War Crime Court and its Conflicting Interests

Is it fair that nations be prosecuted by countries suspected of having committed the same crimes?

(SALEM) - This story poses an ugly reality about the legal prosecution of war crimes, and is written as Sri Lanka stands accused of numerous violations of international law in Geneva.

A quick review of the record will show that several of the countries occupying a seat in the world court; those tasked with bringing war crime suspects to justice; have their own share of unanswered and unaddressed questions in this same area.

Of course the flip side, is that the nations backing Sri Lanka as it stands accused of brutal and severe war crimes, also have extremely jaded pasts in terms of human rights violations, including mass murder. Everybody's right and everybody's wrong.

One bitter reality is that the national alliances always move around like musical chairs as the years pass; the very important bottom line, is that the nations don't stand united against war crimes The uncalled for U.S. protection of Israel time and time again against war crime charges, has made the system into a joke that prefers particular countries and cultures and designates some as more valuable, than others. The UN is failing over a lack of consistency.

Why are countries like Russia and Cuba, which sometimes make decisions far wiser than those made by governments in the west, failing to support the Tamil people of Sri Lanka in their quest to receive justice?

U.S. military contractor truck that was blown up by a deadly
IED. American contractors or mercenaries, are not held to the
same standards over war crimes. Iraq photo by Tim King

The recent Tamil Genocide in the country's northern coastal areas, left 160,000 members of this mostly Hindu and partly Christian culture, missing and unaccounted for. Most were killed, some remain in secret government detention camps.

The western nations that are supporting the charges against Sri Lanka, are led by the United States; possibly the largest example of a war crime nation that has raw ability to get away with anything it wants.

I mean, do people even begin to realize what it means to have attacked Iraq and killed up to a million and a half people on bad evidence? That means the Iraqi people didn't deserve it, if anyone actually needs this explained to them, and then you have Bradley Manning's exposure of the cruelest specific crimes against humanity by the U.S. military and it is he who is imprisoned, rather than the men he exposed, as a human being I find this the most tragic aspect of the Obama Administration; not that the ranking is without competition.

His story is the ultimate example of whisteblower retaliation in history and it is the shame of the United States and millions will never see it differently. The man is being nominated for a Nobel Prize.

The advocates of Sri Lanka's government constantly stress that larger examples of war crimes should be investigated also, are they wrong about this? I think they are not wrong on that point, and I believe they do feel singled out, because as a Genocidal country they are bad, really bad, but compared to other massive ethnic cleansings in the past like Bangladesh in 1971 that cost three million lives, and saw Pakistan get away without any real accountability... their murder numbers are lower.

Therefore it seems SL thought they could get away with it and initially, they used the 'terrorist' label on every civilian murder that their forces committed.

In other words, Sri Lanka greatly took advantage of having its enemies designated as somehow less than human, just like Hitler did to the Jews, just like Israel does to the Palestinians.

Sri Lanka knows it has had U.S. favor in the past, but that is in the past, while Israel remains firmly in the good grace of U.S. Congress and Obama, regardless of how many innocent people they kill in the name of Zionism, with the clever excuse or all victims being 'terrorists'.

Sri Lanka's crimes, particularly those that happened in mid-2009, are well documented, thanks largely to London's Channel-4 and its team including Presenter Jon Snow, they produced the documentary 'Sri Lanka's Killing Fields' that greatly affected world perception of the Tamil Genocide.

Similar programs exposing Israel's slaughter of Gazans in 2008/09, never aired to any degree on western TV, and what does air is always presented in a pro-Israeli light. Repeatedly, Israel has been charged with war crimes, outright murder that is well documented; terrible things, and the United States uses its 'super veto' power in the United Nations to shield Israel from any type of responsibility, or accountability.

In fact, Sri Lanka's government advocates already use Israel in their argument to counter charges of war crimes, and the measurement of that is found in the protective U.S. shield around Israel, maintained in the UN. It would seem like that sets a standard or precedent, but for Sri Lanka that is not the case.

You won't hear any time soon hear Sri Lanka saying, "Hey, Israel gets away with this every time... why can't we?" It isn't going to happen.

