107-576: The Nayirah testimony was false testimony given before the United States Congressional Human Rights Caucus on October 10, 1990, by a 15-year-old Kuwaiti girl who was publicly identified only as Nayirah at the time. In her testimony, which took place two months after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait , she claimed to have witnessed Iraqi soldiers taking babies out of incubators at a Kuwaiti hospital before looting
214-463: A capital offense in cases causing wrongful execution . Perjury which caused the wrongful execution of another or in the pursuit of causing the wrongful execution of another is respectively construed as murder or attempted murder, and is normally itself punishable by execution in countries that retain the death penalty . Perjury is considered a felony in most U.S. states. However, prosecutions for perjury are rare. The rules for perjury also apply when
321-562: A second lieutenant in the 5th Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (as it was then called) at the start of March 1949. He was released from the Army in September 1949 to take up his place at Cambridge University . He trained for a few weeks each summer as a reserve officer until 1952. Hurd went up to Trinity College, Cambridge , in the autumn of 1949. He achieved an upper second (II:1) in his preliminary exams in summer 1950. In March 1951 he
428-528: A "safe pair of hands" and a solid, loyal member of the Cabinet, Hurd's tenure as Home Secretary was largely uncontroversial, although he was notably of the view that Her Majesty's Prison Service did not work effectively and argued for more rehabilitation of offenders and alternative sentencing. Hurd brought in the Public Order Act, 1986 , which created the crime of hate speech for speech which
535-655: A $ 3000 reduced rate. Some scholars claim the U.S. government and the White House knew nothing, others claim that the U.S. knew and was complicit. German historian Andreas Elter [ de ] stated: The work of the US advertising agency for the Kuwaiti carried the signature of the White House in a certain way. President Bush was briefed by Fuller on every single step. Whether he also gave his personal consent for
642-471: A Free Kuwait was a public relations committee set up by the Kuwaiti embassy, described by The Times News as a "Washington, D.C.- based committee comprised of concerned Kuwaitis and Americans". Though the committee occupied embassy office space, they were to be working independently of the embassy. In 1990, after being approached by a Kuwaiti expatriate in New York, Hill & Knowlton took on "Citizens for
749-511: A Free Kuwait wrote to Representative Gus Yatron stating of how he "recently learned that the Iraqi leader has ordered that maternity hospital incubators [in Kuwait], used for treating premature babies, be turned off, allowing these infants to die of exposure." On September 29, in a meeting between Kuwaiti leader Sheik Jabbar al Ahmed al Sabah and President George H. W. Bush , the exiled emir told
856-599: A Free Kuwait." The objective of the national campaign was to raise awareness in the United States about the dangers posed by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to Kuwait. Hill & Knowlton conducted a $ 1 million study to determine the best way to win support for strong action. H & K had the Wirthington Group conduct focus groups to determine the best strategy that would influence public opinion. The study found that an emphasis on atrocities, particularly
963-654: A correction, with executive director John Healey subsequently accusing the George H. W. Bush administration of "opportunistic manipulation of the international human rights movement." Following the Iraqi invasion and occupation of Kuwait, there were reports of widespread looting. On September 2, 1990, in a letter to the UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar , Kuwait's UN representative, Mohammad A. Abulhasan , wrote: Further to those of our communications which are intended to inform you of
1070-537: A home in American legal constructs. As such, the main tenets of perjury, including mens rea , a lawful oath, occurring during a judicial proceeding, a false testimony have remained necessary pieces of perjury's definition in the United States. Perjury's current position in the American legal system takes the form of state and federal statutes. Most notably, the United States Code prohibits perjury, which
1177-688: A maximum sentence of not less than 3 years' imprisonment, the perjurer may be imprisoned for up to 14 years. Perjury is a statutory offence in England and Wales . It is created by section 1(1) of the Perjury Act 1911 . Section 1 of that Act reads: (1) If any person lawfully sworn as a witness or as an interpreter in a judicial proceeding wilfully makes a statement material in that proceeding, which he knows to be false or does not believe to be true, he shall be guilty of perjury, and shall, on conviction thereof on indictment, be liable to penal servitude for
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#17327836377821284-524: A member of the Arab League and the United Nations, off the face of the map." On September 28, Kuwait's planning minister, Sulaiman Mutawa, reported that 12 babies had died as a result of incubator looting. On September 30, U.S. News & World Report reported that it had obtained secret US government cables based on eyewitness accounts that revealed "shocking acts of brutality inflicted by
1391-405: A person has made a statement under penalty of perjury even if the person has not been sworn or affirmed as a witness before an appropriate official. An example is the US income tax return, which, by law, must be signed as true and correct under penalty of perjury (see 26 U.S.C. § 6065 ). Federal tax law provides criminal penalties of up to three years in prison for violation of
