According to an al-Rafidain TV report on May 31, 2010, an international coalition consisting of jurists and NGOs are making the necessary grounds for the arrest and prosecution of Nouri Maliki for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against the people of Iraq.
Rafidain TV reported: After the revelation of the government of Nouri Maliki’s atrocities and crimes against the Iraqi people one after another, an international coalition has been established consisting of jurists & human rights activists and a number of NGOs for the prosecution of Maliki and others involved in the war crimes and mass executions committed against the Iraqi people. This international coalition is currently focused on contacts with legal bodies in the UK, Belgium, Switzerland and other European countries to prepare all the means necessary for the arrest and prosecution of Nouri Maliki on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against the Iraqi people. These crimes consist of murder, forced migration, annihilation of cities and forced kidnappings of opposition members and imprisonment and torture of the innocent in known and secret prisons, the last being the horrific detention center in the al-Muthanna Military Air Base…
The international committee to prosecute Nouri Maliki, in cooperation with a wide network of NGOs, is attempting to persuade the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to establish an international fact-finding committee to investigate on war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Maliki and members of his government, leading to a war crime tribunal to prosecute them.
Jurists underscored that Iraq’s Ministry of Human Rights is attempting to decrease the crimes committed, meaning this ministry itself is involved in these offenses.
Dr. Hale al-As’ad, member of the Arabic Center to Register and Prosecute War Crime Criminals, answering a question on the grounds of prosecuting Nour Maliki and other culprits told al-Rafidain TV: “As you said, Maliki and his fellow culprits have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, yet before that, they have committed high treason. Iraqi penalty law specifies the sentence of one who has relations with an enemy state is life imprisonment. Another article goes further describing the ‘enemy state’ and if these two states are at war, the sentence of the mentioned culprit is execution.”
Dr. Hale al-As’ad, answering the questions that if Maliki is not Iraq’s next PM, will the international coalition be able to arrest and prosecute him, said: “Yes, of course, Maliki is anticipating this, being the reason why he is so frightened.”
In conclusion, Dr. Hale al-As’ad said: “We are in efforts defending our country and our people, and we have registered the crimes of Nouri Maliki and his fellow culprits in international organizations and will follow up on this issue.”