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| EIGHTH VOICES NEWSLETTER (JAN 2000)
Contents
1) 1284 : PROLONGING THE AGONY
The new UN Security Council Resolution (1284) on weapons inspections and sanctions has more to do with public relations than with solving the ongoing humanitarian crisis. 1284 sets up a new weapons inspection body, UNMOVIC, to replace the now discredited UNSCOM. The "suspension" of sanctions and the possibility of foreign investment in Iraq's oil sector are made conditional upon a lengthy period of vaguely defined co-operation "in all respects" with the new body. The resolution actually spells out the Council's intention to continue to play politics with the health and well-being of Iraqi civilians. Whilst "improving the humanitarian situation in Iraq" is one of the "fundamental objective[s]" of suspending sanctions, 1284 delays this measure for a minimum of eight months. Downing Street claims 1284 is "fair on the Iraqi people". In reality the resolution can only serve to prolong their agony. 1284 1284 (17th December 1999) was passed 11-0 with four abstentions (France, Russia, China and Malaysia). Iraq has rejected the resolution. The Timetable 1284 allows 75 days for the Secretary-General to appoint UNMOVIC's Chairman and for the Chairman to submit an organisational plan to the Council. Within 60 days "after they have both started work in Iraq", UNMOVIC and the International Atomic Energy Agency will draw up "work programme[s] for the discharge of their mandates". Sanctions (ie. the import and export embargoes) can be suspended only after the Council receives reports from both UNMOVIC and the IAEA "that Iraq has co-operated in all respects" with the two bodies "for a period of 120 days". 255 Days Even in the best of circumstances then, it could be 255 days before sanctions were suspended. Deliberately Vague In reality it is likely to be much longer, if ever. "All could depend ... on the interpretation" of the "deliberately vague text" with "Britain and the US expected to insist on the most stringent of interpretations" of the phrase: "co-operated in all respects" (Independent, 18th December). Lifting The Cap 1284 removes the cap on oil sales under the oil-for-food programme (previously set at $5.2bn per six-month phase). Since there was never any humanitarian rationale for the cap this is a cynical move. 30% Crucially, 30% of all revenues raised under the oil-for-food programme will continue to be paid into the Compensation Fund. At current oil prices and export levels this is a substantial amount (approx. $5bn/year). The former Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Iraq, Denis Halliday, believed that all payments to the Fund should be postponed "as long as one Iraqi child is dying ... from the impact of sanctions". voices agrees. Fundamental Failure Last April the UN Humanitarian Panel concluded that "the humanitarian situation in Iraq will continue to be a dire one in the absence of a sustained revival of the Iraqi economy" - something that cannot take place until sanctions are lifted. Instead of allowing this "sustained revival" to take place the Council has incorporated some of the panel’s recommendations - which the panel believed might lead to "incremental improvements" - but done this in such a way that most require further action by the Council or the Sanctions Committee, or are made conditional upon the co-operation of the Iraqi Government with UNMOVIC. 2) THE CAMPAIGN CONTINUES
No doubt the British Government hopes that, with the passage of 1284, they can return to a situation of quiescence where few people know or care about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Iraq. For the sake of the ordinary men, women and children of Iraq, whose suffering continues, we cannot allow this to happen. Since our last newsletter in September, voices uk sent its 5th sanctions-breaking delegation to Iraq (see p.3), receiving coverage in The Big Issue; over 16,000 signatures were collected for the National Petition; the student based group CASI organised a major conference on the sanctions and the Foreign Office has received hundreds of your postcards and letters. Likewise our sister organisation in the States continues its tireless campaign (see p.3) - having sent out more than 30 sanctions-breaking delegations in a space of three years. We must maintain and build upon this pressure. So please sign the draft letter, send a postcard on February 14 and tell your MP about EDM 252 (see back page)! 3) US 'DISRUPTING' OIL-FOR-FOOD
The United States "is disrupting the operation" of the UN oil-for-food programme - upon which millions of Iraqis depend for their survival - according to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Mr Annan "accused the United States of using its muscle on the Sanctions Committee to put indefinite "holds" on hundreds of millions of dollars worth of humanitarian goods (Washington Post, 25th October 1999). $700 Million According to the programme's executive director, Benon Sevan, the value of goods placed on hold increased from about $500 million in August to around $700 million in October. As at 12 October, 23.7% of applications circulated under phase V (the fifth six-month phase) had been placed on hold. 20,000 Tons Of Wheat Sevan later spelt out some of the consequences of these holds in a statement to the Security Council (17th November). At that time, he said, there were $73 million worth of contracts on hold in the agriculture sector and, according to UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates, these holds had "resulted in ... the loss of much as 20,000 tons of wheat production." Direct Link In the electricity sector 51% of applications submitted to the Sanctions Committee for the centre/south remained on hold, worth $377.7 million. "According to the UN Development Programme ... Iraq could potentially achieve a 50 per cent increase in electricity supply if these holds were released". Mr Sevan stressed "the direct link between reliable power generation and the provision of health care, water supplies and other basic services". According to the Secretary General's November report, "daily power cuts reached an average of 12 hours per day in most of the governorates".
