IT does not matter how the deaths are caused killing just one person or thousands at once constitutes the same offence it is still an act of murder, a crime that deserves the most severe punishment.

 

This was the primary message Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad passed on to participants at the “Criminalise War International Conference and Exhibition” that took off at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

In his keynote address, Dr Mahathir said that just because the world has had wars for thousands of years, it should not continue to be accepted and practised.

“There must be a lot of things we have been doing for thousands of years which we don’t believe should be done now, such as abuse of human rights, discrimination against women, child labour, public executions, the gibbets (gallows), torture and slavery.

“Though there may still be places where some of these practices are carried out, generally the civilised world rejects them, even if they had been common for thousands of years.”

So what makes war different from the mentioned practices? Why can’t we reject the act of war altogether?

“It is because we do not regard war as a crime, therefore the killings have not stopped,” said Dr Mahathir.

He noted that the continued invention of new weapons by powerful governments has contribute  greatly to this fact.

The urge to try out these weapons in real-life situations would be irresistible to the powers-that-be. And so, proxy wars and attacks against weaker nations would be triggered, he said.

“The weapons trade has developed and grown until it has become a big part of world trade. The effect is to impoverish countries, which have to continually upgrade their weaponry at considerable cost.”

He observed that Malaysia too is not spared in this sense. Controversies would erupt each time the government buys expensive aircraft and submarines, although the country is not expected to go war with anyone. And the weapons have to be upgraded every now and then, which costs even more money.

“I am aware that in struggling to make war a crime, we are calling for a radical change in the human mindset and value system. But man must come to his senses someday.

“It will be a journey worth starting, even if it takes a thousand years,” said Dr Mahathir, ending his speech to a standing ovation from the hundreds of participants of the conference.

The conference yesterday also saw the presence of British MP George Galloway, former US Congresswoman
Cynthia McKinney and former Indian envoy Gajendra Singh, who also spoke out against war.