1498-460: A person who swears willfully, absolutely, and falsely, in a matter material to the issue or point in question". The punishment for perjury under the common law has varied from death to banishment and has included such grotesque penalties as severing the tongue of the perjurer. The definitional structure of perjury provides an important framework for legal proceedings, as the component parts of this definition have permeated jurisdictional lines, finding
1605-630: A relevant convention court under the European Patent Convention as it applies to a judicial proceeding in a tribunal of a foreign state. A statement made on oath by a witness outside the United Kingdom and given in evidence through a live television link by virtue of section 32 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 must be treated for the purposes of section 1 as having been made in the proceedings in which it
1712-708: A statement referred to in either of those subsections that is made by a person who is not specially permitted, authorized or required by law to make that statement. As to corroboration, see section 133. Everyone who commits perjury is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years. A person who, before the Court of Justice of the European Union , swears anything which he knows to be false or does not believe to be true is, whatever his nationality, guilty of perjury. Proceedings for this offence may be taken in any place in
1819-488: A term not exceeding fourteen years. Perjury is a statutory offence in England and Wales . A person convicted of perjury is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years, or to a fine, or to both. In the United States , the general perjury statute under federal law classifies perjury as a felony and provides for a prison sentence of up to five years. The California Penal Code allows for perjury to be
1926-405: A term not exceeding seven years, or to imprisonment ... for a term not exceeding two years, or to a fine or to both such penal servitude or imprisonment and fine. (2) The expression "judicial proceeding" includes a proceeding before any court, tribunal, or person having by law power to hear, receive, and examine evidence on oath. (3) Where a statement made for the purposes of a judicial proceeding
2033-545: A wider public relations campaign conducted by the Kuwaiti government-in-exile's Citizens for a Free Kuwait , which sought to encourage American military involvement against Iraq's occupation of Kuwait through coordination with the American public relations firm Hill & Knowlton . In the aftermath of the Gulf War, the Nayirah testimony came to be regarded as a classic example of modern atrocity propaganda . Nayirah's story
2140-529: Is "threatening, abusive or insulting" and which is spoken in public, with intent or likely to "stir up" racial hatred. Hurd's Cabinet career progressed further during the turbulent final months of Margaret Thatcher 's prime ministership. On 26 October 1989, Hurd moved to the Foreign Office , succeeding John Major , whose rapid rise through the Cabinet saw him become Chancellor of the Exchequer in
2247-772: Is a British Conservative Party politician who served in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1979 to 1995. A career diplomat and political secretary to Prime Minister Edward Heath , Hurd first entered Parliament in February 1974 as MP for the Mid Oxfordshire constituency ( Witney from 1983). His first government post was as Minister for Europe from 1979 to 1983 (being that office's inaugural holder) and he served in several Cabinet roles from 1984 onwards, including Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1984–85), Home Secretary (1985–89) and Foreign Secretary (1989–95). He stood unsuccessfully for
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#17327836377822354-407: Is a fact material to influencing the legal result, such as eligibility for old age retirement benefits or whether a person was of an age to have legal capacity . Perjury is considered a serious offence, as it can be used to usurp the power of the courts, resulting in miscarriages of justice . In Canada , those who commit perjury are guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for
2461-871: Is defined in two senses for federal purposes as someone who: (1) Having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed, is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter which he does not believe to be true; or (2) in any declaration, certificate, verification, or statement under penalty of perjury as permitted under section 1746 of title 28, United States Code, willfully subscribes as true any material matter which he does not believe to be true Douglas Hurd Douglas Richard Hurd, Baron Hurd of Westwell , CH , CBE , PC (born 8 March 1930)
2568-411: Is given in evidence. Section 1 applies in relation to a person acting as an intermediary as it applies in relation to a person lawfully sworn as an interpreter in a judicial proceeding; and for this purpose, where a person acts as an intermediary in any proceeding which is not a judicial proceeding for the purposes of section 1, that proceeding must be taken to be part of the judicial proceeding in which
2675-591: Is in effect an operation designed to achieve nothing less than the complete removal of Kuwait's assets, including property belonging to the State, to public and private institutions and to individuals, as well as the contents of houses, factories, stores, hospitals, academic institutes, schools, and universities ... What has occurred in Kuwait is the perpetration of an act of armed robbery by a State which has used its military, security and technical organs for that purpose. In
2782-519: Is not "comprehensive". The book Archbold says that it appears to be immaterial whether the court before which the statement is made has jurisdiction in the particular cause in which the statement is made, because there is no express requirement in the Act that the court be one of "competent jurisdiction" and because the definition in section 1(2) does not appear to require this by implication either. The actus reus of perjury might be considered to be
