Question of Justice

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Question of Justice

By bringing Saddam to task the west can demonstrate to the world that "Justice has been done". They have fought and brought this evil dictator to trial, and they want to take credit for this act. They expect the world to laud them for the their works. The capture of Saddam has highlighted the issue of justice. What is meant by just, and what is meant by equitable are matters of grave disparity and are open to subjectivity.

Most would agree that, in its simplest form, justice is that which is in accordance with particular criteria. The converse is injustice, which is that which violates these criteria. So it would follow that in this situation, where the global opinion and support is sought by the US and UK, international law is the criteria that they would want to comply with. Their view may be that justice would be done when the violators of international law are brought to book. The Anglo American coalition has proposed that the Iraqi Council will decide. However some western politicians have called for an international tribunal to be set up by the UN and Saddam to be tried according to international law.

How laughable it would be, to try Saddam by international law. Over the last few years it is the Anglo-American coalition that has shown the greatest disregard for international law. If Saddam is to be tried for violating international law, then Bush and Blair should be caught in the same net. They instigated a war against a sovereign nation and killed thousands of civilians in clear breach of international law. They intend to interrogate Saddam over issues such as his involvement in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. But why do they have to interrogate him, Saddam's antics are well documented. The US knows all the details, Ronald Reagan's special envoy to Iraq, Donald Rumsfeld, should surely be completely clued up about the chemical attacks that happened at the time of his last meeting with Saddam..

In stark reality international law is merely the law of the most powerful nation. It follows the golden rule. Those with the gold make the rules. The violation of human rights and crimes against humanity are laws based on the capitalist creed and defined by the capitalist nations. Only they believe in these laws and pretend to adhere to them.

What kind of justice can we expect from the UN? Over the last decade the UN's own sanctions have killed more Iraqi children (over 600,000) then Saddam has over 3 decades. The Anglo-American alliance in its bid to serve justice bombed to death more than 10 times (55,000 - Medact report) the number Saddam killed in Halabja. In their bid to bring Saddam to justice they out did Saddam:

• Napalm bombs used – 30 canisters of Napalm used in 30 days of war (Monitor-TV 7/8/03 – Independently reported napalm attack on Safwan Hill near Kuwait Border 10/8/03).

• Cluster bombs – 3,664 bombs used, some of them have as many as 147 sub-munitions (anti-tank and fragmentation bomblets).

• Depleted uranium (DU) – over 500 tonnes and 300,000 DU bullets used.

• The "shock and awe" justice which they brought to Iraq meant that in the first day 3,000 lethal bombs and cruise missiles rained down on Iraqi cities.

For Muslims, Justice is not some nebulous concept without substance. It is not about revenge nor is it a tool to justify controversial foreign policy. All this cheapens the term. Justice for us is serious. Justice, for us, is central to life itself, as it is synonymous with Islam and Islam is a code for life. Justice is achieved when the law of Allah (Subhanahu wa ta'ala) is implemented.

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"And let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just, that is next to piety and fear Allah, for Allah is acquainted with all you do" [TMQ Al-Ma'idah: 8]

Khilafah.com Journal
2 Dhul Qa'dah 1424 Hijri
25 December 2003

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