C I P A C
Christians’
Israel Public Action Campaign
The
Ronald Reagan Building
1300
Penn. Ave. NW Suite700
Washington, DC 20004
TEL (202) 234-3600
www.cipaconline.org
December 10, 2006
Dear President Bush,
The fifth anniversary of the atrocities of
September 11 from genocidal terror and the horrific death tolls from failure to
stop the genocide in Darfur have forced Americans to examine our
responsibilities to protect peoples whose very existence is endangered.
Currently, two of the most urgent issues before US policy makers are Iran’s
intent to acquire nuclear weapons capability and, less noticed but just as
critical, its President Mohamed Ahmadinejad’s genocidal threats against Israel
and Jews.
Negotiations with Iran do not appear to be
working due to the intransigence of Iran’s extremist leaders who are using our
potential readiness to launch another war to build political support in Iran.
We therefore propose an alternative tactic: action in the United Nations
Security Council to refer Iran’s President to the International Criminal Court
for incitement to commit genocide—a crime under the Genocide Convention, to
which Iran is a State-Party. We also propose that we ask one of our allies to
bring a case against Iran before the International Court of Justice for
violation of the Genocide Convention. Only if these actions are undertaken
should military action against Iran be seriously considered as a last resort,
given the evident dangers and costs.
Arguably a nation’s possession of nuclear
weapons in and of itself is not at the heart of the problem. If it were, other
nations might well have preceded Iraq on the list of threats to our national
security and that of our allies. The real problem is the Iranian government’s
clearly and frequently expressed intent to eliminate Israel and the Jewish
people, specifically President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s incitements to commit
genocide.
The declarations of President Ahmadinejad that
Israel “should be wiped off the map” and his incitement of students to yell
“death to the Jews,” October 26, 2005 at a government sponsored “World without
Zionism” conference are typical of his openly stated declarations of aggressive
intent in violation of Art. 2 (4) of the UN Charter. They are direct and
public incitements to commit genocide in violation of the Genocide Convention
and of Articles 6 and 25 (3)(e), of the Rome Statute of the International
Criminal Court. His ‘clarification” that he merely advocates the “transfer” of
Jews in Israel to German or Austrian soil, is itself advocacy of forced
deportation, another crime against humanity, and is contradicted by long term
Iranian government support for Hezbollah and other terrorist groups.
This is the Iranian governmental threat that
the world faces. The most appropriate and effective action you could take
at this time is to call for the indictment of Iran’s President for incitement
to commit genocide.
United Nations Security Council Resolution
1674 declares that the world’s nations must protect communities-at-risk from
genocidal threats (http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/index.php/features/465?theme=alt5).
In keeping with this principle, such respected international
organizations as the International Association of Genocide Scholars and
Genocide Watch have recommended the indictment of the Iranian President, and
have done considerable foundational research on this premise. Based on their
work and that of others, we call for legal experts from the Justice and State
Departments to prepare the needed legal documents and supporting papers for
immediate action.
We suggest that Iran’s termination of its mass
incitement of genocide and of its support for identified terrorist groups
carrying out violence against civilians (e.g. Hezbollah, Hamas) would be the
outcomes by which we would define the success of a legal process leading to
indictment—even if the indictment does not run its full legal course to
conviction.
Two of Osama Bin Laden’s strategic goals in
the 9-11 attacks on the American homeland, the worst ever in our history by any
measure, were to divide us politically and to break us economically. A pre-emptive
military strike on Iran could increase political divisions within the US and
extend divisions between our vital allies and us. Military strikes
also could precipitate unforeseen events that would demand additional scarce
economic and human resources and threaten our nation’s economy. Let us try
legal action first, in hopes that this will help obviate the need for military
action.
The legal action we advise will distinguish
between Iran’s leaders, who are culpable, and its people, many of whom are
among the victims of their leaders’ misdeeds. If the International Criminal
Court is not favored as the preferred venue for any reason, an American ally
such as Germany could bring a dispute with Iran before the International Court
of Justice at the Hague under Article 9 of the Genocide Convention.
We look forward to your support for our
proposal to use the moral force of international law. Please be assured
of our continued prayers for our government to resolve this crisis
peacefully. The struggle to protect innocent lives is a battle we
cannot afford to lose.
American Values: Gary
Bauer, President
Americans for a Safe Israel: Herb Zweibon
Bethel Beaches Synagogue: Rabbi Eliezer Ben-Yehuda
Battalion of Deborah: Jodie Anderson
Christians’ Israel Public Action Campaign: Richard A. Hellman
CIPAC, United Kingdom: Peter Teasdale
Convergence Summits: Ms. Orly Benny-Davis, Director
GenocideWatch: Greg Stanton, President
Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public Health
and Community Medicine: Dr Elihu D.