2889-472: Is not made before the tribunal itself, but is made on oath before a person authorised by law to administer an oath to the person who makes the statement, and to record or authenticate the statement, it shall, for the purposes of this section, be treated as having been made in a judicial proceeding. (4) A statement made by a person lawfully sworn in England for the purposes of a judicial proceeding— shall, for
2996-416: Is not perjury to lie about matters that are immaterial to the legal proceeding. Statements that entail an interpretation of fact are not perjury because people often draw inaccurate conclusions unwittingly or make honest mistakes without the intent to deceive. Individuals may have honest but mistaken beliefs about certain facts or their recollection may be inaccurate, or may have a different perception of what
3103-445: Is the accurate way to state the truth. In some jurisdictions, no crime has occurred when a false statement is (intentionally or unintentionally) made while under oath or subject to penalty. Instead, criminal culpability attaches only at the instant the declarant falsely asserts the truth of statements (made or to be made) that are material to the outcome of the proceeding. It is not perjury, for example, to lie about one's age except if age
3210-424: Is unclear how much of Nayirah's testimony was coached. Though the firm was supposed to provide only stylistic help, it was reported that H&K "provided witnesses, wrote testimony, and coached the witnesses for effectiveness." Nayirah's testimony was widely publicized. Hill & Knowlton, which had filmed the hearing, sent out a video news release to MediaLink , a firm which served about 700 television stations in
3317-728: The Archbishop of Canterbury . Hurd is chairman of the advisory council at FIRST, an international affairs organisation. Hurd was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1974 and Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in the 1996 New Year Honours. He was formerly a Visiting Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford and Chairman of the German British Forum. On 17 July 2009, he received
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3424-806: The Cambridge Union Society in Easter (summer) Term 1952. His special subject for study was the Second French Republic . He graduated in 1952 with a first-class degree (BA) in history . In 1952, Hurd joined the Diplomatic Service . He was posted to China , the United States and Italy, before leaving the service in 1966 to enter politics as a member of the Conservative Party. Hurd became private secretary (a political appointment, his salary paid by
3531-871: The Conservative Party leadership in 1990 , and retired from frontline politics during a Cabinet reshuffle in 1995. In 1997, Hurd was elevated to the House of Lords and is one of the Conservative Party's most senior elder statesmen. He is a patron of the Tory Reform Group . He retired from the Lords in 2016. Hurd was born in 1930 in the market town of Marlborough in Wiltshire . His father Anthony Hurd (later Lord Hurd ) and grandfather Sir Percy Hurd were also Members of Parliament . Douglas attended Twyford School and Eton College , where he
3638-573: The European Communities Act 1972 (i.e. perjury before the Court of Justice of the European Union ) may be proceeded against and punished in England and Wales as for an offence under section 1(1). Section 1(4) has effect in relation to proceedings in the Court of Justice of the European Union as it has effect in relation to a judicial proceeding in a tribunal of a foreign state. Section 1(4) applies in relation to proceedings before
3745-472: The Gulf War , which resulted in the expulsion of Iraqi troops from Kuwait by a 42-country coalition led by the United States . In 1992, it was revealed that Nayirah's last name was al-Ṣabaḥ ( Arabic : نيرة الصباح ) and that she was the daughter of Saud Nasser Al-Saud Al-Sabah , the erstwhile Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States. Furthermore, it was revealed that her testimony was organized as part of
3852-541: The Gulf War . On January 13, 1991, the Sunday Times reported that a Dr. Ali Al-Huwail could vouch for 92 deaths. Iraq denied the allegations. On October 16, Iraqi information minister Latif Nassif al-Jassem told the Iraqi News Agency that "now you [Bush] are using what he [Sheikh Jaber] told you to make Congress ratify the budget which is in the red because of your policies" adding that "you, as
3959-539: The House of Commons at the 1997 general election, and on 13 June 1997 was created Baron Hurd of Westwell , of Westwell in the County of Oxfordshire , which enabled him to continue sitting in Parliament as a member of the House of Lords . He retired from the Lords on 9 June 2016. In December 1997, Hurd was appointed chairman of British Invisibles (now renamed International Financial Services London or IFSL). He
4066-437: The House of Commons in 1997 having served 23 years in Parliament. His immediate successor was Shaun Woodward , who defected to Labour in 1999, and moved in 2001 to a safe Labour seat, before serving as Northern Ireland Secretary , a position Hurd once held. From 2001 to 2016, Hurd's former constituency was represented by the former Leader of the Conservative Party and former British prime minister, David Cameron . Hurd
4173-667: The World Development Movement , the High Court of Justice held that the British Foreign Secretary, Douglas Hurd's actions were ultra vires [outside his legal powers and therefore unlawful] by allocating £234 million towards the funding of the dam , on the grounds that the legislation only empowered him to fund economically sound projects. In 1997, the administration of the UK's aid budget
4280-622: The honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (Hon DLitt) from Aston University at its Degree Congregation. Hurd is a member of the Top Level Group of UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation , established in October 2009. Hurd has married twice. In 1960, he married his first wife Tatiana, daughter of Major Arthur Eyre MBE, and their union produced three sons. The couple separated in 1976, and divorced in 1982. Tatiana Hurd cited her husband's career as
