"Zeifman has also called for the dismissal of ICT prosecutor Louise Arbour, claiming she has practiced misconduct and is subsequently unqualified for this case."

Jon E. Dougherty, WorldNetDaily.com. July 12, 1999

July 12, 1999
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_dougherty/19990712_xnjdo_clinton_ch.shtml

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THE BALKANS QUAGMIRE

Clinton "charged with war crimes"
Private tribunal 'indicts' president, Defense secretary

by Jon E. Dougherty

CHARGES of war crimes have been levied by a U.S.-based private criminal justice organization against President Clinton and Defense Secretary William Cohen for their part in initiating the Nato military action against Yugoslavia.

The indictment is to be electronically filed Monday [July 12] with the International Criminal Tribunal (ICT) in The Hague after the Connecticut-based International Ethical Alliance (IEA) determined that both men had violated many of the same justice standards used by the ICT to indict Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic.

In a press release, the IEA said other Nato officials would probably be included in more charges to be filed later for their part in the conflict. IEA officials said it also advocates the prosecution of Milosevic, but said both U.S. and Nato officials must be held accountable.

IEA General Counsel Jerome Zeifman, who writes for WorldNetDaily and served as counsel to the House impeachment committee in 1973, said the charges were filed "against defendants Clinton and Cohen [for] non-defensive aggressive military attacks on former Yugoslavia, which have not been necessary to defend the national security of the United States." He added that the charges

"are defined and proscribed in the Charters of the International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, Aug. 8, 1945, and the 1947 Charter of the United Nations."

Zeifman also said the charges rely, in part, on the testimony of witnesses and experts, and in his filing he suggested the ICT contact them for possible depositions to the court. Those witnesses include, but are not limited to: former U.S. President Jimmy Carter; former Nuremberg prosecutor for the United States, Walter Rockler; Bishop Artemious of Kosovo; journalist Alexander Cockburn; and playwright Harold Pinter."

Once such charges are filed, Zeifman said, by the Tribunal's own regulations, prosecutors are obliged to investigate. He cited Article 18.1 from The Hague's court procedures, which said, in part, that the ICT must investigate "information obtained from any source, particularly ... organizations."

Zeifman has also called for the dismissal of ICT prosecutor Louise Arbour, claiming she has practiced misconduct and is subsequently unqualified for this case.

Specifically, he said, Arbour allegedly has engaged "in selective prosecution by intentionally failing to consider and act on evidence which incriminates defendants Clinton and Cohen, and other as yet unindicted officials of Nato countries; conflicts of interest, or the appearance thereof, in receiving compensation from funds contributed to the Tribunal in whole or in part by governments of Nato; and bias in favor of the attacks by Nato on former Yugoslavia."

In her place, IEA is advocating the appointment of an independent prosecutor not from any Nato country, who

"is compensated only from funds specifically contributed by non-Nato countries; and has an independent staff that is not compensated directly or indirectly from funds contributed by Nato countries."

The IEA is also calling for the "recusal of five justices currently representing Nato countries, including chief justice Gabrielle Kirk McDonald of the United States."

IEA officials also said the Nato action was "contrary to the United Nations charter [since] Nato was bombing a fellow U.N. member, without U.N. authority."

Zeifman said he had not spoken with ICT officials and had no indication whether the indictment would be acted on by the World Court. But he added that it was important to get the matter on record.

The indictment also contains quotations from prominent world figures as further evidence of the alleged illegality of U.S. and Nato military action against Yugoslavia.

For instance, former President Jimmy Carter is quoted from a May 27, 1999, New York Times article as saying, "The decision to attack Yugoslavia was counterproductive, and our destruction of civilian life was senseless and excessively brutal." And Bishop Artemious of Kosovo, a leader of a resistance movement against the Milosevic regime, charged, "The greatest victim of your bombing is Democracy! Before your bombs democratic forces existed here, however embryonic. Destroying those forces is the greatest crime of your bombs."

Though other nations are planning similar actions, Zeifman told WorldNetDaily that the IEA indictment "was more severe." Non-affiliated groups in Britain, Greece and Norway are planning to file similar actions against leaders and officials in their respective countries.

Jon E. Dougherty is a senior writer and columnist for WorldNetDaily, as well as a morning co-host of Daybreak America.