Israel had its political enemies, Hamas and Hezbollah, designated as 'terrorist'. Sri Lanka too had its enemy, the LTTE, declared 'terrorist' and it was the G.W. Bush Administration that led to the LTTE receiving this incredibly damaging label.

Sri Lanka's government is charged with the grisly killing of innocent people and members of an armed resistance, it was the culmination of a long ugly civil war between the Tamil Tigers, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and the Sri Lankan government.

Sri Lanka stands accused of shameful crimes and has been in front of the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) which insists, following a resolution brought forward by the U.S. government, that Sri Lanka answer for its crimes, and Sri Lanka says it will not cooperate.

Support for Sri Lanka is found in Egypt on behalf of NAM, Russia, China, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Philippines, Algeria and other NAM countries.

They all oppose any country-specific resolution and say the Resolution's text will have no effect without the consent of the concerned country.

Then Cuba challenged the US Ambassador, asking her to submit a resolution on Guantanamo if the U.S. is this concerned with accountability issues in Sri Lanka.

The countries listed as supporting include the U.S. resolution are Denmark for the EU, France, the UK, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, Hungary, Poland, Germany, and Norway.

As we have written in great detail before, the racial tension and strife in Sri Lanka all stems from British Colonial occupation which ended in this country formerly known as Ceylon in 1948, the same year Israel was designated as a government.

Colonial England gave preferential treatment to Tamil people, which was of course, a burn to the Sinhalese Buddhist majority, throughout its years of occupation, and this naturally led to a terrible level of resentment among the Sinhala population.

To see Britain calling the shots against any country today seems ludicrous; the legitimacy does not exist to back a seat for this country or the US as war crime judges. They were qualified in the post-WWII years and in truth, could not have made worse decisions, spare a few that were good.

France and Canada and other countries have been involved in the deadly bombing campaigns in support of rogue, western-friendly forces in Libya, helping totally destabilize the country's long-standing government, and the EU wants to do the same thing to Syria.

And these are the countries, along with the US and others mentioned, that see themselves fit to stand in judgement of other nations. Of course Sri Lanka's political system needs to be taken completely apart; it has military forces that are bloodthirsty, based on our recent reports, they amount to sex-crazed, civilian-murdering bandits and they are war criminals just like their government itself, which ordered the highly-orchestrated ethnic destruction of Tamils.

In my articles supporting the beleaguered Tamil population, I have been heavily criticized for being an American, hailing from a country highly suspect in war crimes, calling for charges against Sri Lanka. I want this article to set the record straight - that I do not defend the U.S. as a country suspected of crimes of war, I never have and never will. I believe the rules are exactly the same for every person in every country and that is what international law and specifically, the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, states. The U.S. 'super veto' power seems without question, an unfair advantage and when it is used to repeatedly block a majority vote over war crimes, against Israel, which is charged over and over, a terrible mistake is at hand.

However there is a final note that I want to make about the U.S. war crimes, as opposed to the Sri Lanka war crimes. It is true that in each case, many of the innocent victims, often called 'collateral damage' by the Americans, died from planes dropping bombs, artillery shells, etc. But the Tamil killings in many cases, happened to people who had been rounded up and were in captivity. The U.S. is guilty of terrible mistakes, but the Sri Lankan killings were far more personal, involved far more sex abuse and child killing and corpse abuse and every other type of rancid behavior. It was photographed and videotaped and strikes most humanitarians as many steps beyond forgivable. Instead those responsible for it need to be accountable. Is the U.S. fit for this? Not according to this assessment perhaps, but until a large world change takes place, the U.S. is calling the shots and sets the stage, and it is good to see Sri Lanka standing under the lights.

Tim King in 2008, covering the Iraq War

Tim King: Salem-News.com Editor and Writer

Tim King has more than twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. Tim is Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. His background includes covering the war in Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007, and reporting from the Iraq war in 2008. Tim is a former U.S. Marine.

Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing from The Associated Press the National Coalition of Motorcyclists, the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs, Electronic Media Association and The Red Cross In a personal capacity, Tim has written 2,026 articles as of March 2012 for Salem-News.com since the new format designed by Matt Lintz was launched in December, 2005.

