GENOCIDE IN BIAFRA: - SPEECH BY MR. MAXWELL COHEN, LAWYER, MEMBER OFTHE INTERNATIONAL LAW COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION; AN ADVISOR TO THE BIAFRAN GOVERNMENT ON THE UNITED NATIONS GENOCIDE CONVENTION AN EYEWITNESS TO GENOCIDE IN BIAFRA; ON THE OCCASION OF THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BIAFRA, IN NEW YORK, DECEMBER 7, 1968. Curiously, in the thousands of books, reports and speeches that I have read relating to the Biafra situation, there has been no reference made to an amazing coincidence of three aspects. I wonder if I could call your attention to this omission, and ask you to consider the significance. (1) I don’t know of any other situation in my generation, which has combined in one instance the curious aspects of the great moral verbalization, the greatest example of governmental duplicity, and the magnificent social dynamics of a youthful generation. Let me clarify. The moral tone of this atrocious war, and every war is an atrocity, has been set by students, middle class individuals or families, and certain institutions. The aspect of governmental duplicity has been set by commissions, by Ambassadors, by various governmental functionaries; and the moral dynamic tone has been set by college students in the United States and all over the world. Let me be even more specific before we get into our subject this morning. I have seen in Biafra the extraordinarilycourageous activity and conduct of clergymen, of the Catholic faith, of the Protestant faith, or of Welfare Workers of the World Council of Churches and Catholic Service Organizations and B’nai B’rith. I have seen instances where the nobility of humanity reaches such heights as to make you feel and accept the concept of the Divinity. I have seen instances of courage by Priests who remained in hospitals that were bombed, who remained in feeding centers that were subject to bombing, who could have escaped and who remained where they were knowing full well that if they were ever captured the best they could hope for would be as quick a death as possible. I also think, for example, of the tremendously courageous behavior of the Welfare Workers who make these thoroughly dangerous flights into Biafra every single night. The other side of the coin is the aspect of governmental j duplicity. When I was in Biafra September 28th, I was subjected to a bombing in which 74 people were killed, about 200 yards away from me in a market place. Hundreds were shot at, two bombs were dropped, three rockets fired. An Egyptian pilot in a Russian plane strafed a number of kids playing in a field right near the hotel where I was staying. I witnessed it. I saw it. Shrapnel hit an aluminum case ten feet away from me. That evening, I heard a broadcast on BBC. General Alexander assured the world there was no evidence in Biafra of atrocity, no evidence of indiscriminate bombing, no evidence of genocide whatsoever. There have been since that time six different commissions all claiming no evidence of atrocity, of bombing, of genocide. The singular aspect of all these Commissions is the fact that none of them has ever gone into Biafra. Not a single one. How can they discuss the commission of a crime by sitting in the warm corner of the perpetrator of the crime accepting his assurance that the crime has not taken place. How can they not go to the scene of the crime to see if in fact the crime has taken place? How can you ignore your responsibility as a public official and L-I-E, deliberately lie, to your own government, to your own people and say critically that there is no evidence no evidence of atrocity, no evidence of bombing,of genocide. On the other hand, there are people who are not Biafrans; observers, Clergymen, Welfare Workers, Newspaper Reporters, who have seen these atrocities and yet their reports never get into the press. I now make a third point of this curious coincidence of three aspects. There is in Europe a very conservative magazine, and this is the last place in the world you would ever expect an article like this published. This magazine in its current issue declares that the greatest influence on the affairs of today is students. The article’s title correctly states Students Lead The Way. The dominant age factor of the group that has sponsored this forum, (International Conference on Biafra, Dec. 6-8, N.Y.) has sponsored similar forums throughout the world, happens to be the age area represented by college students. Now this, the third point you must see in relationship to the other points. I revert to the opening sentence. Of all of the thousands and thousands of articles and books and reports and speeches on Biafra, curiously not one has made reference to coincidence of three remarkable features: the high moral code suggested by some areas, the unpardonable duplicity suggested by government officials, and the magnificent role taken by a youthful generation in appealing to and reflecting the conscience of the world with respect to-Biafra. This morning, the New York Times carried an article headlined, Observers report that no Nigerian genocide, dated Lagos, Nigeria, December 6, Associated Press. Neutral military observers of the Nigerian civil war said here today that they have concluded that Biafra’s charges that Nigerian troups were engaged in genocide were unfounded. The observers said that Ibos, the predominant tribe of Biafra, had ‘a real fear that they will be killed if they fall into the hands of the Federal Troups, but this is dispelled ‘by the treatment they receive when they encounter Federal Troups’ the observers report. What a remarkable bit of ambiguity. The observers said the Federal Military Government was protecting Ibos and Ibo property in conquered areas. (a prison is a form of protection too). British, Canadian, Polish and Swedish observers who have operated only on the Federal side of the war reported at a news conference that their conclusion was based on what they had seen and heard from September 2 through November 23. The Nigerian regime invited observers from those four countries, the Organization of African Unity, and the United Nations following complaints by the Biafrans that they were the victims of a war of genocide. Concluding paragraph, and this is really a beauty: The observers said they did not know how many civilians had died in the civil war which entered its 18th month today. And the sordid claims of the article, The team did not deal with the question of victims of starvation. 6,000-8,000 people die daily; some reports have it as high as 10 to 12 thousand people. Is there genocide in Biafra? The report says no. But the report does not deal with the aspect of starvation. When you create a condition which impairs the life and the ability to function of people and that condition is part of the National Policy, that condition is a violation of the International Laws against Genocide. Article two of the Convention on Genocide states: In the present convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy in whole or in part a national ethnical, racial or religious group as such. (B) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group. (C) Deliberately inflicting on the group the conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction in whole or in part. Now, if you were creating’ a condition which makes it impossible for a national group to see its people fed so that 6,000, possibly 12,0011, die daily, and if~ this is a deliberate policy, then this is obviously a violation of the International Code, which we call Genocide. When you make it impossible for people to eat, they die. If they survive and they are young, the affect of malnutrition can create a mental impairment so you are in effect creating a generation of idiots. The feeding of infants may provide them with some degree of physical satisfaction now, but these are children who have seen their parents destroyed by bombs, have seen death and starvation and have been subjected to starvation themselves. Any pediatrician, any authority on welfare will tell you that the great consequence of malnutrition is an impairment of the reasoning and mental organic functioning. So when this confounded commission omits any reference to starvation and then blandly assures the world that there is no genocide, are they not misleading, are they not falsifying information? What can you do to counteract such hypocrisy? You can appeal to your governments and to the United Nations that hypocrisy, deception and duplicity be placed aside. Make no mistake, if you do protest by writing, by cables, by public demonstrations,the truth will come out. The truth will help Biafra and that which helps Biafra will avoid World War Three. I am predicting -- and I predict this with great zeal because in my own life I have seen two world wars, that we are incubating World War Three. When I was in Biafra on the Nigerian side there were British guns, British credit, Russian MIGs, and subsequently Russian financial credit and Egyptian pilots.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 07:16:39 +0000
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