The Guardian 17 August, 2005
Indictment and prosecution
of John Winston Howard
After arduous work, research and investigation the authors of the petition below believe they have enough evidence to indict John Howard for crimes committed in the illegal invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. The petition comes from Tim Anderson, who readers will recall was wrongfully convicted of the 1978 Hilton bombing and spent years falsely imprisoned. At present "signatures" are only being collected online — via the internet. We apologise to those who do not have access to the internet, the question has been raised with the organisers of the petition and it is hoped that an alternative means of signing will become available soon. Readers are urged to sign the petition if they can. It reads:
To: International Criminal Court
We, the undersigned, called for the indictment and prosecution of John Winston Howard (currently Australian Prime Minister) for acts of terrorism and war crimes.
We believe that under Australia’s Criminal Code Act 1995, and under the articles of the International Criminal Court, there is a prima facie case for the prosecution of Howard for complicity in illegal attacks upon and mass murder of civilian populations of Afghanistan and Iraq, between 2001 and 2005.
These prosecutions should include the following crimes, committed by the accused in their official capacities:
Complicity in the massacre of hundreds of civilians in Baghdad, Basra, Khormal, Babel, Nassariya, Najaf, Karbala and Anbar, in March 2003, through aerial bombardment, including cluster bombs, assisted by Australian "imagery specialists"
Complicity in the SAS backed murder of ten Sabri tribespeople (mostly teenagers) in Afghanistan, 16 May 2002
Complicity in the massacre of between one thousand and three thousand prisoners, after US operation "Anaconda" operation at Shah-i-Kot, Afghanistan, March 2002
Complicity in the maintenance of an international network of torture, from Pakistan to Iraq to Egypt to Guantanamo Bay (US-occupied Cuba)
Complicity in the criminal two attacks on the civilian population of Falluja, in April and November 2004 — where between one thousand and two thousand people were murdered in attacks which included the use of napalm, and the blockading of Falluja Hospital
We reject utterly the claim that any of these crimes could be carried out under any "‘democratic mandate" from Australian citizens.
We urge responsible prosecution authorities such as the Australian DPP, and the International Criminal Court to take immediate action.
Sincerely,
To view the list of signatories and sign the petition visit http://www.petitiononline.com/warcrim1/petition.html
For more information:
Dr Tim Anderson, Human Rights campaigner