Mme Françoise David, Présidente de la Fédération des femmes du Québec.  Mars/March 21, 2000.

Mme Françoise David:  Monsieur le président, vous nous avez demandé de dire au comité ce que nous voulions.  Alors, ce que nous voulons, quant à la Fédération des femmes du Québec, c'est assez simple; c'est la levée des sanctions. [soulignement ajouté]

     Je pourrais m'arrêter là, mais comme vous allez m'accorder quand même un petit peu de temps, j'aimerais vous parler brièvement de la situation des femmes et ensuite peut-être faire un résumé trés bref de ce qu'on vient d'entendre et justement tenter de donner comme message au comité quelle devrait être sa responsabilité dans la levée des sanctions.

     Je voudrais ajouter à tous les arguments qui viennent d'être apportés contre les sanctions en Iraq le fait qu'il y a un effet que je qualifierais de pervers auquel peut-être on ne se serait pas pas attendu ou qu'on n'avait pas prévu, mais c'est celui de voir reculer les droits des femmes.

     Il faut savoir que jusqu'à la Guerre du Golfe, l'Iraq était l'un des États du Moyen-Orient les plus laïques et l'un de ceux qui, sans que rien ne soit parfait, bien sûr, avait quand même apporté certaines améliorations aux conditions de vie des femmes.

     Cela dit, en Iraq, comme partout dans le monde, y compris au Canada, les femmes sont les principales responsables de la vie familiale.  Alors, quand les maris sont partis travailler à l'extérieur du pays parce qu'il n'y a pas d'emploi dans le pays, quand on a plusieurs enfants, un logement mal chauffé, qu'on n'a pas d'argent pour nourrir les enfants ou pour les soigner, ce sont les femmes qui sont, bien sûr, responsables, tous les jours, d'essayer de nourrir, soigner, habiller et envoyer les enfants à l'école.

     Deuxièmement, on vous a dit qu'il y avait des problémes d'abandon scolaire.  Ces problémes-là, à ce qu'on nous a expliqué, et parmi les gens qui nous l'ont expliqué, il y avait des fonctionnaires des Nations unies, comme il faut maintenant payer quelques frais pour envoyer les enfants à l'école, on aura souvent la tentation d'envoyer plutôt les garçons que les filles.  Et on fait reculer l'alphabétisation des filles.   Comme les filles et les garçons représentent dans les familles beaucoup de bouches à nourrir, on voit ressurgir des mariages précoces dans les régions rurales.  On marie la fille de 14 ans pour qu'elle aille vivre dans une autre famille, ce qui va faire une bouche de moins à nourrir.

     On observe aussi un retour à des valeurs religieuses plus traditionnelles, et l'une de nos grandes surprises en arrivant en Iraq a été de constater l'énorme quantité de femmes habillées de la tête aux pieds avec le grand manteau noir qu'on appelle chador, alors que ce n'était pas une pratique courante avant la guerre. [soulignement ajouté]  On a observé aussi qu'il y avait peu de femmes dans les marchés publics et généralement peu de femmes dans ce que j'appellerais l'espace public.

     Il y a donc, de notre point de vue, beaucoup de raisons d'en vouloir à l'embargo, mais il y en a une supplémentaire, et c'est vraiment d'observer des reculs quant aux droits des femmes.

     Maintenant, pourquoi est-ce que la Fédération des femmes du Québec s'est intéressée au cas particulier de l'Iraq?  Vous savez sans doute que nous organisons une marche mondiale des femmes en l'an 2000 et l'une de nos revendications, c'est la fin des embargos parce que nous savons que les embargos affectent généralement les populations plutôt que leurs dirigeants.  Pourquoi est-ce que nous sommes ici ce matin?  C'est parce que sur la question iraquienne, particuliérement étant donné la présence du Canada au Conseil de sécurité des Nations Unies, le Canada peut agir directement. [soulignement ajouté]  Nous vous avons parlé trés longuement des effets dramatiques des sanctions sur la population civile.  Je n'y reviendrai pas.  Je veux vous signaler que notre délégation pourra vous faire parvenir, d'ici la fin de la semaine, un rapport complet de sa mission en Iraq.

     Je voudrais vous souligner qu'on parle de mort ici quand on parle de sanctions et pas seulement d'effets superficiels.  On parle d'un pays qui est retourné 50 ans en arriére et je répéte ce que d'autres ont dit:

´Tous les effets des sanctions sont amplement documentés et par des instances internationales qui sont neutres.»

