The Athens lawyers’ association said on Friday it plans to sue Britain at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over crimes against humanity allegedly committed in the Iraq war.
The 20 000-strong association ”has drawn up a lawsuit, initially against British officials, over crimes against humanity and war crimes perpetrated in Iraq and will deposit it with the ICJ prosecutor,” it said in a statement.
”The unjustified attack on Iraq by the allied American and British forces constitutes a violation of international law, of the charter of the United Nations, of international humanitarian law and of the statutes of the ICJ,” it said.
The statement added that the complaint was the first of its kind to be made at the Hague-based ICJ — the UN’s highest judicial organ.
On Tuesday, the Belgian government decided to pass on to American prosecutors a lawsuit filed in Brussels against the US commander in the Iraq war for alleged war crimes.
It took the decision on the advice of the federal prosecutor’s office, where the suit was filed last week against US General Tommy Franks.
Seventeen Iraqis and two Jordanians filed the suit under Belgium’s ”universal competence” law, which allows charges to be brought regardless of where the alleged crimes took place. – Sapa