Rumsfeld Warned of US War Crimes

[Purveyor]

US military forces in Iraq "appear" to have committed war crimes by detaining relatives of suspected insurgents or wanted former officials, and demolishing their homes, the US-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch has warned.


Kenneth Roth, the organisation's executive director, told US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld in a letter on Monday that the US had reportedly demolished homes "on at least four recent occasions, in situations that did not meet the test of military necessity".

<snip>

According to Human Rights Watch, destroying civilian property as a reprisal or deterrent "amounts to collective punishment, which is prohibited by the 1949 Geneva Conventions". Detaining people in order to compel actions from the opposing side "amounts to hostage taking, which is a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions: in other words, a war crime".


Link to entire Financial Times article

[Nancy Waterman]

1. I wonder how they will respond to this

This is pretty serious. No doubt Rummy will deny it and figure that will take care of it. They make it up as they go long.

It said the actions "rather appeared to be for the purpose of punishing or compelling the co-operation of the family in question". In two incidents, it added, "US forces also reportedly detained close relatives of a person that the US was attempting to apprehend. In these cases the individuals detained were themselves not suspected of responsibility for any wrongdoing."

According to Human Rights Watch, destroying civilian property as a reprisal or deterrent "amounts to collective punishment, which is prohibited by the 1949 Geneva Conventions". Detaining people in order to compel actions from the opposing side "amounts to hostage taking, which is a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions: in other words, a war crime".

[FloridaPat]

2. So invading a defensless country is OK. Shooting unarmed

citizens in OK. Stealing their wealth is OK. But not detaining relatives isn't???

[PaDUer]

3. Now, now...

remember God told * what to do and he told rummy..They're time will come when they're going to have to answer to God.
JAIL these war criminals!

[amber dog democrat]

4. but what about the Freedom and Democracy

we are bringing to these ungrateful wretches - even if we have to kill them in order to do so.

[mike1963]

5. Floggings will continue until morale improves........

:eyes: