Day Three

Public Opinion is the world’s new superpower.

That was the main proposal of International Conference on “Expose War Crimes and Criminalise War” organised by Perdana Global Peace Organisation.

The Chairman of the organisation, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, on his closing speech, said that he agreed with the call for the public opinion to unify to reject and to fight the America hegemony on this very world of post-cold war.

The three-day conference agreed that the best way to achieve global peace by unifying the public opinion to reject war as a method to put the conflict to its end and declared war as a crime towards humanity.

The conference had developed three institutions to put the war criminals on try and will hear its first case of US President, George W. Bush, Premier Blair and Howard.

The first institution is the War Crimes Commission, lead by Dr. Mahathir, comprising Datuk Dr. Yaacob Hussain Merican (Lawyer), Zinur Zakaria (ex-President of Malaysia Lawyer Council), Musa Ismail (ex-magistrate), Prof Dr. Mohd Akram Shair Mohamed (Law professor of International Islamic University) and Prof Gurdial Singh Nijar (Law Professor of University of Malaya).
Second, War Crimes Tribunal led by Datuk Abdul Kadir Sulaiman (ex-Federal Court Judge) comprising Tunku Datuk Dr. Sofiah Jewa (lawyer), Datuk Mohd Saari Yusoff (ex- Appeal Court Judge), Prof Shad Faruqi (Law Professor of Mara University of Technology), Mohamad Arif Md Yusof (lawyer). Also on the Tribunal are Mohd Noor Yahya (ex- President of Session Court and ex- Chairman of Malaysia’s Industrial Court), Datuk Abu Mansor Ali (ex- Federal Court Judge), Prof Francis Boyle (PLO advisor on the development of Palestine) and Prof Salleh Buang (Law lecturer and lawyer).

Third, War Crimes Lawyers comprising Mathias Chang, Jacqueline Chang, Megat Shaharuddin Merican, Elaine Zarina Zainur, Avtaran Singh, Nizam Bashir and Jamal Ridzuwan.

The Petition that wanted the three main war organisers and the invasion of Iraq to be put on try as the war crimes against human being. It been presented on behalf of war victims by Mathias Chang.

“Please don’t let them down. They have no place to go. This is their last destination to put on hope,” Chang pleaded.

Dr. Mahathir told the press at the end of the conference, which the participation of those institutions can be amend to strengthen its standard as the international bodies.

The conference also believes that the public opinion is the best weapon to lead into the global peace, to ban war and to punish the war criminals.

Even though the defendant might not come to the trial or be put on punishment, by the way, on public opinion, they are the criminals.

The label of War Criminal will be used every time their name being called, to humiliate them before the global citizens. Surprisingly, this year conference had attracted so many youngsters from inside and outside Malaysia whom represented the NGOs and civil societies.

I believe that, anyone who love peace and rejecting the war should make a decision to only support the political parties and the organisation which using the theme of peace and ban the war as a part of the main agenda and their manifesto.

And as proposed by Dato’ A. Kadir Jasin, he would like to see every bloggers should unite under the name of peace and promoting it as a part of their agenda to make this world as a better place to live. Come and support global peace by making this logo visible on your blog. And don’t forget to put the element of peace and rejecting war on every posting. Come support peace. Unite under the Bloggers for Peace.

As Ms Cynthia McKinney stated, "Kuala Lumpur is now, the capital for Peace".

Day two’s Note

Ali Shalah – the man in the hood – told a packed conference how an Israeli in civilian clothes stuck a jagged wooden stick and the barrel of a rifle into his rectum at the Abu Ghraib prison.

“I was cut inside and bled profusely. During this time, when guards walked past me, they would beat me. I had no food for 36 hours,” he said at the Expose War Crimes – Criminalise War Conference.

It was really a brave of Ali to stand on stage in front of a packed Dewan Merdeka with over 1000 people to share his horrible ordeal. Upon his release, he started the Association of Victims of American Occupation in Prisons. He opened his testimony with a video of torture in prisons. It was gruesome mix of photos of naked, scarred, bleeding and skinny bodies contrasted with grinning healthy-looking American soldiers posing with thumbs-ups. The Arabic-Persian soundtrack with haunting deep vocals, percussion and horn instruments quite successfully conveyed the sense of injustice inflicted upon this group of cultured, cosmopolitan and creative people.

