CITIZENS TRIBUNAL ON IRAQ TO "TRY" MEDIA
Wilbert van der Zeijden - 09.02.2005 16:30
The World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI) (www.worldtribunal.org), an international citizen's initiative to examine and establish the truth in relation to the war and occupation of Iraq, is convening a first of kind media tribunal to investigate the media performance in Iraq. A session on "Media Wrongs Against Truth and Humanity," will take place 10-13 February, 2005 in Rome, Italy
Press Release
CITIZENS TRIBUNAL ON IRAQ TO "TRY" MEDIA
PEFORMANCE ON IRAQ WAR
Examining media responsibility for the Iraq War.
Media organizations constantly demand accountability from governments and the private sector. They expose and editorialize about abuses by politicians and corruption in business. Yet, what about the media itself? Who holds it accountable--especially when media distortions and inaccuracies contributed to the deaths of tens of thousands in the illegal war in Iraq?
The World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI) (www.worldtribunal.org), an international citizen's initiative to examine and establish the truth in relation to the war and occupation of Iraq, is convening a first of kind media tribunal to investigate the media performance in Iraq. A session on "Media Wrongs Against Truth and Humanity," will take place 10-13 February, 2005 in Rome, Italy.
This Media-oriented session of the WTI is based on the public's right to judge global news organizations for the role they have played in informing and misinforming global public opinion. The session will focus on the media's responsibility to tell the truth and operate independently of government. A panel of experts will hear testimony by Iraqi witnesses, international independent journalists and media observers as well as experts on government strategies to achieve "information dominance" and manipulate media coverage. These include; Rana Mustafa and Dr. Hamodi Hamood, Iraqi film-makers and human rights activists; Dahr Jamail, a leading independent journalist working from Iraq; former CNN and ABC News producer Danny Schechter, who is currently editor of the MediaChannel.org, and director the award-winning documentary on the media, WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception; Fernando Suarez del Solar, of guerreroazteca.org, anti-war activist and father of Jesus A. Suarez del Solar Navarro, one of the first US servicemen killed in Iraq in 2003; David Miller of Strathclyde University in Scotland, author of "Tell Me Lies Propaganda and Distortion in the Attack on Iraq” and Director of Spinwatch.org; and Corinne Kumar, international coordinator of the World Court of Women.
Already several media organizations including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and presidents of the News Divisions of ABC, NBC and CBS have admitted their pre-war coverage was flawed. But did these admissions and mea-culpas go far enough? What about the coverage of the war itself including human rights abuses and the torture of prisoners? What about the on-going coverage of the occupation? What about media in other countries including outlets in Africa and the Middle East?
"Much of the ‘mainstream corporate-controlled Media stands implicated," says Jayan Nayar of the Peoples’ Law Programme, Coordinator of the media wrongs tribunal. "To some extent media outlets are willing to admit their failings. Although this is welcome, it is not sufficient. More than a simple recognition of professional inadequacies is required. The World Tribunal on Iraq calls for a people’s judgment .On the lies, falsifications, disinformation, misrepresentations and silence of the media."
What the Session will cover.
The Session will examine the issues from the point of view of ‘wrongs’ committed against three constituencies affected by the war: the people of Iraq; the citizens of the ‘Coalition’; and ‘Humanity’ - the global human population in general, with particular emphasis on the people in the Developing World, or the South. The Session will consider media wrongs in three categories:
1. Against the People of Iraq:
· A Wrong of Aggression – complicity in the waging of an aggressive war 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: (in addition to the above)
· A Wrong of Exclusion – complicity in the exclusion of the voices and visions of the social majorities against the war on Iraq, and for a international political order for peace.
· A Wrong of Usurpation – complicity in enabling the usurpation of human aspirations - for peace and justice - for political and economic profit.
Will the media cover this session or marginalize it like it has done with many anti-war critics? We hope not.
For more information and the location, write Jayan Nayar:
 wti-italia@libero.it
For more information on the World Tribunal on Iraq sessions all over the globe:
www.worldtribunal.org
 E-Mail: wilbert@tni.org  Website: http://www.worldtribunal.org
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