ISTANBUL - Istanbul Bar will denounce Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, Secretary of State for Defense Geoff Hoon and former General Staff Chief Admiral Sir Michael Boyce to the International Criminal Court in The Hague due to Iraq war.
Holding a press conference together with executive board members, Istanbul Bar Chairman Kazim Kolcuoglu said, ''a meeting was held in French capital Paris prior to the war in Iraq with the participation of members of bars from 18 great cities. During the meeting, it was stressed that an operation, which was not based on international law, would jeopardize peace both in the world and in the Middle East. The crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggressiveness are included in the purview of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. It was envisaged that those who committed these crimes, would be tried at the International Criminal Court.''
''During and after the war in Iraq, thousands of people lost their lives. A war crime was committed in Iraq. A total of 9 thousand people have still been missing. Therefore, we have taken action to denounce war criminals,'' he told reporters.
Recalling that Britain had approved the International Criminal Law Rome Agreement and appointed a judge to the court, Kolcuoglu said, ''we will denounce British Prime Minister Blair, Secretary of State for Defense Hoon and former General Staff Chief Admiral Boyce to the International Criminal Court Prosecutor's Office on charges of war crimes, crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity.''
Kolcuoglu said that three files including petition and war crime evidences would be sent to the Hague with cargo.
Noting that Athens Bar made a similar application to prosecutor's office, Kolcuoglu said that the court could examine these applications by combining them.
Kolcuoglu said that they were explaining to the world with the announcement of crime that the attack against Iraq was not legitimate and that they were accepting this as a crime.
Kolcuoglu said that if the announcement of crime was accepted, the court could give life sentence, imprisonment not longer than 30 years, fine sentence and confiscation of the properties and values gained with the crime.
Recalling that the United States did not accept Rome Agreement, Kolcuoglu said that they could not denounce American officials as criminals because of this reason.
When asked his view about Turkey's sending soldiers to Iraq, Kolcuoglu said that Turkey's inclusion in such an event could bring same issues onto the agenda of Turkey in the future, adding that another bar or international organization could do this, not the Turkish bar. He said that if an illegitimate issue was tried to be made legitimate or was participated, every kind of initiative would carry the same qualities.
Kolcuoglu said, ''we can accept Turkey's inclusion in Iraq issue within the United Nations resolution and international legitimacy. Turkey and the administration cannot bear the responsibility of involving in such an illegitimate issue without the decision of Parliament. This is also against the Constitution.''
(UK-GC-AÖ) 15.08.2003