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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