     Croyez-moi, ce ne sont pas les dirigeants du pays qui souffrent des sanctions. [soulignement ajouté]  Saddam Hussein continue de se faire construire des palais.  On a observé, dans certains quartiers, de la construction de maisons extrêmement luxueuses pour une classe de nouveaux entrepreneurs qui fondent leur richesse sur le marché noir et la contrebande.  La dictature continue, dictature policiére et politique.  Bref, aprés dix ans, nous n'avons rien changé.  Au contraire, nous renforçons ce régime de dictature parce qu'à cause de l'embargo entre autres, les gens ne sont pas capables de s'organiser.  Les gens essaient simplement de survivre.  En prime, nous créons, dans une partie de la population, les jeunes, en particulier, qui souvent n'étaient carrément pas nés au moment de la guerre ou bien étaient trop jeunes pour avoir pu être responsables de quoi que ce soit, chez ces jeunes, nous créons un sentiment antioccidental qui va être extrêmement néfaste à court ou à moyen terme.

     Évidemment, beaucoup de gens vont nous dire que nous sommes naïfs, que si nous levons l'embargo, il y a des risques militaires énormes pour les pays voisins de l'Iraq.  En fin de compte, c'est sur ce genre d'argument qu'on fonde la poursuite de l'embargo.  Tout ce que je serais portée à dire, c'est qu'il y a d'abord, et d'autres l'ont dit avant moi, il y a de multiples rapports qui nous indiquent qu'au niveau de l'armement, on n'est plus du tout à la situation de 1991 en ce qui concerne l'Iraq.  L'Iraq est un pays exemple et il faut aussi noter à côté de cela que les pays voisins sont aujourd'hui immensément armés et, dans certains cas, bénéficiants-je ne sais pas si le mot est correct, mais enfin, il y a des bases militaires américaines sur les territoires de ces pays-là.  Alors, il faudrait cesser de brandir des épouvantails.  En fait, il n'y a aucune raison pour le maintien d'un embargo qui est criminel sur un plan humanitaire, sinon une sorte d'entêtement qui est de plus en plus irrationnel, qui n'a aucun rapport avec la réalité, [soulignement ajouté] et j'aimerais dire aux gens qui peuvent influencer sur cette question, le gouvernement canadien, qu'aprés tout, nous n'imposons pas des sanctions contre tous les dictateurs de la planéte, à commencer par la Chine.

     Donc, en rapport avec la prétention, je dirais, du gouvernement canadien de défendre les droits humains partout dans le monde, il me semble que le Canada doit appeler le Conseil de sécurité à lever les sanctions, parce qu'aprés tout, le premier droit, c'est bien celui de naître, et aujourd'hui, il y a des enfants qui ne naissent pas à cause des sanctions.  C'est celui de naître en bonne santé, et il y a plein d'enfants qui naissent avec des malformations congénitales sévéres, et c'est le droit de vivre en bonne santé. «a, c'est le premier droit.  Le tout premier droit.  Le droit à la vie, tout simplement.  Dans ce contexte-là, le Canada ne respecte pas ce droit en continuant d'appuyer l'embargo, et je soulignerais qu'il fait payer à la population Iraquienne un prix extrêmement élevé pour des décisions qu'elle n'a pas prises. [soulignement ajouté]  Que la dictature a prises, mais que la population, elle, n'a pas prises.

     En conséquences, ce que nous voulons, c'est que le gouvernement canadien, tout simplement, se prononce immédiatement pour une levée des sanctions inconditionnelle et à long terme.  Il y aura, bien sûr, des choses à faire, des choses à dire par rapport à la dictature iraquienne. «a c'est clair.  Mais c'est une autre question, quant aux sanctions, elles ne touchent pas cette dictature, elles touchent la population civile, et il faut en finir avec cela.  Merci.

Le président:  Merci beaucoup, madame David.  And thank you all, everyone, for your very interesting presentations.

about the

UN SECURITY COUNCIL POLICY OF ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AND EMBARGO ON IRAQ SINCE 1990 (Resolutions 661, 687 and 1284)

Distinguished members of parliament, you have already been briefed on the :

1. HUMANITARIAN IMPACT OF SANCTIONS COMBINED WITH GULF WAR BOMBING OF CIVILIAN INFRASTRUCTURE (such facilities for electric power production, water treatment and distribution, sewage management capacity, health care facilities, food cold storage and processing plants, school/university facilities, agricultural irrigation systems and oil production and pumping capacity)

