Iraq's children suffer as war looms: The 1991 Gulf War has never really ended for most Iraqis, as the threat of another confrontation looms. War and sanctions have created a vulnerable population.  By Caroline Hawley, BBC Baghdad correspondent, October 1st, 2002.

  Not in our names!  No More Economic Sanctions: The Iraqi People Have Suffered Enough!
     On the 20th of March 2002, the International Herald Tribune carried a full page statement demanding the immediate lifting of economic sanctions on Iraq.  Prominent Canadians (David Suzuki, Margaret Atwood, Anton Kuerti and Naomi Klein) joined several Canadian Members of Parliament as well as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former Heads of States, religious leaders, Booker Prize winners, scientists, artists, union leaders and many human rights advocate groups from across the globe to condemn the sanctions on Iraq.
     More pointedly, this statement, which calls the sanctions on Iraq one of the "great injustices of our time" is signed by Hans von Sponeck, Denis Halliday and Jutta Burghardt, three leading UN officials who served in Iraq, until they resigned in protest of the sanctions.
    The statement also denounces a new regime of "smart" sanctions recently proposed by the Governments of the United States and the United Kingdom (and now applied), warning that it will further entrench poverty.  With this new resolution which, in fact, only modifies the UN humanitarian programme, Iraq will not have more money with which to pay teachers, nurses, doctors or the civil servants that maintain basic services and infrastructure.

  Iraqi Dates Sales Make a Symbolic Breach in Sanctions by Daniel Nelson (published on Friday, February 1, 2002 by One World/UK).
   Excerpt:
   Last week two members of the European Parliament, Eurig Wyn of the Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru, and Caroline Lucas of Britain's Green Party, sold some of the dates from a stall at the parliament building in Brussels.

 Iraq: Annan concerned over shortfall of oil revenues to fund relief effort (UN Press Release, Nov.21, 2001).
    This is a must read, because this is one of the rare UN press releases in which truth is stated clearly.  Kofi Annan's statements about the Iraqi peoples' crisis confirm many points we try to get across.  Furthermore, it is brief.
   Excerpt :
   In addition, the Security Council committee monitoring the sanctions against Iraq has placed an "unacceptably high level" of holds on contracts for oil spare parts and humanitarian goods, with the total value of holds standing at over $4 billion.
   (...) This fact, combined with an inadequate water and sanitation infrastructure, has contributed more than a three-fold increase in the prevalence of diarrhoea among children, which is considered "one of the main causes" of Iraq's high child mortality rate.

  UK Denies Report That It Wants to Stop Iraq Bombing (Bloomberg, Jan. 8, 2001).
   Excerpt:
   The British government denied a report that it will tell the incoming Bush administration it wants an end to the bombing of southern Iraq by U.S. and U.K. aircraft. The report appeared in the Guardian, citing no sources.

 News, March 2000, on recent developments related to the anti-sanctions movement, especially in Canada.
• The UN humanitarian coordinator AND the Head of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Bagdad quit in protest against the 'sanctions' !
• Anti-sanctions resolution from the 'Bloc Québécois';
• French-Canadian AI campaign against the sanctions;
• The Orthodox Church of Canada takes a stand;
• Many interviews and articles for the Quebec-Canada delegation to Iraq;
• Hearings on the sanctions at the Parliament's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade (SCFAIT), March 2000;
• OCVC's "Stop the Genocide" postcards to Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy.

 Transcripts from the Canadian Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs (SCFAIT), in Ottawa, Canada (March 2000), during which Canadian citizens, social leaders and parliamentarians had the chance to express themselves concerning the case of sanctions against Iraq.
   Chosen transcripts:
   • Dr. Sheila Zurbrigg (Professor, Dalhousie University):  Physicians for Global Survival.  March 21, 2000.
   • Mme Françoise David, Présidente de la Fédération des femmes du Québec (Eng. trans.: Women's federation of Quebec).   March 21, 2000. (In French)
   • Denis J. Halliday (Ireland), former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Baghdad, Iraq 1997-98.  (Notes for a Briefing of the SCFAIT, Ottawa, Canada on 23 March 2000).

  Paying the Price: Killing the Children of Iraq
   Clearly the best documentary done on the subject (2000).  Written and presented by John Pilger, an award winning British journalist (Directed by Alan Lowery, Produced by Carlton International).     
   The link above leads to 14 RealPlayer clips of the documentary (on Pilger's web site) and much more about this crisis and other issues reported by Pilger.

