (ECARDS), Kathmandu,
Népal. Flower Aceh, Indonesia Focus on the
Global South, Bangkok, Thailand. Forum Against Oppression
of Women, India Forum on Rights of Marginalised (FRM), India
Foundation for Independent Analysis, Aotearoa, New Zealand. Foundation
for Women, Thailand. Galfisa, Cuba Gandhi Development Trust
& Satyagraha, India Gender
and Development for Cambodia. Gender Equity Unit, University
of the Western Cape, South Africa. Global Alliance Against Trafficking in
Women, Thailand, Global Fund for Women, USA. Gramin
Mahila shrijansil Pariwar (GMSP), Nepal.
Gramin Samudayik Bikash Sewa Parishad (GSBSP), Nepal.
Hellenic Association of Youth Informatics, Athens, Greece.
Hong Kong Women's Fund, Hong Kong,
Indigenous Women’s Resource Centre.
Indonesian Women's Coalition for Justice and Democracy,
Indonesia, Institute
of Human Rights Communication, Nepal.
Instituto Paulo Freire, Sao Paulo, Brasil.
International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear
Arms, New Zealand, International
Center for Law in Development, New York, USA,
International Feminists for a Gift Economy, USA.
Jagori, India, Jana
Chetana Sarokar Kendra (JCSM), Nepal.
Jenin Media Center, Palestine.
Jerusalem Centre for Women, Palestine,
Just World, Malaysia. Justice
& Accountability Matters (Jam), India
La Ligue Algérienne pour la défense des droits de l’homme
(LADDH), Algeria. Learning
Network, India. Lolas
Kampanyera, Philippines. Mahila
Atma Nivarta Kendra (MANK), Nepal. Mama
Cash, The Netherlands, Narigrantha
Prabartana, Bangladesh, National
Coalition Against Racial Discrimination (NCARD), Nepal.
Nawat Group, Palestine, Newar
National Forum, Nepal. Nga
Wahine Tiaki o Te Ao, Aotearoa, New Zealand.
Nihon Hidankyo, Japan. Nuclear
Free and Independent Pacific Movement Throughout the Asia-Pacific
Region. Nuclear Free and
Independent Pacific Movement . Nuclear
Free Future Award, Germany. Oxfam
Nepal Team, Kathmandu, Nepal. Pacific
Concerns Resource Centre, Fiji.
Palestinian Democratic Coalition, Palestine.
Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy
(MIFTAH), Palestine. Palestinian
Working Women Society for Development.
Palestinian Youth Union, Palestine.
Peace Initiative of Turkey, Turkey.
People’s Movement for Human Rights Education
(PDHRE), New York, USA. People's
Vigilance Committee on Human Rights, India.
Plataforma copartes tdh alemania, Peru.
Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund, Canada.
Program of Women's Research & Action Group (WRAG),
India. Radio Sagarmatha, Nepal.
Ramaq Centre for Awareness and Social Responsibility, Lahore,
Pakistan. Rights and Democracy,
Montréal, Québec, Canada. Rural
Community Development Service Council, Nepal.
Safe House For Women, Kosova.
Sangat, New Delhi, India. Satyagraha
in Pursuit of Truth, South Africa. Shakti
Samuha Nepal, Nepal. Sheelu,
Tamil Nadu Women's Collective, India.
Shirkat , Women’s Resource Centre, Pakistan.
Silicon Valley Health Watch , California, USA.
Simorgh Women’s Resource and Publication Centre, Lahore,
Pakistan. Solidaritas
Perempuan, Indonesia. SOS
Irak, Belgium. Stop USA ,
Belgium. Sumpay Mindanao
Inc., Philippines. Survivors,
For Change, Ghana, West Africa. Sustainable
Livelihood Forum (SLF), Nepal.
Tenaganita, Malaysia.
Tejaswi. The
African Women Empowerment Guild, Nigeria.
The Australian National Committee on Refugee Women,
Australia. The Center for the
Study of the Gift Economy, USA.The Creative Women Forum, Palestine.
The Ecumenical Women's Forum, Philippines .
The Group for Cultural Documentation, Inc.
The Jordanian Women’s Union, Amman, Jordan.
The National Alliance of Women ‘s Organisations (NAWO),
London, UK. The Santa Clara
Center for Occupational Safety and Health (SCCOSH), California,
USA. The Tamaynut organisation,
Morroco. The United Church
of Canada, Canada. The
Women’s Centre, Bombay, India. Ubinig,
Dhaka, Bangladesh. Union of
the lebanese Democratic Youth (ULDY), Lebanon.
UNLAD KABAYAN, Philippines.
Uttapidit Tatha Janajati Bikash Parishad (UTJBP),
Nepal. WILPF, Italy.
WINGS, Women’s International News Gathering Service,
Texas, USA & Vancouver BC, Canada. Women
Affairs Technical Committee, Palestine.
Women against nuclear power, Pirkko Lindberg, Finland.
Women's Aid Organization, Malaysia.
Women's Bank Women's
Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling, Palestine.
Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Trust,
Mozambique. Women for Peace,
Lea Launokari, Finland. Women
in Black, USA. Women Skill
Creation Centre (WOSCC), Nepal. Women's
Institute for New Awakening (WINA), India.
Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom, USA.
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom,
Costa Rica section, Heredia Group.
World Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland .
Our
special thanks to all those who made this Court and our other events at the
WSF possible with their support.
EED,
Germany
Vaughan
Foundation, USA
Hivos,
India
Uusc,
USA
United
Church of Canada, Canada
Action
Aid Asia, India/Thailand
Mama
Cash, Netherlands
Global
Fund For Women , USA
George
Gund III, USA
Dougherty
Foundation, USA
Comité
Catholique contre la Faim et pour le Dévelopement, France.
Ecosolidar,
Switzerland
Cultural
Committee, WSF
We
also thank all those who participated in the Court and contributed with their
own financial support.