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Hypocrisy of British Prime Minister's wife is exposed
Cherie Booth QC, a prominent judge and barrister, and wife of the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, is under investigation for abusing her position to influence Members of Parliament and obtain their support for the war on Iraq.
A member of the public made an official complaint about Ms Booth's "double standards - acting as a defender of human rights and Amnesty International supporter, and yet promoting the prosecution of a war".
While Ms Blair continues her lucrative career as a human rights lawyer, the self-proclaimed liberators of Iraq are subjecting the Iraqi people to daily atrocities and human rights abuses.
Hundreds of thousands of people are dying and suffering at the hands of brutal regimes all over the world and most people in the West seem blind to it. Why were they so concerned about Iraq?
Huge American and British oil tankers floated away from Iraq today, carrying in their bellies the first regular exports of post-war Iraqi oil.
SOURCES:
The Independent (UK), "Bar Council investigates Cherie Booth over lobbying of MPs on Iraq vote", 24 July 2003.
[ http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/story.jsp?story=427062 ]
Cherie Booth QC is being investigated by her professional body over a claim that she lobbied female MPs before a crucial vote in the House of Commons on whether to go to war with Iraq. ....
Ms Booth concedes that a wider rule governing the general behaviour of barristers could cover the allegation that she canvassed MPs. ....
In May, the former lord chancellor Lord Irvine of Lairg dismissed a similar complaint against Ms Booth. His decision to take no action followed a complaint that Ms Booth's political activities were incompatible with her role as a judge. ...
The Guardian (UK), "", 23 July 2003.
[ http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1004537,00.html ]
Amnesty International today accused the US-led occupying forces in Iraq of failing to uphold human rights in their treatment of Iraqi civilians.
The group is to present a memorandum detailing "allegations of ill-treatment by coalition forces and inhumane detention conditions" to Paul Bremer, the head of the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq, today.
A team of eight Amnesty workers have been in Iraq for the last week collecting testimonies from alleged victims of human rights abuses committed under the CPA. The allegations include the shooting of a 12-year-old boy during house-to-house searches by US troops, and reports of Iraqis detained by coalition forces being subjected to torture. ...
Amnesty's report highlights the shooting of 12-year-old Mohammad al-Kubaisi by US soldiers while they carried out search operations on June 26.
"That evening, as usual, Mohammad was carrying the family bedding up to the roof when a soldier shot at him from the opposite house. Mohammad was still alive when neighbours tried to rush him by car to the nearby hospital, but they were stopped by soldiers in a tank on the way," the document says.
"The soldiers forced the neighbours to the ground, and after 15 minutes ordered them to return home because the curfew had started. Mohammad was already dead."
Other allegations include the death of Saadi al-Ubaydi on May 14, again after US troops raided his home.
"Several soldiers forced their way in and beat him with their rifle butts. He ran out of the house to get away from them. Soldiers shot him a few metres away and he died immediately," the report says, citing witnesses in Ramadi.
The Guardian, "Troops accused of torture", 24 July 2003.
[ http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1004820,00.html ]
Sleep deprivation, loud music, bright lights, hooding and prolonged restraint in painful positions are being used by coalition forces in Iraq to torture detainees, Amnesty International said yesterday.
Presenting a memorandum detailing allegations of ill treatment, Mahmoud Ben Romdhane, head of the organisation's delegation in Baghdad, warned that the promise of human rights for Iraqis had yet to be fulfilled.
The report was handed to Paul Bremer, the US civil administrator in charge of the country. "It is shameful to still hear of people detained in inhumane conditions without their family knowing where they are and with no access to a lawyer or a judge - often for weeks on end," Mr Ben Romdhane said. ...
The report accused US soldiers of conducting searches after having "smashed their way into cars and cupboards even when their owners offered keys". Property and cash was seized and not returned.
Amnesty said it had documented incidents in which US soldiers had shot at Iraqi demonstrators. ...
The Independent, "What Israel does to Palestine, we are doing to Iraq", 12 July 2003.
[ http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/story.jsp?story=423793 ]
Want to criticise the Israelis for shooting stone-throwers in Gaza? The US does the same in Falujah.
A few days ago, the American forces in Baghdad drove 17 truckloads of rubble and dirt up to the secret military area of Baghdad airport to air-freight to the United States. No journalists reported on this macabre operation, even if they knew about it. For the muck came from the site of an atrocity committed by the US Air Force at the end of its bombardment of Iraq.
FURTHER READING:
The Independent (UK), "The invisible", 26 June 2003.
[ http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=418979 ]
The human cost of the 21st century's first war is already enormous. In addition to those who have died, staggering numbers have been detained around the world in violation of their human rights and international law.
The Independent, "War on terror leaves world in fear, says Amnesty", 29 May 2003.
[ http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=410465 ]
The United States and Britain are using the "war on terror" as a pretext to abuse human rights and their oppressive actions have made the world "more insecure than since the Cold War", Amnesty International said yesterday.
The Independent, "US said to 'care more about Iraqi oil than its people'", 17 April 2003.
[ http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=397930 ]
Allied forces were accused by human rights organisations yesterday of using cluster bombs in populated areas of Baghdad and caring more about protecting oil reserves than the welfare of the Iraqi people.
"The Insider" mailing list article, 24 July 2003.
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