Serving readers with news from all over the globe, Tim's life is literally encircled by the endless news flow published by Salem-News.com, where more than 100 writers contribute stories from 20+ countries and regions.

Tim specializes in writing about political and military developments worldwide with an emphasis on Palestine and Sri Lanka, Iraq and Afghanistan, and the U.S. Marines. You can write to Tim at this address: tim@salem-news.com. Visit Tim's Facebook page (facebook.com/TimKing.Reporter)

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COLLI March 11, 2012 4:07 pm (Pacific time)

Getting things moving away from evil and toward a point where all people recognize right from wrong, each other's right to exist, each other's right to pursue happiness in peace and tranquility must begin somewhere. Getting to the bottom of what has happened in Sri Lanka is not about "Letting he who is without guilt cast the first stone" . . . it is about putting an end to genocide, child rape, child torture, child killing, slaughtering on non-combatants, and saying ENOUGH! Personally, I wouldn't care if it was every evil-doer who ever lived prosecuting the individuals and government who committed these crimes against humanity . . . as long as they are brought to justice and a message is sent loud and clear that this type of activity will never be tolerated by civilized human beings again. The monsters of the world must come to know that their evil deeds will not be brushed under the rug so they can go about their foul business time and again. If we fail to do this, our weakness and tolerance of this level of evil will not go unnoticed and we may expect to suffer similar activities in our own back yards. What about the mothers and fathers who have lost their children to these monsters. Wouldn't you want someone fighting for justice if these were your children? Would you be willing to show these photos to your children and say "This is not our problem" to them? IT IS OUR PROBLEM . . . unless you do not count yourself among the brotherhood of man! Wake up folks - write letters to anyone and everyone in authority you can think of - send E-Mails - make phone calls - do what you can to see that justice is done if not for the parents who grieve, then for the innocent children who have suffered crimes worse that you can imagine at the hands of individuals who are so evil that they would make Satan himself appear Godly!

Anonymous March 11, 2012 2:26 pm (Pacific time)

The current situation in Afghanistan is because of the horrible policies of Obama, he is the CIC. His ongoing apologies beginning shortly after he took office has not only made us "look" weak, but has made us weak. Below is an intelligent congressional overview. Expect more violence as the terrorists ramp up this recent attack, as they ignore the terrorist's killings of our own people. The killer/terrorist from Ft. Hood has shown even our own domestic weakness as per Eric Holder, as well as his criminal gun enterprises in Mexico. This administration is responsible, but guess who his rally squad in the MSM will blame?!

SEE VIDEO, LINK BELOW.

A floor speech Thursday rattled off a list of apologies President Obama has issued since entering office.
It was suggested that Obama has not apologized to the families of the soldiers killed in the wake of violence after Koran burnings. He also accused the president of neglecting to apologize to the family of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, whose death was linked to the failed "Fast and Furious" gun-tracking program.

Gohmert produced an oversized chart of not only Obama's apologies over the past three years, but also issues and events Gohmert thought more deserving of the president's time.

"I thought, maybe it would be helpful to track exactly what deserves apology and what doesn't," the lawmaker, known for colorful floor rhetoric, said in his speech.

Marker in hand, the Texas representative then went down his list, marking off each event as either worthy of Obama's apology or not.

His first check mark went to what he called Obama's "apology tour" to countries around the world when he first took office. He said Obama apologized for CIA enhanced interrogation methods, for detainees at Guantanamo Bay and for the accidental burning of Qurans at a military base in Afghanistan last month.

//http://thehill.com/video/house/215103-obama-apology-tour-ridiculed-by-house-republican-in-floor-speech

Tim King: I agree about Mexico, but I suspect you are not on the same page over Afghanistan. I am always sorry to see how confused Americans are about all of this. Everything about Afghanistan is about stabilizing a religious Islamic government, everything. Muslim people are just like anyone else, it is the zealots and warmongers we have to watch out for, the power grabbers and the like. Americans have screwed up really bad time and time again and it has failed to sustain the cold and hungry populace it fights on behalf of. People think the who hearts and minds idea is a joke but it is not, there is no point in fighting for people and not giving them a better chance to build infrastructure. There are good things taking place but in two months on the ground covering stories I saw very little of what I needed to see, and all of the great efforts for the Afghan people were funded by volunteers, I believe the US needs to pony up more human aid and that will bring the support that needs to be there. We all know that it is the Iraq experience that is leading the the escalating casualties. I think you are saying that we should not apologize when we kill innocent people, I hope that isn't what you are saying. And let's remember that it is Bush that 100000% responsible for the military conflicts we are in.... Obama inherited it, the way Bush got his money. The fight in Afghanistan can have a good outcome but if Americans only conduct the war as Christian religious bigots then it is a lost cause. Oh, and every person who doesn't think we should be sorry, needs to see one or two of the things you see overseas, and you need to look at a dead child up close, and then come back and we'll talk again.

