“Arrest Tony Blair for War Crimes”: UK Parliamentary Petition

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair should be arrested and indicted for war crimes in the Middle East.

The following petition has recently been registered on the UK Parliament’s website.

This Petition can be signed by British citizens and British residents. 

British citizens living overseas are eligible to sign the petition.

Our message to the British government: Tony Blair is a war criminal under international law.

THE CAMERON GOVERNMENT IS COMPLICIT IN SUPPORTING A KNOWN WAR CRIMINAL IN DEFIANCE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (NUREMBERG). 

Click here to sign (or click image below) 


Background

  • In March 2003, Mr. Blair, while Prime Minister, likely participated with several high-ranking United States leaders in committing the crime of aggression against Iraq.
  • The crime of aggression is the “supreme international crime,” as declared by the Nuremberg Tribunal in 1946.
  • In addition to being prohibited by international law, the crime of aggression is a crime also defined by the International Criminal Court in the Hague, over which it may have the opportunity to exercise jurisdiction in the coming years. “Resort to a war of aggression is not merely illegal, but is criminal.” United States v. Hermann Goering, et al., 41 AM. J. INT’L L. 172, 186, 218-220 (1946); see also Charter Int’l Military Tribunal, art. 6(a), Aug. 8, 1945, 59 Stat. 1546, 82 U.N.T.S. 279.
  • In 2004, Secretary General Kofi Annan declared the Iraq War illegal and in contravention of the United Nations Charter.1
  • In 2006, a former prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials, Benjamin Ferencz, stated that the Iraq War was a “clear breach of law.”2 “There’s no such thing as a war without atrocities, but war-making is the biggest atrocity of law.”
  • In 2010, a Dutch inquiry concluded that the Iraq War had no basis in international law.3
  • In 2010, Hans Blix, the former chief weapons inspector for the United Nations, stated that it was his “firm view” that the Iraq War was illegal.4
  • In 2012, judges empanelled before the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal, an independent commission headed by former judges and involving input from several international law scholars, concluded that a prima facie case existed that Mr. Blair committed the crime of aggression against Iraq. The tribunal reported its findings to the International Criminal Court in the Hague and entered the name of Mr. Blair in its “Register of War Criminals.”
  • In 2012, Archbishop Desmond Tutu summarized that the “immoral” invasion, “premised on a lie,” has “destabilized and polarised the world to a greater extent than any other conflict in history,” and questioned why Mr. Blair was not “made to answer” for his actions in the Hague.5
  • In May 2014, former Prime Minister John Major urged Mr. Blair to seek publication of all his pre-war communications concerning the Iraq War. To this day, the Iraq War Inquiry headed by Sir John Chilcot has been forced to negotiate as to what communications it can and cannot release in its report.6

Excerpt from Inder Comar, Esq’ Letter to Save the Children, demanding that the STC Rescind the Global Legacy Award to Tony Blair , December 2014

This letter was send on behalf of  Felicity Arbuthnot, Michel Chossudovsky and Denis Halliday in response to the Global Legacy Award (the “Award”) given by Save the Children to former Prime Minister Tony Blair on November 19, 2014, formally requesting that Save the Children rescind the Award forthwith. 

Lawyer’s Letter to “Save the Children” (STC): Rescind the “Global Legacy Award” to Alleged War Criminal Tony Blair

Notes

1 “Lessons of Iraq war underscore importance of UN Charter – Annan”, UN News Centre, September 16, 2004, available at http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=11953&#.VHYlN4ccE2A (last accessed December 5, 2014).

2 “Could Bush Be Prosecuted for War Crimes?”, Jan Frel, AlterNet, July 9, 2006, available at http://www.alternet.org/story/38604/could_bush_be_prosecuted_for_war_crimes (last accessed December 5, 2014).

3 “Conclusions on the Committee of Inquiry on Iraq,” Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations, available at http://netherlandsmission.org/article.asp?articleref=AR00000874EN last accessed December 5, 2014).

4 “Iraq inquiry: Former UN inspector Blix says war illegal,” BBC News, July 27, 2010, available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10770239 (last accessed December 5, 2014).

5 “Why I had no choice but to spurn Tony Blair,” Desmond Tutu, The Observer, September 1, 2012, available at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/sep/02/desmond-tutu-tony-blair-iraq (last accessed December 5, 2014). 

6 “Chilcot Inquiry: John Major urges Blair to get Bush conversations published,” Lizzie Dearden, The Independent, May 30, 2014, available at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/chilcot-inquiry- john-major-urges-blair-to-get-bush-conversations-published-9459173.html (last accessed December 5, 2014).

7 “Ask ‘Save the Children’ To Revoke Their Annual Global Legacy Award Given To Tony Blair,” available at https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-save-the-children-charity-from-giving-tony-blair-their- annual-global-legacy-award (last accessed December 5, 2014).



Comment on Global Research Articles on our Facebook page

Become a Member of Global Research


About the author:

Michel Chossudovsky is an award-winning author, Professor of Economics (emeritus) at the University of Ottawa, Founder and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), Montreal, Editor of Global Research. He has taught as visiting professor in Western Europe, Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Latin America. He has served as economic adviser to governments of developing countries and has acted as a consultant for several international organizations. He is the author of 13 books. He is a contributor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. His writings have been published in more than twenty languages. In 2014, he was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit of the Republic of Serbia for his writings on NATO's war of aggression against Yugoslavia. He can be reached at [email protected]

Disclaimer: The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. The Centre of Research on Globalization grants permission to cross-post Global Research articles on community internet sites as long the source and copyright are acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original Global Research article. For publication of Global Research articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: [email protected]

www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the copyright owner.

For media inquiries: [email protected]