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The 116 nations in Non-Aligned Movement should demand the dismissal of
Donald Rumsfeld as US Defence Secretary or declare him a persona non grata
in their respective countries for the Abu Ghraib atrocities perpetrated by
the US military against Iraqi prisoners
Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang
(Petaling Jaya,
Friday):
Yesterday, DAP proposed that the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) should call on
United States President Bush to unreservedly apologise to Iraqis and the
world for the American military atrocities against Iraqi prisoners.
This was because Bush had failed to apologise for the torture and
humiliation of Iraqi prisoners in his appearance on two Arab-language TV
channels, al-Hurra and al-Arabiya the day before, although he denounced as
"abhorrent" the abuse of Iraqi prisoners in Saddam's old prison at Abu
Ghraib the same jail in which thousands were put to death by the Iraqi
dictator.
I was pleasantly surprised when surfing the Internet this morning that Bush
had offered his first apology for the torture and humiliation of Iraqi
prisoners by American soldiers when he met reporters after meeting Jordan's
King Abdullah at the White House in Washington which is not reported in the
morning newspapers (or even the Malay Mail) as it happened in the early
hours of this morning.
Bush's apology came after the publication of more photos in the Washington
Post from a new collection of more than 1,000 digital images which also
showed the abuse and degradation of Iraqi prisoners which threatened US
efforts to limit the Abu Ghraib scandal spiralling out of control . One
such photograph showed a female American soldier holding a leash tied
around the neck of an Iraqi male prisoner, who is naked, grimacing and lying
on the floor.
The public apology from Bush has however come too grudgingly and too late,
especially as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
has revealed that it had repeatedly urged the United States to take
"corrective action" as it was aware of the situation in the Abu Ghraib
prison since U.S.-led forces began using it last year.
It is not enough for Bush to acknowledge that the Abu Ghraib scandal and the
humiliation suffered by the Iraqi prisoners and their families was a
stain on America's honour, as more need to be done to restore the United
States' international credibility and moral authority.
As the United States Army has admitted in a 53-page report following an
investigation by Major General Antonio M. Taguba of "sadistic, blatant
and wanton criminal abuses" by US soldiers at Abu Ghraib, with the evidence
indicating that these abuses were not just the work of a few individuals
but part of a systematic effort by military intelligence to "break"
prisoners so that they would divulge more information during interrogation,
the international community should demand that the US President dismiss
Donald Rumsfeld as US Defence Secretary as the first meaningful gesture of
presidential and national contrition.
The 116 nations in Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) should demand the dismissal
of Donald Rumsfeld as the Pentagon chief or declare him a persona non grata
in their respective countries for the Abu Ghraib atrocities perpetrated by
the US military against Iraqi prisoners.
The NAM ministerial committee on the Middle East, which is meeting in
Malaysia on May 13, should be fully mindful that it represents not only 116
nation-states constituting two-thirds of the United Nations but also that
it has six crucial votes on the UN Security Council. The NAM ministerial
committee should requisition an emergency UN Security Council meeting to
table a resolution to establish an international commission of inquiry
into the US military atrocities, torture and abuse of Iraqi prisoners in Abu
Ghraib prison and other Iraqi jails to ensure that the minimum standards of
human decency and dignity are observed in US-occupied Iraq.
(7/5/2004)
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Lim Kit Siang, DAP National
Chairman & Member of Parliament for Ipoh Timor
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http://dapmalaysia.org