The South Korean Yonhap News Agency reports that all relatives of the executed Jang Song-Thaek, including children, have been put to death at the North Korean leader’s instruction. The most bizarre part of this story is probably the execution of children, which if true would be a violation of international law. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child, which has been signed and ratified by North Korea, forbids capital punishment for juveniles.

During the last years in Iran, a number of murders have taken place, where western governments are believed to be involved. Mainly Iranian nuclear scientists have been targeted and their families have sued Israel, US and Britain. Instead of anyone from these countries being convicted, it is more likely that someone, somewhere is receiving a medal for these murders. It has happened before in the military and the so called intelligence community.

Remember that after the USS Vincennes shot down the civilian Iran Air Flight 655 in 1988, killing all 290 on board, medals were awarded.

Over the world, many people oppose that governments carry out murders by death squads, drones and other means. One way to challenge this is by legal action, which is now done in the UK:
First UK legal challenge to CIA drones
Afghans launch legal action over British drone strike

More countries may be complicit in this, than it first appears. For example, it is believed that satellite data downloaded in Norway and/or Sweden is used in warfare. The Norwegian author Bård Wormdal claims that the SvalSat ground station on Svalbard is involved in this and thus violating the Svalbard Treaty.

Once again, the birth of a child in Bethlehem about 2000 years ago has been celebrated in much of the world. It is often said that Christmas is above all the children’s festival. Therefore, we must remember the children of Fallujah and hold the responsible accountable for the atrocities there and elsewhere in Iraq. Iraq War Trials are necessary to prevent recurrence. The polluter pays principle is important to enforce for cleanup (if possible), for compensation and for care of the victims. We owe this to the children.

For further information, see for example what Democracy Now and Iraq Veterans Against the War have written about White Phosphorus and Depleted Uranium (DU). One of the most horrifying aspects is the potential long-term effects. DU has a radioactive half life of 4.5 billion years.