Re: Mr. Cavell's Plea for Indictment and Prosecution of US/NATO War Crim

Re: Mr. Cavell's two recent postings

Before beginning a negative critique, let me just say that I do enjoy the
academic discussions on this WS site.

Perhaps I'm mistaken (being a new member to WSN), but I thought that the
purpose of this chat site was for discussing and debating WS issues, not for
promoting personal crusades and vendettas.

This however is not to say that personal crusades and the like are not
important, valid, etc. in their proper venue.

And, I'm sure the posting was not intended to be a red herring because the
posting certainly seems sincere, adamant, and serious about the highly
volatile and emotional situation that has hurt, damaged, mangled, raped and
killed so many innocent bystanders in the Balkan area, especially opponents
of Milosovic et al.

However, the main concern and issue is, are such personal advertisements
appropriate for WSN?

Perhaps such postings are indeed part of the regular digest, conversational
mix, and political barrage on this WS site.  If so, the guidelines for
participation on this WS site should reflect that notion.  Members would
then know up-front that they would have to weed through additional clutter
that already overloads the Net.

BTW--and not to create more clutter--I would be interested in knowing if any
members have made a SIMILAR effort in posting a plea on this site ragging on
Milosovic et al and calling for just action against them?

John Baxter
Old Dominion University
Graduate Programs in International Studies
620 Batten Arts & Letters Bldg.
Norfolk, Virginia  23529
USA
T. 757.683.5700
F. 757.683.5701
E. jbaxter@odu.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: colin s. cavell <cscpo@polsci.umass.edu>
To: WORLD SYSTEMS NETWORK <wsn@csf.colorado.edu>
Date: Saturday, May 22, 1999 7:25 PM
Subject: Plea for the Indictment and Prosecution of US/NATO War Criminals




Colin S. Cavell
University of Massachusetts
Department of Political Science
Thompson Tower
Box 37520
Amherst, MA  01003-7520

May 22, 1999

Madam Justice Louise Arbour
Chief Prosecutor
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia,
Churchillplein 1, 2501 EW,
The Hague,
Netherlands

RE:  Plea for the Indictment and Prosecution of US/NATO War Criminals

Dear Madam Justice Arbour:

Pursuant to Article 18 of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia statute which provides inter alia that, "The Prosecutor shall
initiate
investigations ex-officio or on the basis of information obtained from any
source..," I urge you to indict and prosecute the leaders of the 19
countries which comprise the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
and, in particular, William J. Clinton, Madeleine Albright, William S.
Cohen, Tony Blair, Robin Cook, George Robertson, Javier Solana, Jamie
Shea, and Wesley K. Clark, for their willful violation of international
law, US national law, and the NATO Charter itself (viz. UN Charter, Ch. I,
Arts. 2.3, 2.4, Ch. VI, Art. 37.1, Ch. VII, Art. 51; Articles 51 and 52 of
the 1980 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties; violation of the
Helsinki Accords Final Act of 1975 which guarantees the territorial
frontiers of the states of Europe; the Geneva Conventions Act 1957
(amended 1995) of the United Kingdom which specifically states that
"civilians
shall not be the object of attack" (Schedule 5, Article 52.1) and that
"civilians
shall enjoy protection unless they take a direct part in hostilities"
(Schedule
6, Article 13.3); violation of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection
of
Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict; the Vienna Convention for
the
Protection of the Ozone Layer (1985, UNEP), the Montreal Protocol on
Substances
that Deplete the Ozone Layer (1987, UNEP), and the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (1992); the Kellogg-Briand Pact, the Pact of
Paris,
of 1928; the jurisprudence elaborated at and the precedent set by the
Nuremberg
Tribunal against war crimes; violation of the 1944 Convention on
International
Civil Aviation; the US Constitution, Article 1, section 8, clause 11; and
the
April 4, 1949 North Atlantic Treaty, Arts. 1, 5, and 6) in their heinous
campaign
of military bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which commenced on
March 24, 1999 and continues to this day, without UN sanction or mandate of
international law or the norms which comprise international law.

This lawless campaign of bombing by the United States government and its
NATO allies has included acts of willful killing, willful infliction of
pain, torment, and terror upon the civilian, noncombatant, population of
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the indiscriminate bombing of
hospitals, bridges, railroads, refugee convoys, diplomatic residencies,
foreign embassies, etc. resulting in the death of many noncombatant
civilians, the willful infliction of fear, foreboding, and terror upon the
civilian population both within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as well
amongst the civilian population in neighboring states, given the instances
of so-called "mistaken" bombardments from the same US/NATO forces which
have strayed into Bulgaria, Albania, etc.

As a citizen and resident of the United States of America, I am appalled
that this abominable bombing campaign, like the one waged upon the
Republic of Iraq for the last eight years, is being carried out in my
name, in violation of Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, and
in violation of the norms and provisions of international law.

I urge you to act upon this request with all diligence given the tragic
loss of life, property, and violation of law resulting from this criminal
US/NATO action.

As well, please advise me, periodically, on the progress of your
investigation in this regard.

Regards,


Colin S. Cavell