4387-533: The AlIdar Hospital with 12 other women who wanted to help as well. I was the youngest volunteer. The other women were from 20 to 30 years old. While I was there, I saw the Iraqi soldiers come into the hospital with guns. They took the babies out of the incubators, took the incubators and left the children to die on the cold floor. It was horrifying. I could not help but think of my nephew who was born premature and might have died that day as well. After I left
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4494-603: The British Secretary for foreign affairs surmised that "they are looting and destroying in a way which suggests that they may not expect to be there for very long." The looting of incubators attracted media attention because of allegations that premature babies were being discarded or dying as a result. On September 5, Abdul Wahab Al-Fowzan, the Kuwaiti health minister-in-exile, stated at a press conference in Taif, Saudi Arabia "that Iraqi soldiers had seized virtually all of
4601-664: The British bank NatWest (see below), fuelling some speculation that Hurd had taken a pro-Serbian line. There has been criticism of Hurd's policies in relation to the war. The Bosnian government even threatened to charge Hurd as an accomplice to the Bosnian genocide before the War Tribunal at The Hague , though this came to nothing. In 2010 Hurd told a reporter that he was troubled by his Bosnia policy but still doubted that intervention would have brought about an earlier end to
4708-580: The Conservative Party) to Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath , and was first elected to Parliament in February 1974 to represent the constituency of Mid Oxfordshire . Following his election, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the February 1974 Dissolution Honours , gazetted on 2 April 1974. At the 1983 general election the seat was replaced by Witney and he remained MP for that seat until his retirement from
4815-559: The Cr.P.C. restricts any court to take cognisance of an offence of perjury unless the same is by way of a complaint in writing by the court before which the offence is committed or by a superior court." Punishment for perjury is defined under Section 109 of the Crimes Act 1961 . A person who commits perjury may be imprisoned for up to 7 years. If a person commits perjury to procure the conviction of someone charged with an offence that carries
4922-478: The Crown Prosecution Service sentencing manual. In Anglo-Saxon legal procedure, the offence of perjury could only be committed by both jurors and by compurgators . With time witnesses began to appear in court they were not so treated despite the fact that their functions were akin to that of modern witnesses. This was due to the fact that their role were not yet differentiated from those of
5029-643: The Iraqis against innocent citizens at Kuwaiti hospitals." The cables stated that on the sixth day of Iraqi invasion, Iraqi soldiers "entered the Adan Hospital in Fahaheel looking for hospital equipment to steal" and that "they unplugged the oxygen to the incubators supporting 22 premature babies and made off with the incubators", thus killing the 22 children. On October 9, at a Presidential news conference, Bush stated: I thought General Scowcroft [Assistant to
5136-462: The Iraqis hauled sophisticated equipment such as dialysis machines back to Baghdad, part of the haul of cash, gold, cars and jewelry that is said by Arab banking sources to exceed $ 2 billion. Among the equipment taken were the 22 infant incubator units, they said. The Washington Post also noted that it was unable to verify the accusations as Iraq did not permit access to the area and had quarantined diplomats. On September 5, in another letter to
5243-440: The Iraqis. He is 22 but he looked as though he could have been an old man. The Iraqis dunked his head into a swimming pool until he almost drowned. They pulled out his fingernails and then played electric shocks to sensitive, private parts of his body. He was lucky to survive. If an Iraqi soldier is found dead in the neighborhood, they burn to the ground all the houses in the general vicinity and would not let firefighters come until
5350-577: The Parliament in England in 1540 with subornation of perjury and, in 1562, with perjury proper. The punishment for the offence then was in the nature of monetary penalty, recoverable in a civil action and not by penal sanction. In 1613, the Star Chamber declared perjury by a witness to be a punishable offence at common law. Prior to the 1911 Act, perjury was governed by section 3 of the Maintenance and Embracery Act 1540 5 Eliz 1 c. 9 ( An Act for
5457-515: The President for National Security Affairs] put it very well after the Amir left here. And I am very much concerned, not just about the physical dismantling but of the brutality that has now been written on by Amnesty International confirming some of the tales told us by the Amir of brutality. It's just unbelievable, some of the things at least he reflected. I mean, people on a dialysis machine cut off,
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#17327836377825564-507: The Punyshement of suche persones as shall procure or comit any wyllful Perjurye ; repealed 1967) and the Perjury Act 1728 . The requirement that the statement be material can be traced back to and has been credited to Edward Coke , who said: For if it be not material, then though it be false, yet it is no perjury, because it concerneth not the point in suit, and therefore in effect it is extra-judicial. Also this act giveth remedy to
5671-520: The State and the offence may for all incidental purposes be treated as having been committed in that place. "The offence of perjury finds its place in law by virtue of Section 191 to Section 203 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 ('IPC'). Unlike many other countries, the offence of perjury is muted on account of Section 195 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 ("Cr.P.C"). Section 195(1)(b)(i) of