Increased mortality rates:

- 131 children under five years die per 1000 live births.
- some 700,000 deaths since 1991 for children of all ages
- some 1.5 million people have died unnecessarily

Widespread malnutrition:

- a sanctions generation of children suffering from life threatening acute malnourishment
- some 15% damaged irreparably by chronic malnutrition over a prolonged period
- majority of adults under weight and in poor state of health

Social consequences:

- breakdown of Iraqi behavioral standards with new levels of crime and corruption.
- weakening of Islamic family values
- dead-beat dads due to unemployment and inability to provide, high level of school dropouts due to the need for child labour and begging, increase in divorce, homes and possessions sold, marriages postponed
- poorest mothers sometimes prostituting themselves or obliged to put daughters onto the streets to put food on the family table
- previously advanced role of women including professionals diminished
- quality of tertiary, secondary and primary education severely diminished
- illiteracy rates on the increase
- 30,000 teachers obliged to abandon their jobs
- 8,000 schools in need of repair
- young men and women without opportunities for work and without hope for their futures (and year 2000 is the 10th anniversary of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child)

Political changes :

- within the Ba'ath party, the development of angry, isolated and alienated young men and women who find President Saddam Hussein and his government too moderate, demanding a more violent reaction to the destruction by the UN and the "West" of Iraq and its people.
- creating dangerous extremist political leadership for the future of the Middle-East and the world.
- creating in secular Iraq, divisions between the Kurds and the Arab majority, and between the Sunni minority and Shia majority
- creation of internal pressures that oblige us to recognize that, just as in the USA, UK and Canada, domestic politics exist as a force in foreign affairs in Iraq;
- despite overseas belief otherwise, and the Washington/London policy of demonizing the President, Iraq is not a country of one man, nor 22 million Saddam Husseins!

In summary:
     The UN is sustaining the economic and social conditions for massive loss of life in Iraq.  A condition of FAMINE.   A programme of GENOCIDE.  Caused by the deliberate retention by the Security Council of economic sanctions for almost ten years in the full knowledge of the deadly consequences for the children and adults of Iraq. [emphasis added]  The UN's uniquely comprehensive and prolonged economic embargo on Iraq over many years have become a form of silent warfare that, in breech of the Geneva Conventions and Protocols, [emphasis added] specifically targets innocent children and adults.  The Baghdad Government may have diminished the political and civil rights of Iraqis, but it is the UN that has taken away the fundamental human rights of the people , including the right to life itself. [emphasis added]  The UN Security Council is responsible.  The Secretary-General has remained silent with regard to UN genocide.  The pressures of domestic politics in Iraq, isolation and alienation of millions of Iraqis, including the political leadership of the future may have serious consequences for regional and world peace.

2. WHAT ABOUT THE UN OIL-FOR-FOOD PROGRAMME ?
-this Programme, fully funded by the sale of Iraqi oil, was not designed to resolve famine conditions, but to "stop further deterioration".  The consequence, intended or otherwise, has been to maintain high mortality and malnutrition rates for infants, children and adults.
- constantly underfunded, deliberately strangled by the Sanctions Committee of the Security Council, lacking in investment capital and prohibited from reconstruction and developmental activity, the Programme has maintained Iraq as one large refugee camp of some 23 million people.
-the population includes some 3 million Kurdish Iraqis in the North of the country ("allies" of the USA and UK) who suffer as badly as the Arab majority (despite getting special assistance from the UN and overseas NGOs) throughout the rest of Iraq.

In summary:
     Not only does the Programme not satisfy the basic human rights of the Iraqi people as the Declaration of Human Rights requires, but it has reduced the country to the status of a massive refugee camp and the people to a collection of beggars, bartering food for children's clothes, critical drugs, household goods, meats and eggs, and other dietary necessities.  It has been implemented by the Sanctions Committee of the Security Council to sustain death and malnutrition.  This Programme under the umbrella of the UN embargo has TRASHED both the spirit and wording of the UN Charter.  And the Kurds of Iraq are deprived of basic human rights and all too commonly life itself, equally with their fellow Iraqi citizens further south

3. THE NEW RESOLUTION PROMISING SUSPENSION - 1284!
- too little too late (after almost 10 years)
- lacks any sincerity given statements of Washington - " no lifting of sanctions before removal of Saddam Hussein"
- establishes ill defined goals that are, therefore, largely unobtainable
- continues disarmament of Iraq alone while continuing to neglect para 14 of Res. 687
- possibilities of temporary suspension of sanctions, while retaining UN control of Iraqi oil revenues, after 10-12 months are unlikely to provide investment climate so badly needed for recovery of economy and reconstruction of civilian infrastructure
- continues element of "overkill" in terms of targeting and killing the populace when the Government is presumably the target. Resolutions 687 and 1284 are deemed by many international lawyers to be illegal, given the announced focus on disarming the government.

