“The Criminalization of War”

The Kuala Lumpur declaration was initially adopted eighteen years in December 2005 as a consensus statement on the need to end all wars of aggression as a means to ensuring the survival of humanity.

“Killings in war are as criminal as the killings within societies in times of peace. Since killings in peace time are subject to the domestic law of crime, killings in war must likewise be subject to the international law of crimes. This should be so irrespective of whether these killings in war are authorized or permitted by domestic law.”

In 2023, we are at the crossroads of the most serious crisis in World HistoryMore than ever the Kuala Lumpur Initiative launched in 2005 by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad should be widely understood and applied.

The Pentagon, NATO and the State of Israel are the protagonists of war and war crimes. 

The US has embarked upon the ultimate war crime, a military adventure, “a long war”, which threatens the future of humanity. The Pentagon’s global military design is one of world conquest.

The military deployment of US-NATO forces is occurring in several regions of the world simultaneously, resulting in millions of civilian deaths and countless atrocities.

Bear in mind, the KL Declaration also calls for the criminalization of the military industrial complex including the so-called defense contractors as well as the science labs which conceptualize and develop advanced weapons systems: 

“All commercial, financial, industrial and scientific activities that aid and abet war should be criminalised.” 

The KL declaration also targets the corporate media as well as Hollywood which routinely glorifies acts of killing and destruction. 

Since its adoption in 2005, the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal (KLWCT) has passed two important  judgements: against George W. Bush, Dick Cheney et al for war crimes in Iraq, and against the State of Israel on charges of genocide against the people of Palestine. 

Global Research has been associated with the Kuala Lumpur initiative from the very outset in December 2005

Michel Chossudovsky, Signatory of the 2005  KL  Initiative and Member of the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission (KLWCC), Global Research, February 3, 2014, June 23, 2023, October 18, 2023

 

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“The Criminalisation of War”

Text of Declaration

15 December 2005

THE Kuala Lumpur Global Peace Forum of concerned peoples from all five continents

UNITED in the belief that peace is the essential condition for the survival and well-being of the human race,

DETERMINED to promote peace and save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,

OUTRAGED over the frequent resort to war in the settlement of disputes between nations,

DISTURBED that militarists are preparing for more wars,

TROUBLED that use of armed force increases insecurity for all,

TERRIFIED that the possession of nuclear weapons and the imminent risk of nuclear war will lead to the annihilation of life on earth.


Signatories of the 2005 Kuala Lumpur Declaration. From Left to Right: Francis A.Boyle, Helen Caldicott,  Denis J. Halliday, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Hans-Christof Von Sponeck, Michel Chossudovsky, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf


 

To achieve peace we now declare that:

  1. Wars increasingly involve the killing of innocent people and are, therefore, abhorrent and criminal.
  2. Killings in war are as criminal as the killings within societies in times of peace.
  3. Since killings in peace time are subject to the domestic law of crime, killings in war must likewise be subject to the international law of crimes. This should be so irrespective of whether these killings in war are authorized or permitted by domestic law.
  4. All commercial, financial, industrial and scientific activities that aid and abet war should be criminalised.
  5. All national leaders who initiate aggression must be subjected to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
  6. All nations must strengthen the resolve to accept the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and institute methods to settle international disputes by peaceful means and to renounce war.
  7. Armed force shall not be used except when authorised by a Resolution passed by two-thirds majority of the total membership of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
  8. All legislators and all members of Government must affirm their belief in peace and pledge to strive for peace.
  9. Political parties all over the world must include peace as one of their principal objectives.
  10. Non-Governmental Organisations committed to the promotion of peace should be set up in all nations.
  11. Public servants and professionals, in particular in the medical, legal, educational and scientific fields, must promote peace and campaign actively against war.
  12. The media must actively oppose war and the incitement to war and consciously promote the peaceful settlement of international disputes.
  13. Entertainment media must cease to glorify war and violence and should instead cultivate the ethos of peace.
  14. All religious leaders must condemn war and promote peace.

To these ends the Forum resolves to establish a permanent Secretariat in Kuala Lumpur to –

IMPLEMENT this Initiative.

OPPOSE policies and programmes that incite war.

SEEK the cooperation of NGOs worldwide to achieve the goals of this Initiative.

Signed by:

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf

Prof. Francis A. Boyle

Dr. Helen Caldicott

Mr. Matthias Chang

Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

Prof Shad Saleem Faruqi

Mr Denis J. Halliday

Dato’ Mukhriz Mahathir

Dr. Chandra Muzaffar

Dato’ Michael O.K. Yeoh

Mr. Hans-Christof Von Sponeck


Articles by: Global Research

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