The
World Tribunal on Iraq: Rome Session
on
Media Wrongs Against Truth and Humanity
10-13 February, 2005, University of Rome III (Italy)
The session in Rome focuses specifically on the role and responsibilities of the 'Media' with respect 'truth-telling'. Although there have been much public debate about media disinformation and 'propaganda' in relation to the invasion and occupation of Iraq, little of the discussion thus far has involved recognition of peoples wronged! The aim of the session is return the focus on Media responsibilities to the social context of human lives and to provide an empowered, peoples’ language to demand accountability, and to celebrate, and open up further spaces for people-centred initiatives for truth and truth-telling.
In addition to a general analysis of the politics of the Media, the Session will examine the implications of media actions from the point of view of ‘wrongs’ committed against three constituencies of the affected: the peoples of Iraq; the citizens of the ‘Coalition’; and ‘Humanity’:
1. Against the Peoples of Iraq:
A Wrong of Aggression – Complicity in the waging of a war of aggression and perpetuating a regime of occupation that is widely regarded as guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
A
Wrong of Silence – Neglect of the duty to give privilege
and dignity to voices of suffering.
2. Against the Peoples of the ‘Coalition’:
A Wrong of Deception – Complicity, through the validation and dissemination of disinformation, in enabling the fraudulent misappropriation of human and financial resources for war, from social development.
A
Wrong of Incitement – Culpability for inciting an
ideological climate of fear, racism, xenophobia and violence.
3. Against Humanity:
A Wrong of Exclusion – Complicity in the exclusion of the voices and visions of the social majorities for people’s security and well-being by privileging instead the priorities of the minority corporate-military elite.
A Wrong of Usurpation – Complicity in enabling the usurpation of human aspirations - for peace and justice - for political and economic profit.
Underpinning the Rome session is the conviction that people as concerned social actors retain the right and the duty to establish the truths upon which social judgement on matters relating to peace, justice and human well being may be reached, and to demand that the institutions of power so act. That we as peoples of the world must act to reclaim for humanity the values of solidarity and justice is clear. As part of the World Tribunal on Iraq initiative, the Rome Session hopes to contribute to such a reclaiming of Peoples’ Law.
The World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI) is an international peoples’ initiative aimed at seeking the truth about the War and Occupation in Iraq.
The idea of organising an international tribunal against the invasion of Iraq originated nearly simultaneously in several places around the world, and was discussed in a series of meetings during 2003 in Berlin, Jakarta, Geneva, Paris and Cancun. The principle of an international peoples’ tribunal was affirmed by the Jakarta Peace Consensus declared on May 25th, 2003. Subsequently, the proposal was discussed in Brussels during the Networking Conference (European Network for Peace and Human Rights) organised by the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation on June 26-27th 2003. The outcome of the Conference was a decision to establish an international process of tribunals aimed at focussing on a broad range of issues and aspects relating to the invasion of Iraq and the ideologies and strategies which underpin it. A preliminary network of tribunals initiatives was established as a result – Brussels, Hiroshima, New York and London – with responsibility for coordination assumed by the ‘Tribunal Platform’ of Turkey.
The World Tribunal on Iraq was formally established on 29 October, 2003 following an International Coordination meeting in Istanbul which established the Istanbul Platform Text as the constituting document of the WTI initiative.
For further information on the WTI international process, please see, www.worldtribunal.org.
Contact:
WTI-Italia Secretariat
(Jayan Nayar-Walter Muscco)
Peoples’ Law Programme
c/o
Lelio Basso International Foundation
Via Della Dogana Vecchia, 5
00186 Rome
Italy
peopleslaw@libero.it / wti-italia@libero.it
(+39) 06-6865352