5778-493: The UN Secretary General, Abulhasan reiterated Fowzan's claims writing: We are informed by impeccable sources in Kuwait's health institutions that the Iraqi occupation authorities have carried out the following brutal crimes, which may be described as crimes against humanity: ... 2. The incubators in maternity hospitals used for children suffering from retarded growth (premature children) have been removed, causing
5885-689: The United States under President George H. W. Bush , and sought a more conciliatory approach to other members of the European Community , repairing relationships damaged during the increasingly Eurosceptic tone of Margaret Thatcher's final years. Hurd was a signatory of the Maastricht Treaty establishing the European Union in 1992. Hurd welcomed a reunified Germany into the European political community in 1990. One of
5992-427: The United States. That night, portions of the testimony aired on ABC 's Nightline and NBC Nightly News reaching an estimated audience between 35 and 53 million Americans. Seven senators cited Nayirah's testimony in their speeches backing the use of force. President George Bush repeated the story at least ten times in the following weeks. Her testimony helped to stir American opinion in favor of participation in
6099-494: The act as the "willful and corrupt giving, upon a lawful oath, or in any form allowed by law to be substituted for an oath, in a judicial proceeding or course of justice, of a false testimony material to the issue or matter of inquiry". William Blackstone touched on the subject in his Commentaries on the Laws of England , establishing perjury as "a crime committed when a lawful oath is administered, in some judicial proceeding, to
6206-565: The actions perpetrated by the Iraqi occupation authorities in Kuwait in contravention of all international laws, and on the basis of confirmed information provided to us by the Government of Kuwait, we wish to draw attention to a phenomenon which has no precedent in history, namely, the Iraqi occupation authorities' organized operation for the purpose of looting and plundering Kuwait. It is impossible to compare this operation to any similar incidents or to provide an exact account thereof because it
6313-480: The babies inside were piled on the floor and left to die." The San Jose Mercury News also reported the same allegation that day, adding that Western diplomats thought "this is the kind of thing that some people call genocide, and if people wanted to construe it as such, it could be cause for some kind of military intervention." On September 25, The Washington Post reported that "Kuwait City's hospitals are being stripped of incubators." The president of Citizens for
6420-484: The baby story, however, cannot be proven. What remains, however, is that close personal contacts existed between the US government and an agency that had demonstrably given birth to lies. The same agency was even directly employed by the US government in another context. On October 10, 1990, Nayirah was the last to testify at the Caucus. In her oral testimony, which lasted 4 minutes, she stated: Mr. Chairman, and members of
6527-481: The children of Kuwait and to my country has changed my life forever, has changed the life of all Kuwaitis, young and old, mere children or more. My sister with my five-day-old nephew traveled across the desert to safety. There is no milk available for the baby in Kuwait. They barely escaped when their car was stuck in the desert sand and help came from Saudi Arabia. I stayed behind and wanted to do something for my country. The second week after invasion, I volunteered at
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#17327836377826634-425: The committee, my name is Nayirah and I just came out of Kuwait. My mother and I were in Kuwait on August 2nd for a peaceful summer holiday. My older sister had a baby on July 29th and we wanted to spend some time in Kuwait with her. I only pray that none of my 10th grade classmates had a summer vacation like I did. I may have wished sometimes that I can be an adult, that I could grow up quickly. What I saw happening to
6741-470: The conflict unduly. Hurd also resisted pressure to allow Bosnian refugees to enter into Britain arguing that to do so would reduce pressure on the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina to sue for peace. Hurd described his and British policy during that time as 'realist'. Shortly after his withdrawal from frontline politics, Hurd travelled to Serbia and Montenegro to meet Slobodan Milošević on behalf of
6848-435: The country's hospitals and medical institutions after their invasion" and that "soldiers evicted patients and systematically looted the hospitals of high-tech equipment, ambulances, drugs and plasma" which resulted in the death of 22 premature babies. The Washington Post described the origin of the Kuwaiti baby story as follows: The Kuwaiti baby story originated with a letter from a senior Kuwaiti public health official that
6955-413: The death of all the children who were under treatment. The letter did not state how many babies had died. The allegations in the letter received widespread media coverage in the following days. That day, in an interview with released hostages on NPR 's All Things Considered , a hostage stated that Iraqi troops were "hitting children with the butts of the guns, taking infants out of incubators and taking
7062-610: The defining features of Hurd's tenure as Foreign Secretary was the British reaction to the Yugoslav Wars . During the Bosnian War , Hurd was seen as a leading voice among European politicians arguing against sending military aid to the Bosniaks and for maintaining the arms embargo , in defiance of the line taken by US President Bill Clinton , and arguing that such a move would only create a 'level killing field' and prolong
7169-433: The hospital, some of my friends and I distributed flyers condemning the Iraqi invasion until we were warned we might be killed if the Iraqis saw us. The Iraqis have destroyed everything in Kuwait. They stripped the supermarkets of food, the pharmacies of medicine, the factories of medical supplies, ransacked their houses and tortured neighbors and friends. I saw and talked to a friend of mine after his torture and release by