In summary:
     The new ill defined Resolution that took one year to draft and may even appear enlightened (such as lifting the oil export ceiling) accomplishes little more than sustaining the deadly regime of UN economic sanctions indefinitely.  It constitutes the means to sustain an open-ended embargo.  It runs in the face of statements in the West that only the toppling of the President will result in the lifting of the embargo. It clearly lacks any sincerity. [emphasis added]  It fails to stop the illegal bombing of Iraq by USA and UK aircraft almost on a daily basis.  It seeks cooperation without incentives and whilst maintaining a state of war.

4. HIDE BEHIND SADDAM HUSSEIN AND HOLD HIM SOLELY RESPONSIBLE!

- this view is simplistic and dishonest
- Iraq has collaborated since 1991 with UNSCOM with massive destruction of nuclear, missile, chemical and biological warfare capacity (Rolf Ekeus, Richard Butler and Scott Ritter)
- weapons including chemical and biological were provided to Iraq by UK, USA for use against Iran
- Ba'ath Party assisted into power as a bulwark against communism by the CIA
- George Bush admitted his decision to retain Saddam Hussein in power after Gulf War victory because he was unsure if a replacement would endorse USA policies
- during Iran/Iraq war, West did not stop supporting Iraq when Halabja occupied by Iranian and Kurdish forces was attacked by Baghdad using chemical weapons.
- American military actively facilitated the killing by Baghdad of Shia and Kurdish rebels in 1991 who had been encouraged by Bush to rise up against Baghdad and then received no support whatsoever.
- the Government of Saddam Hussein due to economic sanctions, lacks the kind of income needed for both recurring expenditure and massive capital investment needed by Iraq for economic and social recovery.
- in the unlikely event that illegal revenues amount to $1 billion per annum, that would yield approximately $200 per head per annum which would not make a significant difference

In summary :
     President Saddam Hussein, recently an ally of the USA and the West when it suited, is a known and convenient enemy, justifying American arms sales to the countries of the Middle-East and providing stability within Iraq.  He is obliged to rule a state brutally diminished daily by the UN embargo, reinforced by Prime Minister Blair's "humanitarian bombing", illegally carried out by USA and UK aircraft in the so called "no-fly zone" areas of sovereign Iraq.  To hold him responsible is simply passing the buck for a crime against humanity that is the responsibility of the member states of the UN Security Council.  His civil war activity is certainly unacceptable, but relatively modest in comparison to what we Europeans have done to each other, and to others.

5. WHAT ABOUT CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY?

     Whereas the invasion of Kuwait was illegal, there is no evidence of Iraq using chemicals or illegal weapons or committing crimes during the Gulf war.

     However, UN allies bombed civilians and civilian infrastructure and used :
- depleted uranium (DU) shells in neglect of the Geneva Conventions and Protocols in exposing civilians (and troops - their own and Iraqi) to lethal doses of uranium particles that is killing non-combatants in Iraq and combatants in the USA and UK today, and will do so for many years to come.
- committed the atrocities of the so called "Basra road massacre" when USA aircraft slaughtered many thousands of men and women in retreat from Kuwait; and
- buried Iraqi troops alive in their desert trenches using earth movers and tanks

In summary :
     The Ba'ath Party was violently assisted to power and to remain in power by the CIA and "western" assistance, civil uprisings (in the 1970s/80s and in 1991 encouraged by the USA) have been harshly suppressed in the North and South of Iraq, aspects of civil and political rights have been undermined.  However, consistent with our history, we "Europeans" have again committed crimes against humanity.  And we continue to do so everyday that the comprehensive economic sanctions are maintained.

6. WHO IS DAMAGED MOST BY THE UN ECONOMIC SANCTIONS /EMBARGO?

- the United Nations has severely diminished its integrity and credibility throughout the world, particularly in Europe and the "South."
- the killing via UN economic sanctions is seen as racist and anti-Islamic by many.
- the Security Council with its undemocratic permanent members and its veto powers has become a sad reflection and much discredited symbol of the UN today in which the majority of member states are excluded from decision making having global implications
- the USA, and countries that support the USA, such as Canada and the UK, have lost their moral leadership in the world.  Their "Christian" democratic systems have been cruelly exposed for what they have been (the slave trade, decimation of the Australian Aboriginals and the slaughter of the American Indians and the World War II genocide in Europe and Japan) and remain today.

