INTRODUCTION
For all the death and destruction it has caused, the United States' invasion of Iraq has given birth to a truly amazing and historic global anti-war movement which even the New York Times was forced to call "the world's other superpower." The undeniable significance of this movement was at no point more forcefully demonstrated than with the massive internationally coordinated marches that swept the globe last February 15.
Following one superpower's invasion and occupation of Iraq, representatives of this other superpower immediately gathered in Jakarta to assess the current conjuncture, to chart its next plans and to plot its future strategy.
The hurriedly organized conference, held in Jakarta, Indonesia 19-21 May 2003, was open to all. Those who attended come from some of the biggest national and regional peace and justice coalitions and groupings all over the world.
This includes representatives from the Asian Peace Alliance, a broad network of anti-war organizations from all over Asia; the UK Stop the War Coalition which organized the historic demonstrations in London; United for Peace and Justice, the biggest anti-war coalition in the United States; the Italian Social Forum, key organizers of last year's million strong anti-war march during the European Social Forum; the Istanbul No to War Coordination, which was responsible for the massive actions in Turkey; and Books not Bombs, an Australian high school student movement as well as a host of other national anti-war coalitions.
Also represented were Iraqi democracy activists, organizers of the coming World Social Forum in India, delegates from the World March of Women, Indonesian trade unions, the South Africa Anti-Privatization Forum, Greenpeace, Focus on the Global South, and Jubilee South. Also slated to attend, but not granted Indonesian visas, were delegates from Pakistan, Palestine, and an Iraqi exile from Japan.
The participants came from the following countries: Afghanistan, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, East Timor, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, the Philippines, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
After three days of intense debates and discussions, the participants hammered together the "Jakarta Peace Consensus," a declaration of unity and a specific plan of action which they have agreed to propose to the global peace and justice movements. The Consensus will be translated to Arabic, French, Spanish, Bahasa Indonesian, Italian, etc. and will be presented to the next international anti-war meeting in Evian this May 31.
DECLARATION OF UNITY
We the undersigned, peace and justice activists representing social movements and networks from 26 countries in Asia, Europe, Australia, Africa, Latin and North America, have come together in Jakarta, Indonesia. Over the last three days we have voiced our outrage at the escalating military aggression led by the US government, most recently against Iraq.
We declare the war and invasion of Iraq to be unjust, illegal and illegitimate and call on the international community to condemn this US-led aggression. We demand an immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops from Iraq and that Iraqis be allowed to determine their future in line with the principle of self-determination. This conference calls on all governments to withhold recognition from any regime set up in Iraq by the US occupiers.
We propose to the peace and justice movements the establishment of an international Peoples' Tribunal to pass judgement on the perpetrators of the war and investigate war crimes. The war allies must take political, moral and economic responsibility for their crimes.
This includes the payment of war reparations directly to the Iraqis, who should administer the reconstruction of their country independently of the control of foreign corporations, the World Bank, the IMF and UN. Similarly, permanent members of the UN Security Council must take responsibility for the effects of more than 10 years of sanctions. We call for the scrapping of all Iraqi debt. At the same time we note the hypocrisy of the US government in calling for this cancellation to serve its objectives, while demanding payment of onerous debts from all other developing countries.
While tanks and bombs destroyed Iraq, in nearby Palestine the US-backed Israeli armed forces continued to murder, harass and incarcerate the Palestinian people in measures reminiscent of Apartheid South Africa. We commit ourselves to the international struggle for the end of the colonial occupation of Palestine, and call for the dismantling of all Israeli settlements and the right of return for all Palestinian refugees. We condemn the continued US interference in Palestine and demand the recognition of Palestinian national rights as a precondition for a just and therefore lasting peace in the region.
We see the invasion of Iraq as part of the on-going economic war against peoples of the South. Under the rules of the IMF/World Bank and WTO, our world is becoming increasingly unjust and unequal. The WTO meeting in Cancun, Mexico, in September will be another forum at which the leaders of the imperialist world will plan their strategies. They are plunging the world into a series of wars in the quest for oil, for economic and political hegemony and to ensure the subjugation of the working class and impoverished masses.
