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abdul-haq al-ani <ahalani@lycos.co.uk> wrote:From: "abdul-haq al-ani "
To: jobak17@yahoo.co.uk
Subject: Fw: Please approve or correct. gail
Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2003 21:32:37 +0100
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>From : Lawyers Against The War
Date : Fri, 28 Nov 2003 14:45:07 -0800
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> ATTACHMENT part 2 message/rfc822
From: "Lawyers Against The War"
To: "Abdul Haq al-Ani"
Subject: Please approve or correct. gail
Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2003 14:45:07 -0800
British barrister arrested after being refused access to his client, former Iraq deputy Prime
Minister and calling for war crimes prosecutions against Blair et al.
British barrister, Dr. Abdul Haq al-Ani was arrested by Customs and Excise on Tuesday November 25
2003 and released on bail to appear for questioning January 23, 2004. . Dr. al-Ani presented
himself for questioning after learning that a warrant to search the homes of Iraqi friends had been
issued. No charges have been laid and police claim to be investigating allegations that Dr. al-Ani
promoted breaking sanctions against Iraq in violation of the Iraq and Kuwait (United Nations
Sanctions)(Amendment) Order 1990.
Lawyers Rights Watch Canada is concerned by the appearance that the arrest and investigation of Dr.
al-Ani may be improperly motivated to impair his activities as a lawyer and/or a human rights
advocate.
LRWC’s concern is founded on a number of factors some of which are:
· Dr. al-Ani acts for a client unpopular to the UK government-- former Iraqi Deputy Prime
Minister Tariq Aziz, and
· Dr. al-Ani is pursuing causes unpopular to the government of the United Kingdom—opposition
to the war on Iraq, opposition to the sanctions against Iraq and the prosecution of Tony Blair and
others for war crimes committed during the invasion of Iraq; and
· the timing—the arrest occurred just after a response from Mr. Goldsmith regarding war
crimes prosecution of Prime Minister Blair and 4 days after Dr. al-Ani and others had petitioned
Scotland Yard to investigate the Prime Minister and others for war crimes; and,
· the unusual nature of the allegations that apparently warranted the arrest of Dr.
al-Ani—that he ‘promoted breaking of sanctions against Iraq’.
Factors such as these that are too often the hallmarks of cases in which governments seek to use
criminal legislation to curtail legal activities and to impair the independence of lawyers and
other human rights advocates.
Unpopular client
According to our information, prior to his arrest Dr. al-Ani had been in Iraq documenting
allegations of human rights violations by US and UK troops. While in Iraq, he sought and was
denied permission to visit with his client former deputy prime minister of Iraq, Tariz Aziz. The
Aziz family is pursuing a habeas corpus writ against coalition forces in Iraq, demanding that he be
produced before the courts. According to a report in the Guardian November 27, 2003, “Mr. Aziz is
being held by US forces with other senior regime figures at Baghdad airport. He is being
investigated for alleged war crimes, but has had no access to his lawyer.”
Unpopular causes—war crimes prosecution of Prime Minister Blair and others
Dr. al-Ani has called for prosecution of Tony Blair, Jack Straw and Geoff Hoon under the
International Criminal Court Act 2001 for war crimes committed in Iraq during the invasion and
occupation. Charges under this Act require the consent of UK Attorney General Oliver Goldsmith who
had refused his consent. Dr. al-Ani has applied for judicial review of AG Goldsmith’s refusal to
approve charges. The application for judicial review is based in part on Goldsmith’s bias arising
from his advice that a military invasion of Iraq by UK troops was legal.
Unpopular causes--opposition to the war on Iraq
Dr. al-Ani, as a member of Legal Action against the War, has campaigned against the invasion of
Iraq on the basis that such action was a violation of international and national law. Earlier he
opposed the sanctions against Iraq on humanitarian and legal grounds. On Friday November 21 2003
he was a member of a group that petitioned Scotland Yard to investigate war crimes allegedly
committed by the Prime Minister Blair and members of the cabinet.
Unusual allegations of wrongdoing
Dr. al-Ani was apparently arrested under the Iraq and Kuwait (United Nations Sanctions)(Amendment)
Order 1990, section 3(1)c which reads,
“3.—(1) Except under the authority of a licence granted by the Secretary of State under this Order
or under the Export of Goods (Control) (Iraq and Kuwait Sanctions) Order 1990 no person shall…
c) do any act calculated to promote the supply or delivery of any such goods to any person in Iraq
or Kuwait or to any person for the purposes of any business carried on in or operated from Iraq or
Kuwait.”
LRWC knows of no prosecutions under this Order.
---------------------------------
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