   The DroitVP would like to mention that this documentary describes the clearest Crime of war we can think of (see Clip 2: Felicity Arbuthnot reports on the Bashiqa bombing).  Clip 2 does not explain as clearly as the complete documentary, but all in all, 4 children, two adults and a flock of 300 sheep were directly murdered by a fighter jet.  There were no buildings around nor any target possible and, since it was on elevated ground, we presume the pilot could see who and what he was killing.  Furthermore, the pilot launched his attacks more than once: this was not an accident.
   Whoever ordered this Crime of war and the pilot should be identified and brought to justice (The DroitVP unfortunately lacks the means and time of advocating this case more).

An editorial from the prestigious British medical journal, Le Lancet, Iraq medical system struggles under war sanctions (Alan Mozes, Reuters Health, May 29, 2000; cited in 'Yahoo! News: Health Headlines').
   Excerpt:
     Having traveled as part of a public health delegation throughout Iraq in May 1999 to examine the effects of the intellectual embargo, the authors note that a ban on access for Iraqi doctors to medical conferences both inside and outside Iraq, exists side-by-side with an almost total breakdown of the technical infrastructure -- a collapse which has resulted in a current widespread shortage of medical supplies and equipment, as well as inadequate access to both Internet and basic phone service.

 The Orlando Sentinel, Try explaining to an Iraqi mother why her child is dead, by Charley Reese, Columnist.  Jan. 27, 2000.  (Will open in a new window)  One of the first 'mass media' newspaper to clearly state the genocidal effects of the 'sanctions'!
   Excerpt:
" (...) But how could the 500,000 Iraqi children we've already killed have overthrown him? "
     " George Bush and the U.S. Army failed to overthrow him.  Two separate rebellions instigated by the Central Intelligence Agency failed to overthrow him.  Innumerable assassination attempts have not so much as put a scratch on him.  So why do we expect that killing 4,500 Iraqi children per month is going to overthrow him? "
     " By the bye, those numbers of dead children are United Nations numbers, not Iraqi. "

New Internationalist's special issue on Iraq!

 Statement by the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights about the Humanitarian situation of the Iraqi population (7 August 2002).
Excerpt :
(...) recalling the disastrous situation of the Iraqi population caused by the embargo imposed for 12 years; wishing to reaffirm that measures such as embargoes should be limited in time, should in no way affect innocent civilian populations and, for obvious humanitarian reasons, should be lifted even if the objectives of the measures have not yet been attained; reaffirming the need to respect the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the relevant provisions of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and the two Additional Protocols thereto which prohibit the starving of civilian populations and the destruction of what is indispensable to their survival; underlining that such situations confront the United Nations with a serious moral dilemma (...)

 The ICRC in Iraq – fighting despair and disintegration (24-12-2002  ICRC Operational update)
Intro. from this ICRC report:
 Because of its diverse aid projects and 20-year presence throughout the country, the ICRC has become a reference for the humanitarian situation in Iraq.  It has stated repeatedly that aid can be no substitute for a country's entire economy, or meet the basic needs of 22 million people [emphasis added].  During the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) and the 1991 Gulf War the ICRC carried out humanitarian tasks directly related to the conflicts.  Since then it has adapted its work to respond to the new and increasing needs of the population, in the fields of health, orthopaedics and water and sanitation [emphasis added].

 Human rights in the balance, by Irene Khan, Amnesty International Secretary General, Sept. 25, 2002.
   Excerpt:
(...) Sanctions have jeopardised the right to food, health, education and, in many cases, life of hundreds of thousands of individuals, many of them children.  There are claims that the Iraqi regime is deliberately manipulating the sanctions regime for propaganda purposes - but that does not absolve the United Nations Security Council from its own share of the responsibility for failing to heed the calls to lift all sanctions provisions that result in grave violations of the rights of the Iraqi population.

   Speech at the "Baghdad Conference", May 7, 2002, Svend Robinson, MP.
Note :  Svend Robinson is an elected Canadian parliamentarian member of the New Democratic Party (NDP).  He is a person of courage, justice and peace.  He is one of the very rare politicians in Canada who has the courage of saying was is right instead of saying what the U.S. government wishes to hear.

  UN Says Sanctions Kill Some 500,000 Iraqi Children (Reuters on Yahoo!, Friday July 21, 2000).
   Excerpt :
     Anupama Rao Singh, country director for the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), made the estimate in an interview with Reuters.
``In absolute terms we estimate that perhaps about half a million children under 5 years of age have died, who ordinarily would not have died had the decline in mortality that was prevalent over the 70s and the 80s continued through the 90s,'' she said.

  Sub-Commission on Human Rights decision 2000/112: "Humanitarian situation of the Iraqi population", United Nations' Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
    Their decision is only one paragraph, but it says a lot.  Highly recommended!
   Excerpt:
(...) embargoes should be limited in time, should in no way affect innocent civilian populations and, for obvious humanitarian reasons, should be lifted even if the legitimate objectives of the measures have not yet been attained (...)