stephen March 11, 2012 2:15 pm (Pacific time)

My apologies Tim..From my research it is the owners of the U.S. that have caused the havoc that you speak of, all the way back to WW1 and WW2. then they go in and become savior, only to create more havoc, to then control...Libya, Iraq, etc..It is obvious you and I are not on the same page as I may have thought...My apologies.
I have worn out my welcome here..Thanks for letting me post tho..Time to move on...Good luck my friend.

seer March 11, 2012 12:55 pm (Pacific time)

where have you been? US military is sexually absing and killing children of all genders, The gay rights in the military is the pediphile"s paradise, As well as rapist and bullies and those who only see whites as human and wothy of value, Pissin gon dead Bodies of Afgans wearing jeans and tennis shoes the pickup truck filled with the bodies of toddlers in Irak the raping and killing of a 14 yrar old and killing her parents and 5 year old sister, the ovecrowded US created prison complex in the Us that is extened to iraq and Afganstan, is filled with children of all genders who you can bet is subjected sexual abuses and torture and porno exploitation, US civilian Judges is deployed to Set in judgement over Afgan and Iraqui Citizens while being paid as judge in the Us and asa deployed soldier, perhaps The meli masacare has faded into God Bless America.If the Public has truthful information of what is unfolding in the name of the Emerican people , the same reaction to Lybia's and Egyptian leaders would unfold in the US , it's just a matter of time before the truth will be freeflowing, How can those responsiable for these crimes agasin the defenlsess people , thank the Universal Laws will overlook them in favor over our fellow human family members that is robed of their time and place here on Earth?

DJ: In today's news: "A United States service member methodically killed at least 16 civilians, 9 of them children, in southern Afghanistan early Sunday, igniting fears of a new wave of anti-American hostility, officials said."

Tim King: Perhaps I should not have tried to compare , I am sickened to read this. There is a stark difference however still in the conflicts. Afghanistan was this bizarre reactionary attack, or so we were led to believe, however the Taliban were jacking people up in that country from the time they came into power, so I have always felt a strong animosity toward that, and spending two months on the ground in that country as a reporter I can tell you that at least early on, the people of Kabul in particular were not against the U.S. presence, in a general sense.. Sri Lanka's government on the other hand, was on an ethnic cleansing mission to kill Tamils only, no PR, no journalists, they just wiped everybody out. There was no justification. The U.S. is soiling the water, I remember reading about off the charts anger from Afghans toward Americans years ago, it is not hard to understand. One additional part of this, is that if the Taliban could somehow not win this war, it would be very good for the people of this country and they are beautiful and precious do not deserve so many consecutive decades of war from so many enemies, nobody does. American politicians alternate from being asleep behind the wheel, to sleeping with the enemy in this. I make no excuses for war crimes, if they are known about, the people should be charged. Again, there is a tremendous lack of consistency, the U.S. obviously does not have the desire to set things straight, it wants to hide its moral head in the sand and then jerk it up for damage control every time the need arises. I make no excuses for American crimes, or suspicions or reports, which we are talking about here.

stephen March 11, 2012 10:22 am (Pacific time)

pot...kettle...black...

Tim King: OK, so you're saying dismiss all of the good things the US has ever done and leave the women and children in Ceylon to the wolves, is that it? I say no way, I will fight for what is right and never run away with my tail between my legs. If my family member commits a crime, I am not guilty of it, they are, same for the US military, same for the SL military, my family member and I have the same name. If they become a criminal, should I stop doing my job as a human being? I don't think so. We all have to keep going forward.

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