World Tribunal on Iraq The World Tribunal on Iraq ( WTI ) was a people ' s court consisting of intellectuals , human rights campaigners and non - governmental organizations , and was active from 2003 - 2005 . Set up following the 2003 invasion of Iraq it sprung from the anti - war movement and is modelled on the Russell Tribunal of the American movement against the Vietnam War . It counted among its supporters Indian Leftist author Arundhati Roy and United Nations Assistant General Secretary Denis Halliday , though consciously avoids a hierarchical structure . The WTI routinely found that the coalition forces in Iraq are guilty of war crimes and violations of the Geneva Conventions . The Tribunal tended to receive less coverage in the United States and United Kingdom than in the Middle East and Europe , and was frequently described by supporters of the war as a " kangaroo court " . Its members were not popularly elected ; it claimed of itself that " legitimacy of the World Tribunal on Iraq is located in the collective conscience of humanity " . Between 2003 - 5 a series of hearings took place under the title of the " World Tribunal on Iraq " with the purposes of : Background to issues . The Iraq War left many people dead or injured , and some sources have identified significant war crime s or crimes against humanity in its conduct ; also mainstream media have reported breaches of the Geneva Conventions such as at Abu Ghraib ; and the use of depleted uranium was controversial . According to UN estimates , a further million people died during the trade embargo ( imposed by the UN following Iraq ' s 1990 invasion of Kuwait ) , due to malnutrition or lack of medical supplies , and from sanctions targeting domestic water systems ( History of Iraq ) . Many hundreds of thousands of these were children ( whose deaths were documented by US military and are available on US military declassified websites ) . In addition , few commentators believe that under 100 - 200 , 000 civilians died as a result of other acts during the 2003 war . Although other crimes are investigated , such tribunals require a lot of political will and strength to set up and few commentators appear to believe that a formal tribunal such as the Nuremberg Trials or the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia will be established . In addition the US has refused to ratify the International Criminal Court established for the purpose of investigation international crime . In the light of perceived growing tendencies to ignore international law , this tribunal was formed to investigate the concerns of other groups and onlookers into Iraq . Tribunal legitimacy and scope . Legal basis and structure . Being confronted with the paradox that people supporting or participating in the WTI want to end impunity but do not have the enforcement power to do so , they feel that they have to follow a middle way between mere political protest and academic symposia without any judicial ambition on the one hand , and on the other hand , procedural trials in the formal legal system which have no chance of achieving neutral outcomes . Another way of expressing the paradox is : By approaching the invasion and occupation of Iraq case from as many angles as possible ( international law , geopolitical and economical analysis , WTI participants hope to strengthen their common objective . In this way the hearings had a better chance of converging on valid judgments . The findings were brought together in the final session in Istanbul in June 2005 . In order to be as inclusive as possible , the WTI claims to support and recognize endeavours to resist impunity . The project will endorse and support the efforts to bring national authorities and warmakers to national courts ( like the complaints filed in various state courts under the doctrine of Universal Jurisdiction ) and to international courts ( like the International Criminal Court in the Hague ) . " The invasion and occupation of Iraq was and is illegal . The reasons given by the US and UK governments for the invasion and occupation of Iraq in March 2003 have proven to be false . Much evidence supports the conclusion that a major motive for the war was to control and dominate the Middle East and its vast reserves of oil as a part of the US drive for global hegemony . " . . . In pursuit of their agenda of empire , the Bush and Blair governments blatantly ignored the massive opposition to the war expressed by millions of people around the world . They embarked upon one of the most unjust , immoral , and cowardly wars in history . Actions . Also incorporated into the process are the findings of :