GENEVA CONVENTIONS & GROSS UK-US WAR CRIMES

Discuss this issue

DECENT PEOPLE know that things are awfully wrong in Occupied Iraq and Afghanistan. As the pathologically dishonest Coalition Administrations soften their citizens up for further attacks on domestic civil and human rights - notably "free speech" and "due process"  - it is vital that we make qualitative and quantitative reality checks on the dishonestly-named War on Terror.

Fundamentally, we should  ask key questions about the prosecution and human consequences of the War on Terror. Specifically, are the UK, the US, Australia and their Coalition allies adhering to the Geneva Conventions?
 
The Geneva Conventions on war-time conduct have been set out clearly and explicitly for universal observance. Thus the patently clear,  overall thrust of the so-called Fourth Geneva Convention relating to protection of civilian persons in time of war (adopted in 1950) is that the Occupying Powers are inescapably responsible for the health and welfare of the civilian populations of occupied countries [1]. However, as set out below, the US-led Coalition is grossly violating key articles of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
 
Fourth Geneva Conventions protect civilians in war-time 
 
Some of the key articles of the Fourth Geneva Convention for protection of civilians in time of war [1] are summarized below:
 
ARTICLE 56  states (in part): " To the fullest extent of the means available to it, the Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring and maintaining, with the cooperation of national and local authorities, the medical and hospital establishments and services, public health and hygiene in the occupied territory, with particular reference to the adoption and application of the prophylactic and preventive measures necessary to combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics. Medical personnel of all categories shall be allowed to carry out their duties".
 
ARTICLE 57 states (in part): "The material and stores of civilian hospitals cannot be requisitioned so long as they are necessary for the needs of the civilian population".
 
ARTICLE 58 states (in part): "The Occupying Power shall permit ministers of religion to give spiritual assistance to the members of their religious communities".
 
ARTICLE 59 states (in part): "If the whole or part of the population of an occupied territory is inadequately supplied, the Occupying Power shall agree to relief schemes on behalf of the said population, and shall facilitate them by all the means at its disposal".
 
ARTICLE 60 states (in  part): "Relief consignments shall in no way relieve the Occupying Power of any of its responsibilities under Articles 55, 56 and 59".
 
UK-US Coalition is grossly violating Geneva Conventions{mosgoogle right}
 
The UK, the US, Australia and other members of the US-led Coalition are grossly violating the Fourth Geneva Convention in relation to treatment of civilians as outlined below.
 
The annual per capita medical expenditure in the Occupied Iraqi and Afghan Territories is less than 1% (ONE PERCENT) of that in Metropolitan USA. The Coalition continues to grossly deny fundamental life-sustaining requisites [2, 3]  (thereby violating Articles 56, 57, 59 and 60).

The massive destruction of infrastructure (e.g. water, sanitation, housing and clinics) has not been repaired, leading to horrendous public health consequences as summarized in successive UNICEF reports [4] (and violating Articles 56, 57, 59 and 60).
 
As reported daily in mainstream news media, lack of security, "endless war" and cowardly shelling and bombing of civilian areas from afar has resulted in destruction of mosques and clergy as well as the violent killing of tens of thousands of civilians [5] (thereby violating Article 58).
 
What have been the human consequences of Coalition war crimes?
 
The latest UNICEF report (2005) estimates that in 2003 the under-5 infant mortality was 110,000 in Occupied Iraq, 292,000 in Occupied Afghanistan and 1,000 in the invading and occupying country Australia, noting that in 2003 these countries had populations of 25, 24 and 20 million, respectively, and the under-5 year olds in these countries totalled 4.2, 5.0 and 1.3 million, respectively. From this information we can calculate that the "probability of under-5 infant death" in a calendar year at the moment is about 2.6% (2.6 per 100 under-5 year old infants per year), 5.8% (5.8 per 100) and 0.08% (0.08 per 100), respectively, for Occupied Iraq, Occupied Afghanistan and the occupying country Australia [6, 7, 8].
 
The violent Iraqi civilian deaths associated with the invasion and occupation of Iraq have totalled about 23,000 - 26,000 according to Iraq Body Count [5]. However post-invasion "avoidable mortality" (excess mortality) and "under-5 infant mortality" have been about 0.4 million and 0.3 million, respectively, for Occupied Iraq and have totalled 1.9 MILLION and 1.5 MILLION, respectively, in the Occupied Iraqi and Afghan Territories [9, 10].
 
How do Coalition war crimes compare with others?
 
The total avoidable death associated so far with the US-led War on Terror (1.9 million) demands comparison with other horrendous war crimes such as the Jewish Holocaust (6 million victims), the man-made World War 2 Bengal Famine in British-ruled India (4 million victims)  and the murder of Jewish children by the Nazis (1.5 million victims) [9, 10].
 
As we approach the 60th anniversary of the end of World War 2,  we are conscious of the appalling crimes of that conflict. For Australians the defeat of Japan meant the release of surviving Australian prisoners of war from Japanese custody.  About 8,000 Australian POWs had perished over 3.5 years out of 22,000 Australian military personnel taken prisoner by the Japanese. The annual death rate of Australian POWs in Japanese custody averaged 11.4% (11.4 per 100 per year) [11]. It was for war crimes such as this that Japanese Prime Minister Tojo and General Yamashita were tried, convicted and hanged. What then should be the fate of those responsible under the Geneva Conventions for the appalling, continuing passive genocide and  mass infanticide in Occupied Iraq and Afghanistan with annnual under-5 infant death rates of 2.6% and 5.8%, respectively?