The World Tribunal on Iraq: Citizens' Tribunals and the Struggle for Accountability

In the wake of the 2003 intervention and occupation of Iraq, a coalition of activists from around the world initiated an international citizens' tribunal to investigate possible crimes perpetrated against the people of Iraq and against international law. Designed to fill a void where existing legal institutions had fallen short, these hearings were not meant to be colorful acts of protest but rather to provide rigorous public assessments of the policies and effects of invasion and occupation. In this article I evaluate the significance of this citizens' tribunal by reflecting upon the importance of extra-institutional practices for democratic accountability. Situating this particular tribunal in a longer history of citizens' tribunals, I argue that citizens' tribunals inhabit a space shaped by the exceptional condition of institutional failure. Within this space, they not only demand accountability for violations of international law. They also underline the shortcomings of existing accountability mechanisms and expose the international community's political unwillingness to live up to its legal and normative commitments.