TOLGA TEMUGE
Temuge is the international media coordinator for the World Tribunal on Iraq modeled on the Bertrand Russell Vietnam War Tribunal of the late 1960s. Participants in the tribunal, which will take place in Istanbul from June 24-27, include Arundhati Roy, Richard Falk, Dennis Halliday, Hans von Sponeck, Walden Bello, Dahr Jamail, and Barbara Olshansky, as well as numerous witnesses from Iraq. [Deep Dish TV will provide live coverage; see below.] More Information

BRENDAN SMITH
Brendan Smith is a lawyer and co-editor of the forthcoming book In The Name Of Democracy: American War Crimes in Iraq and Beyond. He said today: “On May 17 a legal summons was delivered to U.S. and UK embassies in capitals around the world on behalf of the World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI). The summons requested the attendance of President Bush and Prime Minister Blair to defend charges that they are in ‘violation of common values of humanity, international treaties, and international law’ for waging war in Iraq. The Istanbul session to which Bush and Blair are invited is the culminating tribunal of WTI’s held in Paris, Tokyo, New York, and elsewhere around the world. While the summons was signed by leading international figures, including international legal scholar Richard Falk and former UN Assistant Secretary General Dennis Halliday, President Bush’s attendance is not anticipated.”

Smith added: “In 1967, the British philosopher Bertrand Russell convened the International War Crimes Tribunal. The Tribunal was charged with conducting ‘a solemn and historic investigation’ of U.S. war crimes in Vietnam in order to ‘prevent the crime of silence.’ Drawing on this tradition, the WTI — composed of lawyers, former parliamentarians and judges, journalists, artists, and victims of U.S. aggression — has held people’s tribunals on multiple continents in order to compile ‘a moral, political, and judicial record that contributes to build[ing] a world of peace and justice.'”
More Information

ELLEN BRAUNE
Deep Dish TV will provide live coverage of the World Tribunal on Iraq from Istanbul via a global satellite uplink June 24-27, 2005. Deep Dish will uplink a one hour daily program from Istanbul featuring key presentations and evidence as well as in-depth interviews with the witnesses and presenters. The broadcast will be available for free downlink by radio and television stations throughout the world at 2100 to 2200 hours GMT (5-6 PM U.S. Eastern Time). The programs will also be broadcast on Free Speech TV (Dish Network 9415) at 8 PM June 24th through the 27th.
More Information

DAVID MILLER
Miller is the editor of Tell Me Lies: Propaganda and Media Distortion in the Attack on Iraq and a member of the Stirling Media Research Institute. He will be testifying before the Tribunal.

DAVID BARSAMIAN
Co-author of Terrorism: Theirs & Ours (interviews with Eqbal Ahmad) and Culture and Resistance (interviews with Edward Said), Barsamian said today: “The tribunal is an important moral and legal judgement on Iraq. These initiatives cannot be underestimated in their impact. Ripples are set in motion that later become waves.” Barsamian will be testifying before the Tribunal.
More Information

SAUL LANDAU
Landau is a fellow of the Institute of Policy Studies and director of the film “Syria: Between Iraq and a Hard Place.” He will be testifying before the Tribunal.

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167