  Sub-Commission on Human Rights resolution (2000/25): "Adverse consequences of economic sanctions", United Nations' Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
   Excerpt:
Aware that certain sanctions regimes must be addressed by relevant United Nations bodies as issues of the greatest urgency in the light of the analysis provided by Mr. Bossuyt,
1. Appeals again to all States concerned to reconsider their adoption of or support for such measures, even when legitimate goals pursued have not yet been achieved, if, after a reasonable period, the measures have not brought about the desired changes in policy (...)

  The adverse consequences of economic sanctions on the enjoyment of human rights, Working paper prepared by Mr. Marc Bossuyt (for the United Nations' Economic and Social Council).
   Excerpt:
   The sanctions against Iraq are the most comprehensive, total sanctions that have ever been imposed on a country.  The situation at present is extremely grave. The transportation, power and communication infrastructures were decimated during the Gulf war, and have not been rebuilt owing to the sanctions.  The industrial sector is also in shambles and agricultural production has suffered greatly.  But most alarming is the health crisis that has erupted since the imposition of the sanctions.
    (...) As has been documented by United Nations agencies, NGOs, humanitarian and human rights organizations, researchers and political leaders, the sanctions upon Iraq have produced a humanitarian disaster comparable to the worst catastrophes of the past decades.  There is broad controversy and little hard evidence concerning the exact number of deaths directly attributable to the sanctions; estimates range from half a million to a million and a half, with the majority of the dead being children. (...)

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 European Parlement's resolution on the situation in Iraq (Résolution du Parlement européen sur la situation en Irak) (Translation of: Procès Verbal du 13/04/2000 - Edition provisoire).       This resolution is highly interesting since it demands that political and diplomatic measures be taken so that the sanctions can be lifted urgently, it demands that the Security Council clarify certain points that keep the sanctions in place indefinately and it also ask for an end to the illegal and constant bombing done by the United States and Great Britain.  In French

   Excerpt (Freely translated):
D. whereas numerous international agencies and several former UN officials responsible for overseeing the Food for Oil Programme have denounced the tragic consequences the sanctions are having for the Iraqi people, and some of them have gone so far as to resign from their posts,
E. whereas, according to UNICEF, over half a million children have died (...),
1. Calls, on grounds of human’ty, on the Council, the Commission and the High Representative for the CFSP to take action to ensure that: [...] consequently, the lifting of sanctions is announced as a matter of urgency;

Iraq: Paris implicitly criticises Washington's 'blockings'. (Reuters: March 10, 2000. On Yahoo! France: Actualités).
   Extrait:
The French authorities criticised the 'blockings', by the UN Sanctions Committee, of humanitarian contracts in destination of Iraq.  Anne Gazeau-Secret, spokesperson for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, [...] recalled that Hubert Vedrine has written to the UN representative to affirm that "it is useless to inflict destructive suffering to the iraqi society to ensure the security desired legitimately by Iraq's neighbors" [emphasis added].

  Italy parliament wants end to embargo on Iraq (June 26, 2000. Reuters in ABC's Raw News).

India for lifting of UN sanctions against Iraq (Ashok Tuteja, Rediff.com, Sept 24, 2000)
   Excerpt:
   India has called for immediate lifting of United Nations sanctions against Iraq, saying they had proved to be counter-productive and affected the common man.

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Canada's position...

   Recommendations of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Canada
(PDF file for Acrobat Reader).  They essentially agree with us, but Canada does not listen.

 Canada aids `genocide' in Iraq: Ex-U.N. official.  Sanctions kill, says former U.N. official, By Allan Thompson, Toronto Star Ottawa Bureau (December 15, 1999).    
   Actually, Denis Halliday (the person interviewed), was Assistant Secretary General and head of the humanitarian programme in Iraq, but he quit the UN in protest against the effects of the sanctions on the Iraqi population.
   Excerpt:
     Canada is contributing to genocide in Iraq by continuing to support sanctions against the country, the former head of the United Nations oil-for-food program says. (...)  ``There is no sign of the Canadian tradition of concern for human rights issues and law. It's astonishing. (...)   ``If the Canadian people knew what was happening in their name, the impact on the average Iraqi family, they'd be horrified,'' Halliday said.

 Press Release:  Coalition says "smart sanctions" will have no impact on humanitarian crisis in Iraq.
   Excerpt:
     A coalition of Canadian NGOs, churches and citizens groups says the new proposal for so-called "smart sanctions" being put forward by the U.S. and Britain will do nothing to resolve the 11 year old humanitarian crisis in Iraq that has claimed 1.5 million lives.