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Special Action Alert on Humanitarian
Crisis in Iraq
May 3, 2000
The humanitarian crisis in Iraq continues to worsen as a result
of President Saddam Hussein's disastrous leadership and the
ten years, as of August 2000, of economic sanctions placed on
Iraq since the Gulf War. The Presbyterian Church (USA), in cooperation
with many other Protestant and Catholic groups, has written
to President Clinton and met with State Department officials
several times. These churches advocate ending the economic sanctions,
placed by the United Nations in 1990 when Iraq invaded Kuwait,
while maintaining safeguards to prevent Iraq from acquiring
or developing weapons of mass destruction.
The strong pressure from Congress to maintain the harsh sanctions
and to bring about a "regime change" in Iraq has contributed
to the heavy-handed U.S. policy. Some Members of Congress are
bucking their colleagues' hardline. Rep. Tony Hall (D?OH) who
has specialized in world hunger issues visited Iraq from April
16?20. Hall reported that "Iraq's people are suffering
terribly, and it was heartbreaking to see their pain firsthand."
With the leadership of Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D?OH), a group
of 26 Representatives wrote Secretary of State Albright on April
18 asking for a meeting "to discuss ways of helping to
alleviate the continued public health crisis in Iraq."
They write that "further review of sanctions policy is
necessary." A show of support from American citizens for
a more humane policy toward the Iraqi people is timely and necessary.
Action:
Write Secretary of State Albright, your representative and
two senators making these points.
- "The gravity of the humanitarian situation of the
Iraqi people is indisputable and cannot be overstated,"
reported the UN Humanitarian Panel to the Security Council
in March of 1999.
- The head of the Presbyterian Church (USA), along with 23
other heads of churches, have written President Clinton urging
him, through the U.N. Security Council, to "quickly end
the comprehensive economic sanctions."
- While the modification of the Oil?for?Food Program (see
background information) may streamline the process of importing
humanitarian goods to Iraq, only the lifting of economic sanctions
can restore a functioning economy in Iraq.
- Urge the adoption of "smart sanctions" that focus
on government leaders and their policies ? travel bans, freeze
on assets and a strong military embargo.
- Urge that the United States stop bombing Iraq. U.S. and
British aircraft have continued to bomb in the "no?fly
zones" nearly every day since December 1998. In 1999,
1,800 bombs were dropped and 156 people were killed, many
of them civilians and children.
ADDRESSES FOR ALBRIGHT AND CONGRESS
Background:
The objective of the U.N. sanctions is to assure the destruction
of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and to prevent their rebuilding.
The U.N. arms inspectors were pulled out of Iraq in December
1998 on the eve of U.S.?British airstrikes. Since then, there
have been no arms inspections since the the Iraqi government
has not been willing to cooperate with U.N. plans for resumption
under a new agency. On April 13, Russia's U.N. ambassador said
that Iraq will never open its doors to a new U.N. arms inspection
agency unless the United States stops conducting airstrikes
in the "no?fly zones" and halts its efforts to overthrown
Saddam Hussein.
The Oil?for?Food Program was initiated in 1995 "as a
temporary measure to provide for the humanitarian needs of the
Iraqi people.." The most recent modification of that program
took place in December 1999 with passage of Security Council
Resolution 1284. France, Russia and China abstained from the
vote. UNSC Res. 1284 increases the amount of oil that Iraq is
allowed to pump and sell and is intended to streamline the process
of approval of goods
for purchase with the monitored oil?sales monies. As of January
31, 2000, $1.5 billion in humanitarian supplies had been put
on hold. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan reported in March
2000 of "a very large number of applications placed on
hold, in particular those concerning electricity, water and
sanitation, transport and telecommunications, which impact on
all sectors." In theory, any council member can place a
"hold" on a contract. In practice, only the United
States and to a lesser degree Britain, does so. Three UN officials,
charged with coordinating the humanitarian programs, have resigned
their posts in protest of the sanctions.
Recently, New Zealand joined many Arab and European countries
by announcing that it no longer supports economic sanctions
against Iraq. On April 15, the Canadian Standing Committee on
Foreign Affairs released a report to the Canadian Government
that notes the inadequacy of the Oil for Food Program and called
for "urgently pursuing the de?linking of economic from
military sanctions."
UNSC Res. 1284 also outlines a plan for establishing a new
arms inspection agency which could lead, after a year, to the
possible suspension of sanctions. So far, the Iraqi government
has refused to cooperate with this proposal. Deputy Prime Minister
Tariq Aziz has stated that Iraq would accept arms monitors in
the context of beginning to lift the sanctions. Meanwhile, the
Iraqi people are still trapped within a nightmare where their
government and the United States have locked horns.
General Assembly Guidance:
- The ending of all economic sanctions against Iraq that
make it difficult or impossible for essential items to reach
the people of Iraq, such as food, medicine, medical and hospital
supplies, including ambulances and bed sheets; school books
and other supplies, including building supplies that are necessary
for the educational system; materials needed to provide drinkable
water and sanitation; and to develop the allowable level of
oil-production capacity needed to generate the income to purchase
humanitarian and infrastructure supplies;
- The maintaining of safeguards, such as military sanctions,
that are designed to prevent the government of Iraq from acquiring
or developing the means of mass destruction, in such a manner
as not to prevent the delivery of items above;
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