In summary :
     There are no winners in regard to the economic embargo on Iraq, only the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocents, plus significant damage to the UN, whose Charter has been grossly undermined - effectively trashed - in both spirit and word; whose Universal Declaration of Human Rights is damaged by the Security Council.  Likewise the USA and UK , and Canada - a country seen in the past to be independent of USA foreign policy - are greatly diminished in terms of leadership and moral authority.

7. WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT? ARE THERE SOLUTIONS?

     The member states of the UN Security Council need to acknowledge that their regime of prolonged and comprehensive economic sanctions is responsible for genocide in Iraq. [emphasis added]

      The Council must recognize that its embargo targeting the innocent children and adults of Iraq is morally and legally unacceptable and incompatible with the intent of the Charter, Declaration of Human Rights and other international humanitarian laws.

     The UN must retain all poss [...bits missing by error] destruction not only in respect of Iraq but also in regard to the countries of the Middle- East, consistent with para 14 of Resolution 687 and using international oversight devices already in place Economic sanctions and its supporting military embargo must be lifted immediately.

     Iraq must be facilitated to rebuild its civilians infrastructure and its economy in order to restore the standards of living enjoyed by the people in 1990 Financial resources must be made available for capital investment projects

     The illegal "no-fly zone bombing attacks by the USA and UK that terrorize the children and people of Iraq must stop

     Iraq's neighbours such as Turkey, which must cease its military incursions, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia must respect the national sovereignty of the country.  And Iraq must do likewise.

     There must be an open dialogue and communications with the Government and people of Iraq as we have seen recently develop in respect of North Korea with positive results

     Member states of the UN need to respect the rule of international law, including the provisions of the UN Charter itself, the Declaration of Human Rights, the Rights of Women and Children, Economic and Social rights, and other aspects of international humanitarian law.

     The UN Security Council must be reformed and the majority of member states, fully representative of North and South, must rule.  Double standards of application must end.  The protection of vested self-interest on the part of the five veto powers must stop.

     The manufacture and sale of all weapons (mass destruction and otherwise) must be controlled and preferably stopped.  This should be combined with international agreements to eliminate all weapons of mass destruction.  Alternative forms of employment must be found.  Eighty-five per cent of arms sales come from the five permanent members of the Security Council. [emphasis added]  The " North" is destroying the developing world and its economic well being by the sales of arms and weapons of mass destruction.

The military/industrial/technological and media complex must be brought to heel.  Western economies cannot be allowed to remain dependent on these industries of death and destruction.

In summary :
     WITH RESPECT TO IRAQ, the member states of the Security Council must terminate their programme of genocide; lift economic sanctions targeting children and adults; and focus on military sanctions and inspections combined with dialogue and assistance for the recovery of the Iraqi economy and standards of living

and

     THE UN IN GENERAL - prior to reform of the Security Council itself - the Council needs to reconsider and abolish the blunt tool of economic embargos as a tool inappropriate to the United Nations given the horrific consequences and incompatibility with the provisions of the Charter, Declaration of Human Rights and othermeans of international legal protection.

WITH RESPECT TO CANADA -

     Canadian parliamentarians can and must play an influential role through the presence of Canada in the United Nations and on the world stage, in keeping with Canada's previously recognized and distinguished reputation for taking an independant and moral leadership stance on issues of global importance, such as the genocide in Iraq caused by prolonged misapplication of the UN Charter and UN neglect of its own Declaration of Human Rights.

     This role is particularly critical today given the tragic food-dragging of Canada's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the deadly impact of UN economic sanctions on the innocent of Iraq. [emphasis added]

     Canadian parliamentarians can and must insist on a reversal of Canadian economic sanctions policy, and insist on the start of a new dialogue with Iraq together with reopening its diplomatic mission in Baghdad.

     Canada must end its blind support for the heavily flawed UN Resolution 1284 which fails to respond with any sense of urgency to the ongoing daily humanitarian crisis in Iraq of death, malnutrition and destruction of a people and their very future.

     Canada should lead the way in demanding the lifting of the economic embargo tomorrow while retaining military sanctions and inspections for Iraq and the countries of the region consistent with non-proliferation treaties and all other provisions of International Law...

Thank you.