In the name of fighting "terrorism" the US government has created the indefensible concept of pre-emptive war. Beneath this banner it has attacked Afghanistan yesterday, Iraq today, while tomorrow's targets may be Syria, Iran, North Korea, Venuezuela, Colombia, Cuba or any other nation that is seen as opposing the US government's political and economic interests.
We note with concern the growing militarisation of the world, which is expressed both in open and covert wars and the proliferation of US military bases, increasing military expenditure and military operations. We also oppose acts of aggression, whether they be against the people of Aceh, Mindanao, Kashmir or Kurdistan.
In this atmosphere of militarism, police harassment of marginalised communities, migrants and ethnic minorities is escalating. We call for global disarmament. In particular we demand the decommissioning of all nuclear weapons. We support the call for the Middle East to become a zone free of weapons of mass destruction, not least in Israel, the state with the most destructive capacity.
We resolve to continue to build the international peace and justice movement, which showed its strength so dramatically on 14-16 February, 2003, where millions marched against the war in Iraq.
Our principles include building a genuine internationalism from below, where we establish a new international community based on equality and democracy. While our work is international, we will also challenge our own national governments where their policies contribute to war, militarism and neo-liberalism.
We oppose war in all forms whether open, declared, interstate war, war against social movements, economic war against the poor peoples of the world or war against political activists and opponents of the dominant order. We aim to maintain the broadest possible unity among our diverse organisations including organisations from the Islamic community, environmental groups, and movements opposing racism and sexism.
Our work will be linked to the growing social and class movements resisting neo-liberal globalisation, as war through guns and bombs is only the bloodiest expression of domination by neo-liberalism and imperialism.
We call upon all organisations, social movements and persons who share our analysis and plan of action to join our common efforts oriented towards the creation of a worldwide Solidarity Network for Global Peace at a future time, particularly during the meetings in Evian (G-8 summit), Cancun (WTO-Conference), the regional Social Forums and the next World Social Forum in Bombay.
We believe that a world free of war, exploitation, inequality, poverty and repression is possible. We see the reality of this alternative visible within the the growing movements of youth, women, workers, students, migrants, the unemployed, human rights and peace and justice activists and citizens who are bringing their spirit, energy and work together in the fight for genuine peace based on global justice for all the world`s peoples.
STATEMENT AND PLAN OF ACTION ON IRAQ
The US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq is illegal.
In 1946, the Nuremberg Tribunal judged that "To initiate war of aggression is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole."
Consequently, we demand
An immediate end to the illegal occupation of Iraq by the United States and the United Kingdom and the immediate withdrawal and removal of all foreign troops, military advisers and representatives, military equipment and armaments.
We insist that
The Iraqi people have absolute and sovereign rights to determine their own future. No occupying power has the right to violate the territorial integrity of Iraq. Any decision about the need for international assistance rests solely with the Iraqi people.
The United States and United Kingdom's occupation of Iraq is illegal, as is any administrative authority or interim government established by the occupying forces. Therefore, any decisions made by the occupying forces or their representatives are not binding on the Iraqi people.
The UN-held Iraqi oil escrow account must not be used to foot the bill for reconstruction of the damage caused by the illegal war and UN sanctions. The funds must be held in trust for the Iraqi people until there is a legitimate and genuinely representative government.
While we strongly support independent civil society assistance to and solidarity with the Iraqi people, the United Nations and its agencies, other governments and non-governmental organizations should not serve as a cover to legitimize, or profit from, the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq. Humanitarian aid must not be used to support or promote the military, political and economic objectives of the occupying forces.
According to the Geneva Conventions, humanitarian assistance, aid, reconstruction and other development activities are the legal and moral responsibility of the invading and occupying forces, and they should not characterize as "aid" that which is the entitlement of the Iraqi population.
The Iraqi people have sovereignty over all natural resources and utilities. The invading and occupying forces, or their private sector proxies, have no right to make any decisions about who controls or benefits from the exploitation of natural resources or the construction and delivery of basic services and utilities.
The full costs of all reconstruction, compensation and reparations for the physical, social, economic, psychological, ecological, cultural and heritage destruction caused by the US-led invasion of Iraq must be borne by the aggressors.
