Why is the appeal focused on academics when assassinations are widespread in Iraq?
A key source of national sovereignty is a given countrys intellectual capacity. Iraqi academics are not simply the lifeblood of the educational system; they compose the intellectual class, which is the mind of Iraq, as well as the practical scientific, technical and administrative base necessary to guide Iraq towards independence, democracy and development. The BRussells Tribunal stands in opposition to all assassinations, but is particularly appalled at the campaign of intimidation and murder targeting Iraqi academics and the silence afforded to the issue in mainstream media because it represents the liquidation of the knowledge base that must be mobilized in order to resist US imperial designs on Iraq. The issue of Iraqi academics who have been and are targeted or assassinated is also important to establishing the existence of a policy of effective genocide in Iraq. A case currently rests before the International Court of Justice relative to Bosnia that evokes a similar charge; that