4) US-UK AIRSTRIKES CONTINUE
There has been no let up in the continued illegal bombing of Iraq by US and British planes. On 28th November US jets hit sites in Mosul, northern Iraq (Guardian Weekly, 23 December): ‘No one saw the jets that fired the rockets that smashed the concrete that shattered the glass that sliced the faces of the children of class 1A. ‘No one saw because the children were noisy after lunch and their teachers were distracted. And no one saw because the jets - American F-15E "Strike Eagles" from a base in Turkey - were flying at 20,000ft to avoid anti-aircraft missiles. The British Tornado GR1 fighter-bombers do the same. At that height the jets are no more than specks in the clear blue desert sky. ‘After the attack a United States air force spokesman said : "There is nothing to support claims of damage or injury to civilians". Except of course the scars on the faces and scalps of half-a-dozen 10-year-olds and three teachers who are still frightened to come to school, and the holes in Ghous Mohammed's house, and his daughter-in-law's shattered leg, and the crushed wreck of his car. ‘The first thing Mr Mohammed knew about the attack was when two rockets smacked into the top floor of his neighbour’s house, showering rubble over him and the school 30m away. "What is all this for ?" he asked last week as he surveyed his battered home... He had heard the sirens earlier in the day, but they sound so regularly now that he ignored them. "I should have listened to the alarms. After all, we are at war." ’
5) OCTOBER VOICES DELEGATION
voices sent out its 5th sanctions-breaking delegation to Iraq last October. Dave Rolstone - on his second trip - and Ray Davies joined Bert Sacks from Voices US and a group of US doctors from Physicians for Social Responsibility. Dave and Ray travelled to Iraq with teddy bears, medical supplies and textbooks to deliver to paediatric hospitals.The day before leaving Dave visited Downing Street and handed in a letter explaining their planned actions. Nothing was done to prevent them from breaking the sanctions. During their trip, the delegates visited four schools.Dave writes: ‘There were no supplies of paper or pencils...all of the schools were suffering from a shortage of equipment such as desks, with children forced to sit on the ground whilst writing on slates in overcrowded classrooms.’ Dave took several books on Tennyson with him. These had been requested on a previous visit by a young woman studying for her MA in Baghdad. Even taking these books is considered a violation of the sanctions. The pair travelled to Basra where they visited a local hospital. Ray writes : ‘I braced myself for the ward visit but nothing prepared me for some of the sights confronting me: a baby with no nose and half a mouth, others so severely malnourished that they could fit comfortably in the palm of my hand.’ ‘A woman rushed over to me and gripped my arm. Her question? "Why are you killing my baby?"' ‘Obviously Angry' While in Baghdad Dave was able to interview Dr Popal, acting representative for the World Health Organisation in Iraq : ‘I asked him if I could record the interview, but he said he did not think it would be appropriate, - even after I had explained that Hans van Sponeck [UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Iraq] had allowed me to record his interview.’ Dave then showed Dr Popal a letter he had received from the British Foreign Office. ‘The letter was full of the usual lies and distortions.Dr. Popal read it through and I could tell by the speed he was reading that he wasn’t skimming but reading it word for word. As he read he became very still and when he finished reading he was obviously angry. He said, "O.K. you can record me now. I must reply to this." So can you ! voices’ latest briefing: ‘A Crude and Cynical Campaign: British Government Propaganda About Sanctions on Iraq’ is now available. Contact us for a copy.
Is The Price Worth It? Last November, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright spoke in Chicago at the Council on Foreign Relations. Three minutes into her speech Father Bob Bossie rose and told the crowd of 2500, "Ms Albright, 500,000 Iraqi children have died because of sanctions. Is the price worth it?" Ms Albright famously expressed her view that this "price" was "worth it" on US TV’s 60 Minutes (12th May ‘96). Hearts And Minds Bossie was quickly dragged from the Hilton ballroom, followed by 15 other Voices members. Five were arrested. In their statement the group said, ‘We are not proud of causing such a disturbance but we know of no other way to reach the hearts and minds of those who have the power to make decisions that effect so many. We cannot allow a standing ovation for a person who said that the price is ‘worth it’ when considering 500,000 young deaths.’ We Remember, We Resist - 30 Day Fast On 15th of January , a core group of Voices US members began a 30 day fast in Washington DC calling for an end to the economic sanctions. The fast will culminate in an act of non-violent witness at the Representative of the United States to the UN on the 14th February. Send A Postcard ! voices is asking people to send cards to the Foreign Office on this day in solidarity with Voices US (see page 4).
7) DAY OF ACTION : MONDAY 14TH FEBRUARY
In solidarity with Voices US, who will be carrying out civil disobedience at the UN on February 14, voices is asking people to send their own postcard to Foreign Secretary Robin Cook on that day. Your message might be as simple as: ‘Sanctions are killing Iraqi children - lift the sanctions now.’ Send your cards to Robin Cook, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Whitehall, London SW1A.
8) EARLY DAY MOTION 252
Alan Simpson MP recently tabled the following early day motion (EDM 252). Please write to your MP to encourage them to add their signature. ‘That this House regrets that British and American forces continue to fire over 100 missiles a month at targets inside Iraq and have done so throughout the whole of the last year; questions the moral and military value of this approach and of the Ł4.5m per month which it costs the UK to pursue it; and urges the Government to end the bombing, lift the sanctions and re-direct expenditure towards the tragedy of child mortality in Iraq which has doubled in the nine years since sanctions were imposed.’
9) OTHER GROUPS IN THE UK
Women in Black, 83 Bartholomew Road, London NW5
Do you know of any other groups ? Let us know !
10) SANCTIONS DISCUSSION LIST
For those with access to email, another important coordination mechanism is the CASI email discussion list. You can subscribe to the list by sending an email to soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk |
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