7276-472: The incubator story, was the most effective. Hill & Knowlton is estimated to have been given as much as $ 12 million by the Kuwaitis for their public relations campaign. The Congressional Human Rights Foundation is a non-governmental organization that investigates human rights abuse. It was headed by Democratic U.S. Representative Tom Lantos and Republican Representative John Porter and rented space in Hill & Knowlton's Washington headquarters at
7383-409: The incubators and leaving the babies to die on the floor. Nayirah's statements were widely publicized and cited numerous times in the United States Senate and by American president George H. W. Bush to contribute to the rationale for pursuing military action against Iraq . Her portrayal of Iraqi war crimes was aimed at further increasing global support for Kuwait against the Iraqi occupation during
7490-660: The incubators." Reuters also reported they had been told "that Iraqi troops took premature babies out of incubators in Kuwait in order to steal the equipment." On September 9, NPR reported that "in a ward for premature infants, soldiers had turned off the oxygen on incubators and packed the equipment for shipment to Iraq." On September 17, Edward Gnehm Jr., the U.S. ambassador-designate to Kuwait, told reporters that Kuwaiti health officials told him 22 babies had died when Iraqi troops had stolen their incubators. The Los Angeles Times reported that "refugees reported that incubators for premature babies were confiscated by Iraqi troops and
7597-515: The intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding. Like most other crimes in the common law system, to be convicted of perjury one must have had the intention ( mens rea ) to commit the act and to have actually committed the act ( actus reus ). Further, statements that are facts cannot be considered perjury, even if they might arguably constitute an omission, and it
7704-400: The invasion." On March 15, 1991, John Martin, an ABC reporter, reported that "patients, including premature babies, did die, when many of Kuwait's nurses and doctors stopped working or fled the country" and discovered that Iraqi troops "almost certainly had not stolen hospital incubators and left hundreds of Kuwaiti babies to die." Perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing ) is
7811-526: The juror and so evidence or perjury by witnesses was not made a crime. Even in the 14th century, when witnesses started appearing before the jury to testify, perjury by them was not made a punishable offence. The maxim then was that every witness's evidence on oath was true. Perjury by witnesses began to be punished before the end of the 15th century by the Star Chamber . The immunity enjoyed by witnesses began also to be whittled down or interfered with by
7918-469: The leadership election, commenting in an interview that "I should have said I am standing for leadership of the Tory party and not for some demented Marxist outfit". He came third, winning 56 of the 372 votes cast and, together with Heseltine, conceded defeat to allow Major, who had fallen just three votes short of an outright majority, to return unopposed and take over as prime minister on 27 November 1990. Hurd
8025-418: The letter, Abulhasan also noted that "theft of all equipment from private and public hospitals, including X-ray machines, scanners and pieces of laboratory equipment." The allegations of looting were also retold by evacuees who described "soldiers looting office buildings, schools and hospitals for air conditioners, computers, blackboards, desks, and even infant incubators and radiation equipment." Douglas Hurd ,
8132-400: The machine sent to Baghdad; babies in incubators heaved out of the incubators and the incubators themselves sent to Baghdad. Now, I don't know how many of these tales can be authenticated, but I do know that when the Amir was here he was speaking from the heart. And after that came Amnesty International, who were debriefing many of the people at the border. And it's sickening. The Citizens for
8239-409: The making of a statement, whether true or false, on oath in a judicial proceeding, where the person knows the statement to be false or believes it to be false. Perjury is a conduct crime . Perjury is triable only on indictment . A person convicted of perjury is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years, or to a fine, or to both. The following cases are relevant: See also
8346-457: The next election, Hurd retired from frontline politics after 11 years in the Cabinet and was replaced by Malcolm Rifkind . After his retirement as foreign secretary, Hurd remained a key supporter of John Major, and kept a range of active political involvements as well as taking on some business appointments, most notably as a deputy chairman of NatWest Markets and a board director of NatWest Group, posts he held from October 1995–99. Hurd left
8453-460: The only ash and rubble was left. The Iraqis were making fun of President Bush and verbally and physically abusing my family and me on our way out of Kuwait. We only did so because life in Kuwait became unbearable. They have forced us to hide, burn or destroy everything identifying our country and our government. I want to emphasize that Kuwait is our mother and the Emir our father. We repeated this on
8560-549: The party grieved, and if the deposition be not material, he cannot be grieved thereby. Perjury is a statutory offence in Northern Ireland . It is created by article 3(1) of the Perjury (Northern Ireland) Order 1979 (S.I. 1979/1714 (N.I. 19)). This replaces the Perjury Act (Northern Ireland) 1946 (c. 13) (N.I.). Perjury operates in American law as an inherited principle of the common law of England, which defined