Richter
International Christian Embassy Jerusalem: Susan
Michael
Iran Policy Committee: Raymond Tanter, President
Jerusalem Connection, International: Jim Hutchins
Jerusalem Summit: Dmitry Radyskevski
Middle East Research Center: Richard A. Hellman, President
ADDITIONAL
ANALYSIS
and explanation for the
Indictment of Iran’s
President.
October 4, 2006
President Bush’s
and the United Nations’ nuclear impasse with Iran’s President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad and his colleagues, who are openly threatening genocide, appears to
be leading toward the use of military force. We trust that you will
join us in urging President Bush to try another approach first – one that is
peaceful, but strong and coherent - to initiate international legal action to
deter Iran’s leaders from pursuing their genocidal threats, incitement and
initial actions during this interval between current (likely fruitless)
diplomatic efforts and the possible use of military force.
Security Council Resolution 1674 gives the
nations of the world responsibility to protect communities-at-risk from
genocidal threats, incitement and actions (http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/index.php/features/465?theme=alt5).
We must urge President Bush to use the moral force of his position to see that
this resolution is implemented through international legal means, before any
resort to military force to prevent Iran’s development and use of nuclear
weapons. Rather than decreasing or weakening the potential threat to Iran’s
leaders, such legal action will increase the seriousness of the threat, keep
the pressure on them, and thus more likely produce an appropriate response.
Since his election, President Ahmadinejad and
his colleagues have called for the elimination of Israel some fifty
times. According to the International Association of Genocide Scholars
and Genocide Watch these statements constitute incitement to genocide, itself a
crime against humanity. In Darfur, where the genocide began some four
years ago, there have been an estimated 400,000 deaths, including those from
terror attacks and from hunger and disease following expulsion from villages,
repeated rapes and other violence. We are concerned that Israel, recently
attacked by Hezbollah with Iran’s full encouragement and assistance, already
could be involved in an early stage of genocide similar to that of Darfur four
years ago, when hundreds already were being killed and hundreds of thousands
made refugees, or to that of the Jews of Europe, and all Europeans for that
matter, in 1938-1939 at the outbreak of world war.
In these perilous and politically divided
times there is a course on which virtually all Americans and others of good
will should be able to agree: first, deterring those whose statements indicate
that they are pursuing genocidal objectives, and second, urging and warning
bystanders not to cooperate with them.
Genocide results from an insidious combination
of the decisions of its perpetrators, the active or passive cooperation and
assistance of its accomplices and enablers, and the indifference of bystanders.
Stopping genocide also requires decision, especially by our nation’s leaders, a
decision to develop a proactive strategy of resolute and comprehensive
opposition to the perpetrators at every feasible pressure point, of stiff
warnings – or worse – to the accomplices and enablers (e.g. the suppliers of
Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the action arms of its attacks on such victims as
Israel and the people of Iraq), and of firm notice to the World’s nations that
in an interdependent world, there truly can be no innocent adult
bystanders. Real freedom and democracy, as the President has declared,
surely are the birthright of every person on Earth, but they will only be
realized and flow from a foundation of personal security and freedom from
genocidal threats and actions.
Please pass this request on to the appropriate
decision-makers in your organization and ask that they provide a speedy and
positive response. “Never again” should have meant never again ever
since 1945 - but it has not been so. Ignoring incitement to genocide
recalls the appeasement of the 1930’s and entails the evident risk of a repetition
of the Holocaust, only with more efficient and comprehensive means. And
stopping this genocide at a still early stage may serve as a clear precedent
for stopping other such threats in the future before they become the full-blown
horror we are witnessing now in Darfur.
Thank you for a swift, positive response,
since our nation lacks any other suitable option.
Greg Stanton, President, GenocideWatch
Richard A. Hellman, President, CIPAC
Elihu D Richter MD, MPH, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of
Public Health and Community Medicine
Dr. Gregory H. Stanton,
President
Genocide Watch
P.O.Box 809
Washington, DC 20044
703-448-0222 E-mail: genocidewatch@aol.com
Richard
A. Hellman President, CIPAC
The
Ronald Reagan Building
1300
Penn. Ave. Suite 703 Washington,
DC 2004-3024
O: 202-234-3600
C: 202-425-4009
rahellman@cipaconline.orgwww.cipaconline.org
Elihu D Richter
MD, MPH
Hebrew
University-Hadassah School of Public Health and Community Medicine
POB 12272
Jerusalem, Israel
+972 (02) 6758147 Email:
elir@cc.huji.ac.il
http://www.md.huji.ac.il/depts