 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||||||
TAKE ACTION - POSTCARDS IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE OF IRAQ |
||||||||||
|
Dear Prime
Minister, A recent survey conducted by a team of public health researchers concluded that, ‘about 100,000 excess deaths, or more have happened since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Violence accounted for most of the excess deaths and airstrikes from coalition forces accounted for most violent deaths’ (Lancet online, 29 October). The same survey also found that ‘[m]ost individuals reportedly killed by coalition forces were women and children.’ This
carnage must stop. I demand that US and British forces stop killing
Iraqis and end their military occupation of Iraq.
To: The Canadian
High Commissioner Dear High Commissioner, Three US soldiers – Jeremy Hinzman (25), Brandon Hughey (18) and David Sanders (20) – are currently in Canada claiming asylum. They have refused to take part in the invasion and occupation of Iraq - an invasion that has been called “illegal” by the UN Secretary-General (BBC, 16 Sept ‘04) and which has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqis. If they are returned to the US, they face lengthy periods of incarceration. During the
period 1965-1973 more than 50,000 draft-age Americans made their
way to Canada, refusing to participate in another immoral war
in Vietnam. At the time, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau said: "Those
who make the conscientious judgment that they must not participate
in this war... have my complete sympathy, and indeed our political
approach has been to give them access to Canada. Canada should
be a refuge from militarism."
In
April US forces laid siege to the Iraqi town of Fallujah. In
one week more than 600 were killed - 'the vast majority of
the dead were women, children and the elderly' according to
local doctors (Guardian, 12 April). Warplanes, fighter bombers
and helicopter gunships were all used to attack the city (New
York Times, 30 April). Ambulances were shot at and at least
one battalion was given 'orders to shoot any male of military
age on the streets after dark, armed or not' (NYT, 14 April)
The US and UK governments claim that on the 28th June they transferred ‘full sovereignty’ to a so-called Iraqi Interim Government (IIG), ‘ending’ the occupation. In reality: • The
US/UK military occupation continues and the IIG has no meaningful
control over the 145,000+ US/UK forces that remain in Iraq. Since the occupation continues so will the abuses identified by Amnesty International (March 2004): civilians shot dead, arbitrary arrests, house demolitions and collective punishment, and the torture and ill-treatment of detainees – a pattern of repression that has dramatically escalated since April with the killing, by US/UK forces, of thousands of Iraqis, including hundreds of civilians (Guardian, 12 April, Washington Post, 26 June). I
demand that US and British forces stop killing Iraqis and
end their military occupation of Iraq.
According to The Washington Post, “US officials have made clear to Iraqis that they do not intend to conduct a complete accounting of war damages, nor compensate those who say the occupying army owes them’ (31 May). A US military spokesman recently told The Guardian that Iraqis would only be paid compensation by the occupying forces ‘when it could be proved that soldiers had acted wrongfully or negligently during “non-combat activities” ’ (4 August, emphasis added). I demand that the US/UK pay compensation to those Iraqis who have lost family members, houses or businesses and those injured as a result of the US/UK invasion and occupation.
Dear Mr Blair, This Mother's Day marks a year since the US and UK launched its war against Iraq. Although the war may be over, the mothers of Iraq are still affected by the aftermath. Cluster bombs: According to Human Rights Watch, 13,000 cluster bombs were dropped during the war, often in highly populated residential areas. With a failure rate of 5-30%, these represent an ongoing threat to civilians, particularly children. Depleted Uranium: US and UK forces used ammunition tipped with depleted uranium in densely populated areas. Depleted uranium is chemically toxic and weakly radioactive. It was used in the 1991 Gulf War and may be implicated in the large rise in cancers, and birth defects in Southern Iraq since then. This Mother’s Day you can ease the suffering of Iraqi mothers by making their country a cleaner, safer place to raise their children. I urge you to set up an environmental programme to identify and clean up all affected areas immediately. [Produced by Mothers Against the War, c/o The Eirene Centre, Clopton, Northants, NN14 3DZ. mothersagainstwar@disarm.org.uk]
The Iraqi people want democracy*. Why, then, do you and President Bush say that a new interim Iraqi government has to be chosen by an undemocratic process? You say the government must be chosen by a parliament, which must be chosen by regional “caucus” meetings (by 31 May). These “caucuses” are not to be elected by the Iraqi people, but are to be selected by committees set up by you and President Bush. Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Correspondent of The Daily Telegraph says, ‘The “caucus” process to select the provisional legislature will be far from democratic, and could undermine the legitimacy of the interim government.’ (26 Nov. 2003, p. 18) The United States and Britain must end their occupation of Iraq. As a first step, I ask you to drop this undemocratic procedure. I urge you to listen to the Iraqi people, and to allow them to elect their own government. * 90.3% of Iraqis polled by ORI in Oct & Nov 2003 were in favour of democracy. See here. [Produced by Justice not Vengeance] To Tony
Blair US corporations such as Bechtel and Halliburton, with close links to the Bush administration, have already been awarded lucrative contracts for 'postwar reconstruction' and stand to profit still further now that the US and Britain control Iraq's oil revenues. The British Government are now encouraging UK companies to take part. According
to a senior US adviser to the Iraqi Ministry of Industry and Minerals,
'the privatisation of dozens of Iraqi companies is likely to begin
within the next year' (Financial Times, 8 June). Yet
it is unclear whether elections will even have taken place by
then.
Since the invasion of Iraq, US/UK forces have been accused of many human rights abuses. There are, “increasing reports of Iraqi men, women and even children being dragged from their homes at night by American patrols, or snatched off the streets and taken, hooded and manacled, to prison camps around the capital” (The Times, 9/07/03). Thousands have been detained without charge, effectively ‘disappeared’, including children as young as eleven. Amnesty International have reported (23/07/03): I demand that the US and British governments treat the Iraqi
people and their culture with respect, abide by international
human rights law and that all prisoners of war and civilians
held without charge are released immediately. According to Médicins Sans Frontières (2 May) the US/UK have ‘failed to meet [their] responsibility under international law to ensure that the health and well-being of the Iraqi people is being provided for.’ ‘Insecurity and uncertainty persists across Iraq’ and hospitals, water plants and sewage systems – already under severe strain and under-resourced before the war began - ‘have been crippled by the conflict and looting. Hospitals are overwhelmed, diarrhoea is endemic and the death toll is mounting.’ (Joint statement by Save the Children, Oxfam and CAFOD, May 2) I demand that
the US and British governments fulfil their obligations under
international humanitarian law and use all the resources at their
disposal to end the current humanitarian crisis. The cost of rehabilitating Iraq’s essential infrastructure – vital to restoring public health in Iraq – has been estimated at $50 – $100 bn. Before the US/UK invasion, Iraq’s oil exports were worth roughly $10 - 12 bn a year. Clearly it would take decades for Iraq to pay Saddam debts and ‘reparations’, diverting critical resources needed to rebuild Iraq. There is no moral reason why the Iraqi people should be forced to pay for actions taken by Saddam Hussein – the Iran-Iraq war and the invasion of Kuwait – over which they had no control and for which they have already suffered greatly. I demand that ordinary Iraqis not be forced to pay Saddam Hussein's debts and 'reparations' for the 1991 Gulf War. These debts and 'reparations' must be cancelled. |
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
5 Caledonian Road, King's Cross, London N1 9DX telephone : 0845 458 2564 voicesuk@fastmail.fm |
