Suicide bombing humanity crime
2003-12-12 15:17
Washington - The Simon Wiesenthal Centre has launched a campaign to convince the world to declare suicide bombing a crime against humanity, the Jewish rights group said on Thursday.
"The world desperately needs a legal mechanism that will help bring before the bar of justice the agencies that dispatched suicide bombers and those who inspired young people to embrace a culture of death," the group said in a statement.
The Wiesenthal Centre said it already has lined up meetings with leaders in Argentina, Canada, France, Germany and Turkey to convince them to name suicide bombings a crime against humanity.
"In spite of the horrific mounting toll of innocent victims from Bali to Nairobi to Istanbul, no country has yet shown the courage to come forward and introduce a resolution branding such attacks as crimes against humanity," the group said.
During a visit to the Vatican last week, the centre urged Pope John Paul II to join the campaign, which follows a wave of such bombings in Iraq, Israel and Turkey in recent months.