But this feeling of mine is far from the ACTUAL torture and suffering that they have endured since the economic sanctions in the early 1990s and now the illegal occupation. The crude Americanisation of a country with a long history hailing back to the days of Babylon is typical of the obnoxious 'know-all' attitude of acrid American foreign policy.

The tragedy of 9/11 brought home to people everywhere the need for a forum like this as an alternative to confrontation or a clash of civilizations. It is our aim, as I remind myself as Muslim youngster to counter negative stereotypes and promote mutual understanding for both Western and Muslim societies..

Media round-ups show that there is an interest in the other side, in both Western and Muslim societies. However, this interest is often overlaid by stereotypes that determine how the others are perceived. What are missing are personal contact and a better knowledge of people from other cultures – both of which are prerequisites for mutual understanding.

Trust... I believe.... trust is required if a forum like this to be fruitful.

One prevalent stereotype finds expression in the suspicion that “the West” seeks to use the forum to justify a policy of domination that imposes Western values on the Muslim world. These concerns must be taken seriously by following through on our declarations of peace understanding and drawing greater attention to commonality, without however leaving critical issues unaddressed.

Various meetings between top politicians and thinkers have shown that there is considerable overlap in the basic ethical convictions of the two societies. The challenge is to communicate this to the people on the street, above all the younger generation.

What makes the member of the conference felt unsatisfied, when the moderator for the session of “War Crimes; from the Muslim Youth perspectives”, Ms. Juana Jaafar didn’t gave the fair opportunities to the younger generation to stand up and speak their mind as proposed by Dato’ Mukhriz. This should be the platform for youth to express their feeling, but sadly, she gave the chances to the eldest to speak up their mind by having un-parallel questions prior to the session and rhetoric yet cliché comments. It is so frustrating when having limited time to speak up our mind but being dominantly by the “marah pada dunia” eldest.

Yes it true. We (youngsters) are not given a fair chance to speak our mind. Ironically, the eldest were given big opportunities to speak up their mind on previous sessions. They should consider and count the voices of youth. They should listen from us, the leaders of tomorrow. I proposed that, next year, during the conference, the organisation should give a separate conference for youth, so-called the Junior International Conference on Peace and what-so-ever.

Then, the outcome from the Junior Conference will be included on the real Conference as a part of the call from the youngsters. I think it should be better. We don’t have to fight for the platform for us to express ourselves with the eldest.

continue on Day Three's Note

Day one’s Note

Declare the war as a criminal towards human being. Get the world leaders who’s organised the war as the war criminal and use the term of war criminal towards them to put they down on their knees. And for U.S, boycott their currency. Make them suffer. Make them feel how it is going to be when being the one who need the world to save them.

That was one of the agenda of the international conference on “Expose War Crimes, Criminalise War” organized by the Perdana Global Peace Organisation. Generally, on the first day of the conference, all the speakers, including the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, agreed that the two “defendants” of war criminals in Iraq, are the President of U.S, George W. Bush and Premier Blair of U.K.

The Law, science, political, administration and international diplomat experts who engaged on a great debate, agreed that there is a need for a constitution, declaration and the international convention that might lead into the development of War Crimes Tribunal in Kuala Lumpur which will put the so-called “citizen of the world” like Bush, Blair and their strong allied, Premier Howard of Australia on tried.

The convention agreed that it is not easy to put the war organisers before the law. But the proposed tribunal will put them on tried on absentia. Though, the retribution over them seems impossible, but we should label them as “war criminal” as the best way to make them feel ashamed in front of the citizen of the world.

This label, in the firm voice, said Dr. Mahathir, should be used for every time when we call the name of Bush, Blair, Howard and anyone who found guilty by the respective international citizen tribunal.

The first day of conference, the issues of the used of radioactive materials in the Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam and the daily economic activities such as electric generator by using the nuclear technology, been heard.

The science experts and analysts told and warned the members of the conference about the bad consequences of radioactive materials on the weapon of mass destruction towards the health of global citizens, especially, the depleted uranium.

They also questioned and make an odd statements on how the America who is believe to be so strong and expands hundred of billions for their surveillance and information gathering, can failed to detect the threat of 9/11.

The America used the tragedy as the reason to start the war on Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as expanding the war theater to the entire world, has make the conference believe that the theory of the tragedy was purposely as a part of the America conspiracies.

continue on Day Two's Note

Here is the link for the live web feed of Perdana Global Peace Forum 2007:

http://www.flamingpear.com.my/plf.htm

Theme Song Perdana Global Peace Forum