World Tribunal On Iraq

The World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI) was a people's court consisting of intellectuals, human rights campaigners and non-governmental organizations, and was active from 2003-2005. Set up following the 2003 invasion of Iraq it sprung from the anti-war movement and is modelled on the Russell Tribunal of the American movement against the Vietnam War. It counted among its supporters Indian Leftist author Arundhati Roy and United Nations Assistant General Secretary Denis Halliday, though consciously avoids a hierarchical structure. The WTI routinely found that the coalition forces in Iraq are guilty of war crimes and violations of the Geneva Conventions. The Tribunal tended to receive less coverage in the United States and United Kingdom than in the Middle East and Europe, and was frequently described by supporters of the war as a "kangaroo court". Its members were not popularly elected; it claimed of itself that " legitimacy of the World Tribunal on Iraq is located in the collective conscience of humanity".

Between 2003-5 a series of hearings took place under the title of the "World Tribunal on Iraq" with the purposes of:

• Hearing evidence in respect of any claim that the launch of the war in Iraq was a criminal act.
• Hearing evidence in respect of any alleged international criminal conduct during and as a part of the war in Iraq.
• Investigation of the doctrines espoused in the war (by all sides) and the economic connections which some allege are connected with the decision to wage the war in Iraq.
• To reach a decision based on evidence and expert testimony in respect of these issues and the war in Iraq.