8667-535: The president of a superpower, have to weigh words carefully and not act as a clown who repeats what he is told." In a visit to Kuwait on October 21, 1990, by journalists who were escorted by Iraqi information ministry officials, doctors at a Kuwaiti maternity facility denied the incubator allegations. In the visit, the Iraqi head of the Kuwaiti health department, Abdul-Rahman Mohammad al-Ugeily , said that "Baghdad had sent 1,000 doctors and other medical to staff to help run Kuwait's 14 hospitals and health centres following
8774-461: The president that Iraqis were "going into hospitals, taking babies out of incubators and people off life-support machines to send the equipment back to Iraq." In his remarks following the discussion, Bush stated that "Iraqi aggression has ransacked and pillaged a once peaceful and secure country, its population assaulted, incarcerated, intimidated, and even murdered" and that "Iraq's leaders are trying to wipe an internationally recognized sovereign state,
8881-426: The purposes of this section as having been made in the judicial proceeding in England for the purposes whereof it was made. (6) The question whether a statement on which perjury is assigned was material is a question of law to be determined by the court of trial. The words omitted from section 1(1) were repealed by section 1(2) of the Criminal Justice Act 1948 . A person guilty of an offence under section 11(1) of
8988-400: The purposes of this section, be treated as a statement made in a judicial proceeding in England. (5) Where, for the purposes of a judicial proceeding in England, a person is lawfully sworn under the authority of an Act of Parliament— a statement made by such person so sworn as aforesaid (unless the Act of Parliament under which it was made otherwise specifically provides) shall be treated for
9095-462: The reason for their separation, saying, "Really, politics don't mix with marriage". In 1982 Hurd married Judy Smart, his former parliamentary secretary, who was 19 years his junior. They had two children, a boy and a girl. Judy Hurd died of leukaemia on 22 November 2008 in an Oxford hospital, aged 58. Hurd's eldest son, Nick Hurd , was Conservative Member of Parliament for Ruislip Northwood and Pinner from May 2005 to December 2019. In 2010, he
9202-495: The roof of the building where they lived on East 84th Street in New York City . In 1988, Hurd set up the charity Crime Concern . Crime Concern worked to reduce crime, anti-social behaviour and the fear of crime, by working with young people, their families and adult offenders, offering opportunities through training and employment. Crime Concern merged with young people's charity Rainer in 2008 to become Catch22 . Hurd
9309-406: The roofs of our houses in Kuwait until the Iraqis began shooting at us, and we shall repeat it again. I am glad I am 15, old enough to remember Kuwait before Saddam Hussein destroyed it and young enough to rebuild it. Thank you. Although Nayirah did not specify how many babies were in the incubators in her oral testimony, in the written testimony distributed by Hill and Knowlton, it read "While I
9416-416: The spartan conditions at public school in those days, the petty dishonesty which he saw in the barrack room, and the waste of time which was so large a part of a conscript's experience, made him sceptical in later years of constituents' demands for a restoration of National Service. He was selected for officer training, attended Mons Officer Cadet School , Aldershot; from November 1948, and was commissioned as
9523-628: The statement is false. (1.1) Subject to subsection (3), every person who gives evidence under subsection 46(2) of the Canada Evidence Act , or gives evidence or a statement pursuant to an order made under section 22.2 of the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act , commits perjury who, with intent to mislead, makes a false statement knowing that it is false, whether or not the false statement
9630-446: The tax return perjury statute. See: 26 U.S.C. § 7206(1) In the United States, Kenya , Scotland and several other English-speaking Commonwealth nations, subornation of perjury , which is attempting to induce another person to commit perjury, is itself a crime. Perjury is punishable by imprisonment in various states and territories of Australia. In several jurisdictions, longer prison sentences are possible if perjury
9737-404: The wake of Nigel Lawson 's resignation. In mid-November 1990, Hurd supported Margaret Thatcher's candidature as Conservative Party leader against challenger Michael Heseltine , but on her withdrawal from the second round of the contest on 22 November, Hurd decided to enter the race as a moderate centre-right candidate, drawing on his reputation as a successful 'law-and-order' Home Secretary. He
9844-734: The war. Hurd was involved in a public scandal concerning Britain's funding of a hydroelectric dam on the Pergau River in Malaysia, near the Thai border . Building work began in 1991 with money from the British foreign aid budget. Concurrently, the Malaysian government bought around £1 billion's worth of British-made arms. The suggested linkage of arms deals to aid became the subject of a UK Government inquiry from March 1994. In November 1994, after an application for Judicial review brought by
9951-673: The way for the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement on the future of Northern Ireland , which marked a turning point in British-Irish co-operation on the political situation in the troubled region . A month before the agreement was signed, however, Hurd returned to the Home Office, this time as Home Secretary , following the demotion of Leon Brittan to the Department of Trade and Industry . Widely seen as
10058-418: The witness's evidence is given. Where any statement made by a person on oath in any proceeding which is not a judicial proceeding for the purposes of section 1 is received in evidence in pursuance of a special measures direction , that proceeding must be taken for the purposes of section 1 to be part of the judicial proceeding in which the statement is so received in evidence. The definition in section 1(2)
