Ask Amnesty

From Gulshan, Marietta, GA:

Will the members of the US and UK govt./military be tried as war criminals after the war for the use of cluster bombs? Will they be made as accountable for disregarding international war ethics as members of the Iraqi regime will be for using human shields?

Amnesty International USA's Vienna Colucci responds. Vienna Colucci is AIUSA's Director of Networks and one of the organization's international justice specialists.

Dear Gulshan:

Amnesty International has for some time called for an immediate moratorium on the use of cluster bombs, which we consider to be inherently indiscriminate weapons. Indiscriminate attacks are prohibited under international humanitarian law. It should be noted that each party to the conflict has a responsibility not only to take the utmost precautions to prevent violations of international humanitarian law, but also to investigate and bring to justice any of their nationals suspected of being responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law during military operations. The responsibility to ensure accountability is of such importance that it extends even beyond the parties to the conflict: countries that have ratified the Geneva Conventions are obliged to arrest persons suspected of grave breaches of its provisions -- no matter where those crimes may have been committed -- and may ask any country to extradite suspects when that country has failed to investigate and prosecute them.

Amnesty International cannot on its own determine whether or in what venue individuals (regardless of which party to the conflict they may belong to) accused of ordering or carrying out serious violations of international humanitarian law will be prosecuted. We are, however, calling for two important measures that would help to ensure that this matter is comprehensively and impartially addressed.

• First, all parties to the conflict should commit themselves to seek the services of the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission (established under the first protocol additional to the Geneva Conventions, known as Protocol I) to investigate incidents where serious violations of the Geneva Conventions and Protocol I are alleged to have taken place.
• Second, the United Nations should urgently establish a commission of experts to develop proposals for a program that would address comprehensively the issue of justice in Iraq, with the participation of Iraqi society.

For more information about the range of approaches (including transitional, international, and regional approaches) that should be considered, as well as the fundamental principles on which any approach should be based, please see Amnesty International's paper, Iraq: Ensuring Justice for Human Rights Abuses.