Shiner: There Must Be Accountability For Dreadful Numbers Of Iraqi Civilian Casualties

ISTANBUL - Phil Shiner, who leads the team at Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) in Britain, said on Friday, ''there must be accountability for the dreadful numbers of Iraqi civilian casualties in this aggressive war. There cannot be impunity for the acts of torture in detention.''
Culminating session of the ''World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI)'' started in Istanbul's historical building of Darphane-i Amire.
Speaking at the first session on ''The Role of International Law and Institutions'', Shiner presented some documents about atrocities committed by U.S. troops against those who were detained in Iraq.
''Before military action can lawfully be undertaken against Iraq, the Security Council must have indicated its clearly expressed accent. It has not yet done so. A decision to undertake military action in Iraq without proper Security Council authorization will seriously undermine the international rule of law. This war did not have legal authorization from the Security Council. The use of force as exercised constituted war crimes. Crimes against humanity were committed during the war,'' he said.
Giving examples for such atrocities, Shiner said, ''we interviewed a doctor who had filmed the testimony of a 16-year-old girl: 'She stayed for three days with the bodies of her family who were killed in her home. When the soldiers entered she was in her home with her father, mother, 12-year-old brother and two sisters. She watched the soldiers enter and shoot her mother and father directly, without saying anything. They beat her two sisters, then shot them in the head. After this her brother was enraged and ran at the soldiers whilst shouting at them, so they shot him dead.''
''Another client gave evidence about the death in detention of his colleague, Baha Mousa, as well as the torture that he suffered which led to acute kidney failure,'' he said.
Shiner stressed, ''the Iraq war and occupation challenges us all to face the threat to international law by the actions of the US, UK and other members of the coalition. We must be resolute in our determination to make international law stronger and more concerned with peace. There must be accountability for the dreadful numbers of Iraqi civilian casualties in this aggressive war and bearing in mind the use of indiscriminate methods of attack. There cannot be impunity for the acts of torture in detention.''
The culminating session of the WTI will last for three days.
The Jury of Conscience will make public its verdict on June 27th.