10165-751: Was a King's Scholar and won the Newcastle Scholarship in 1947. He was also captain of school (head boy). Following school Hurd did National Service , which he did not particularly enjoy, at a time when the Berlin Blockade made a Third World War seem far from unlikely. He began in July 1948 with a compulsory period in the ranks of the Royal Regiment of Artillery alongside young men of all social backgrounds. He later recorded that although living standards were no great shock after
10272-622: Was appointed Minister of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office upon the Conservative victory in the 1979 general election and remained in that post for the duration of the Parliament. Following the 1983 election Thatcher moved Hurd to the Home Office , but just over a year later he was promoted to Cabinet rank, succeeding Jim Prior as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland . In this position, his diplomatic skills paved
10379-639: Was appointed Minister for Civil Society and married Lady Clare Kerr, daughter of the Marquess of Lothian . Hurd's second son, Thomas, joined the Diplomatic service . His name appeared on a list of suspected MI6 operatives which was published on the Internet, along with the name of Douglas himself. The Hon. Thomas Hurd was appointed OBE in 2006, and is married with five children. His wife, Catherine, known as Sian, died on 21 May 2011, after falling from
10486-650: Was approached by an admiral to be recruited to British Intelligence. He attended a selection panel, but withdrew from the process because, he later wrote, he did not want a career which would have to be pursued in secret. Hurd's brother Julian, who was on the officer training course at Aldershot at the time, committed suicide in June 1951. In his third year, Hurd served as chairman of the Cambridge University Conservative Association for Michaelmas (autumn) Term 1951 and president of
10593-704: Was chairman of the judging panel for the 1998 Booker Prize for Fiction . He became a member of the Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Lords in February 1999, and in September 1999 he was appointed High Steward of Westminster Abbey , reflecting his long active membership of the Church of England . He later went on to chair the Hurd Commission which produced a review of the roles and functions of
10700-575: Was committed with the intent of convicting or acquitting a person charged with a serious offence. The offence of perjury is codified by section 132 of the Criminal Code . It is defined by section 131, which provides: (1) Subject to subsection (3), every one commits perjury who, with intent to mislead, makes before a person who is authorized by law to permit it to be made before him a false statement under oath or solemn affirmation, by affidavit, solemn declaration or deposition or orally, knowing that
10807-476: Was endorsed by former Prime Minister and Conservative Party Leader Edward Heath . He was seen as an outsider, lagging behind the more charismatic Heseltine and the eventual winner, John Major, who shared the moderate centre-right political ground with Hurd but had the added advantages of youth and political momentum. Hurd's Etonian education may have also been a disadvantage. Years later, Hurd expressed frustration that his privileged background counted against him in
10914-600: Was gracious in defeat and, on the formation of Major's first Cabinet, was returned to his position as Foreign Secretary. Hurd was widely regarded as a statesmanlike British Foreign Secretary, his tenure having been particularly eventful. He oversaw Britain's diplomatic responses to the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, as well as the first Gulf War to drive Ba'athist Iraqi troops out of Kuwait . Hurd cultivated good relations with
11021-544: Was initially corroborated by Amnesty International , which published a report about the supposed killings and testimony from Kuwaiti evacuees. Following the liberation of Kuwait , international media crews were given access to the country. A report by ABC News found that "patients, including premature babies, did die, when many of Kuwait's nurses and doctors ... fled" but Iraqi troops "almost certainly had not stolen hospital incubators and left hundreds of Kuwaiti babies to die." Later, Amnesty International USA reacted by issuing
11128-423: Was made under oath or solemn affirmation in accordance with subsection (1), so long as the false statement was made in accordance with any formalities required by the law of the place outside Canada in which the person is virtually present or heard. (2) Subsection (1) applies, whether or not a statement referred to in that subsection is made in a judicial proceeding. (3) Subsections (1) and (1.1) do not apply to
11235-637: Was removed from the Foreign Secretary's remit (previously the Overseas Development Administration had been under the supervision of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office ). The new department, the Department for International Development (DfID), had its own Secretary of state who was a member of the Cabinet . In 1995, during the Cabinet reshuffle widely seen as setting up the Conservative team which would contest
11342-566: Was smuggled out of the country by a European diplomat late last month, according to Hudah Bahar, an architect who received the letter here in London. It was supplemented by information gathered from fleeing Kuwaitis and other sources by Fawzia Sayegh, a Kuwaiti pediatrician living here. The letter claimed that Iraqi soldiers ordered patients evicted from several hospitals and closed down critical units for treating cancer patients, dialysis patients and those suffering from diabetes. Bahar and Sayegh said
11449-406: Was there I saw the Iraqi soldiers come into the hospital with guns, and go into the room where 15 babies were in incubators." The testimony was not given under oath. Representative John Porter, co-chairman of the caucus, remarked that in his eight years of service on the caucus, he had never heard such "brutality and inhumanity and sadism." Nayirah's testimony was described as the most dramatic. It
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