Reparations for the physical, social, economic, psychological, ecological, cultural and heritage loss, damage and suffering caused by the US-imposed UN Security Council sanctions must be borne by the permanent members of the Council.
In addition, reparations must be paid to all persons who have suffered physical, economic, or psychological loss or trauma resulting from twelve years of sanctions and the 2003 invasion, based on individual and collective claims and dispensed by an independent compensation tribunal.
We call for the delegitimation of the US and allied occupation of Iraq.
We support all moves leading towards the convening of a national congress, or constituent assembly, or any other kind of democratic self-organization to establish the legitimacy of a new Iraqi state. This process must be completely independent of the occupying forces.
We call on the United Nations, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the League of Arab States to work to uphold international law, to end the occupation and to support the establishment of democratic self-government in Iraq.
We ask the international community and governments around the world to refuse to recognize all forms of authority or government established by and under the occupation forces.
We support the campaign initiated by the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms and others to urge the UN General Assembly to request an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice regarding the illegality of the use of force against Iraq and of the doctrine of "pre-emptive war."
We endorse the campaign calling for an international UN war crimes tribunal to try those responsible for the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
We demand that all governments recognize the right of Iraqis to travel freely and to return to Iraq.
We reject the US project to create a "New Middle East Order," including its economic arm, Bush's proposed "Free Trade Area of the Middle East."
We commit ourselves to work in solidarity with the people and civil society of Iraq and to support the democratic forces.
1. We commit ourselves to organize a series of fact-finding missions to Iraq in collaboration with the civil society organizations already working on the ground in order to establish contacts with as many democratic Iraqi organizations as possible, with the possibility of working towards a conference on war and occupation in Baghdad.
2. We commit ourselves to prepare the conditions to participate in the construction of one or more Occupation Watch Centers in Iraq. The goals will be to function as a monitoring and information center on the military occupation and any US-appointed government, including documentation of possible war crimes and other violations of human and democratic rights. They will also include monitoring the role of foreign companies and war profiteers in Iraq.
3. We commit ourselves to developing multiple methods of engaging directly with Iraqis, including mass delegations to Iraq, with the goal of establishing broad ties between Iraqi organizations and individuals, and global civil society, particularly the anti-war, anti-globalization and World Social Forum movements. We also commit ourselves to creating a new global Iraq information website, as well as other means of coordinating information and resources.
4. Based on the proposals of the Turkish, Japanese, South African and Latin American movements, we commit ourselves to building an International People's Tribunal to prosecute the perpetrators of the Iraq war and occupation, to be held in several countries with a team of international prosecutors and judges.
5. We call for an international boycott of US products on 4 July 2004, the United States independence day and support other initiatives to boycott US products.
PLAN OF ACTION ON GLOBALIZATION AND MILITARISM
We endorse the call from the Hemispheric and Global Assembly Against the FTAA and the WTO for a week of action against the WTO during its ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico. In particular, we urge peace and people's organisations to mobilise on September 9 against the WTO and on September 13 against globalisation and war. We endorse the call from the recent Chiapas conference for a "targeted boycott" of Coke, McDonalds, Texaco, CNN, and Fox during this week of protest.
We condemn the growing McCarthyite atmosphere being fostered in the US by the Bush government. We call for a "World Says No to Bush" campaign to culminate during the Republican convention in New York in September 2004. This campaign would aim to mobilise millions worldwide in a global referendum designed to undermine the legitimacy of "Emperor" Bush.
We call for a strategic focus on the proliferation of US military bases around the world. We commit ourselves to working for a global day of action against such bases in the first half of 2004 to be coordinated by the Asian Peace Alliance.
Noting the worldwide escalation in military spending, we call for a global campaign for general disarmament. We extend an invitation to peace and disarmament groups not represented at the Jakarta conference to contact our network to facilitate coordinated initiatives which could include a global day of action.
We endorse a day of action against corporate looters, particularly Halliburton and Bechtel as well as their subsidiaries. This action will be coordinated through a working group of this conference.
Jakarta, 21 May 2003
For more information
contact Herbert Docena
