Petition on Behalf of the Children of Iraq Submitted to the United Nations Charging President Bush and U.S. Authorities Actions Constitute Acts of Genocide

Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ), Fall, 2001 by Francis Boyle

EDITOR'S NOTE: In September of 1991 Francis Boyle asked the Coalition to Stop U.S. intervention in the Middle East to submit an Indictment, Complaint and Petition for Relief from Genocide by President George Herbert Walker Bush and the United States of America, which he had prepared on behalf of the 4.5 million children of Iraq. Professor Boyle filed the Complaint at the request of several Iraqi mothers whose children were dying as a result of the sanctions. The Petition was submitted to the Secretary General of the U.N., members of the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, the Commission on Human Rights, the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, UNESCO, and UNICEF.

Boyle's petition reviewed the factual situation confronting the children of Iraq including malnutrition, starvation, disease, and death, and details the violations of international law upon which this Claim is based. The relief asked for included a lifting of the sanctions against Iraq, massive provision of international humanitarian relief and compensation to the victims of the policies described.

Boyle has stated, based on then current -- and ongoing -- devastating situation for Iraq's children, "Likeunto a pirate, the Respondent George Bush is hostis humani generis -- the enemy of all humankind." Boyle asked for an urgent review of this Petition and that the appropriate organs of the United Nations, as well its member states, institute criminal proceedings against President Bush for committing the international crime of genocide against the children of Iraq. The transcript of Boyle's Indictment, Complaint and Petition for Relief from Genocide follows.

Despite the best professional efforts by Professor Boyle, who is working pro bono publico on this matter, so far the entire United Nations Organization has refused to act upon this Complaint on behalf of the Children of Iraq.

TO: THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS, THE MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL, THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, THE SUB-COMMISSION ON PREVENTION OF DISCRIMINATION AND PROTECTION OF MINORITIES, UNESCO, UNICEF, THE HEADS OF ALL NGO'S ETC.

RE: INDICTMENT, COMPLAINT AND PETITION BY THE 4.5 MILLION CHILDREN OF IRAQ FOR RELIEF FROM GENOCIDE BY PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

EXCELLENCY:

On behalf of The 4.5 Million Children of Iraq, I hereby submit to you this Indictment, Complaint and Petition for Relief from Genocide by President George Bush and the United States of America (hereinafler referred to as the "Respondents"). This Indictment, Complaint and Petition accuses the Respondents (1) of committing the international crime of genocide against The 4.5 Million Children of Iraq in violation of the International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948 and in violation of the municipal legal systems of all civilized nations in the world; (2) of a gross and consistent pattern of violations of the most fundamental human rights of The 4.5 Million Children of Iraq as recognized and guaranteed to them by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948; (3) of the complete negation and denial of all the rights guaranteed to The 4.5 Million Children of Iraq by the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child; and (4) of the systematic violation of the special pro tections of international humanitarian law guaranteed to The 4.5 Million Children of Iraq by the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and Additional Protocol I thereto of 1977.

Under the human rights provisions of the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Genocide Convention, the Children's Convention, and the Fourth Geneva Convention and Protocol I, The 4.5 Million Children of Iraq are proper parties to invoke the jurisdiction of the United Nations and its various organs in requesting the following Relief in order to be relieved from the inhuman, degrading, cruel, criminal, and genocidal conditions perpetrated upon them by the Respondents: The 4.5 Million Children of Iraq demand (1) the termination of the international economic embargo and all forms of bilateral economic sanctions against Iraq; (2) the massive provision of international humanitarian relief required in order to save themselves from death, disease, malnutrition, starvation, and extermination at the hands of the Respondents; (3) monetary compensation for the harm done to them as well as all other forms of relief deemed necessary and appropriate; and (4) the institution of criminal proc eedings against Respondent Bush for committing the international crime of genocide by the appropriate international organs as well as by all States of the World Community under their respective municipal legal systems.

The 4.5 Million Children of Iraq have set forth in the attached Indictment, Complaint and Petition all of the Facts necessary to constitute a prima facie case against the Respondents for genocide; grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention and Protocol I; and a gross and consistent pattern of violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. Wherefore, The 4.5 Million Children of Iraq demand that the United Nations and its organs immediately undertake a full investigation of the matters presented in this Indictment, Complaint and Petition, and subsequently authorize a complete and public disclosure of all evidence and findings of fact at the conclusion of such investigation. I would appreciate receiving a formal acknowledgment of your receipt of the attached Indictment, Complaint, and Petition by The 4.5 Million Children of Iraq at the address listed above as well as all further communications related to this matter.