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Re: [casi] sanctions



Mark,
You post to CASI telling CASI about an article that's taken from the CASI
website!
That's where the article you posted below is from.
rgds
Dermot


At 18:19 07/04/03, Mark Parkinson wrote:
>This is a good summary of the effects of sanctions - which we don't
>hear about on British TV.
>
>http://irishantiwar.org/iraq-sanctions/
>
>What's the problem with Iraq?
>On 2 August 1990, the United Nations Security Council imposed
>economic sanctions on Iraq in response to its invasion of Kuwait.
>Under these sanctions, all imports into Iraq and all exports from
>Iraq were prohibited, unless the Security Council permitted
>exceptions. A spokesman from the US State Department later referred
>to these sanctions as "the toughest, most comprehensive sanctions in
>history". Similarly, a Select Committee of the UK House of Commons
>said that the Iraqi sanctions regime "is unprecedented in terms of
>longevity and its comprehensive nature" (§28).
>
>Since 1990, there has been a severe and prolonged deterioration in
>the standards of living of the vast majority of the inhabitants of
>Iraq. These problems have been detailed most clearly in two reports
>of the highest integrity, written in 1999.
>
>Firstly, the Security Council itself set up a "Humanitarian Panel" to
>investigate the effects of sanctions. This Panel produced a report on
>30 March 1999. This is a summary of its findings:
>
>"In marked contrast to the prevailing situation prior to the events
>of 1990-91, the infant mortality rates in Iraq today are among the
>highest in the world, low infant birth weight affects at least 23% of
>all births, chronic malnutrition affects every fourth child under
>five years of age, only 41% of the population have regular access to
>clean water, 83% of all schools need substantial repairs. The ICRC
>states that the Iraqi health-care system is today in a decrepit
>state. UNDP calculates that it would take 7 billion US dollars to
>rehabilitate the power sector country-wide to its 1990 capacity."
>(§43).
>
>These are the panel's more specific findings in its report:
>
>Infant And Maternal Health: "Low birth weight babies (less than 2.5
>kg) rose from 4% in 1990 to around a quarter of registered births in
>1997, due mainly to maternal malnutrition. UNFPA and other sources
>such as the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red
>Crescent Societies believe that as many as 70% of Iraqi women are
>suffering from anemia." (§18)
>
>Malnutrition: "The dietary energy supply had fallen from 3,120 to
>1,093 kilo calories per capita/per day by 1994 - 95. The prevalence
>of malnutrition in Iraqi children under five almost doubled from 1991
>to 1996 (from 12% to 23%). Acute malnutrition in Center/South rose
>from 3% to 11% for the same age bracket. Results of a nutritional
>status survey conducted on 15,000 children under 5 years of age in
>April 1997 indicated that almost the whole young child population was
>affected by a shift in their nutritional status towards malnutrition
>(Nutritional Status Survey of Infants in Iraq, UNICEF November 7
>1998)." (§19)
>
>Prices: The UN World Food Programme "indicates that according to
>estimates for July 1995, average shop prices of essential commodities
>stood at 850 times the July 1990 level." (§19)
>
>Infrastructure: "In addition to the scarcity of resources,
>malnutrition problems also seem to stem from the massive
>deterioration in basic infrastructure, in particular in the water-
>supply and waste disposal systems. The most vulnerable groups have
>been the hardest hit, especially children under five years of age who
>are being exposed to unhygienic conditions, particularly in urban
>centers. The WFP estimates that access to potable water is currently
>50% of the 1990 level in urban areas and only 33% in rural areas."
>(§20)
>
>Health facilities: "Since 1991, hospitals and health centers have
>remained without repair and maintenance. The functional capacity of
>the health care system has degraded further by shortages of water and
>power supply, lack of transportation and the collapse of the
>telecommunications system. Communicable diseases, such as water borne
>diseases and malaria, which had been under control, came back as an
>epidemic in 1993 and have now become part of the endemic pattern of
>the precarious health situation, according to WHO." (§21)
>
>Education: "School enrollment for all ages (6-23) has declined to
>53%. According to a field survey conducted in 1993, as quoted by
>UNESCO, in Central and Southern governorates 83% of school buildings
>needed rehabilitation, with 8,613 out of 10,334 schools having
>suffered serious damages. The same source indicated that some schools
>with a planned capacity of 700 pupils actually have 4500 enrolled in
>them. Substantive progress in reducing adult and female illiteracy
>has ceased and regressed to mid-1980 levels, according to UNICEF. The
>rising number of street children and children who work can be
>explained, in part, as a result of increasing rates of school drop-
>outs and repetition, as more families are forced to rely on children
>to secure household incomes." (§22)
>
>Society: On "the cumulative effects of sustained deprivation on the
>psycho-social cohesion of the Iraqi population […] the following
>aspects were frequently mentioned: increase in juvenile delinquency,
>begging and prostitution, anxiety about the future and lack of
>motivation, a rising sense of isolation bred by absence of contact
>with the outside world, the development of a parallel economy replete
>with profiteering and criminality, cultural and scientific
>impoverishment, disruption of family life. [...] UNICEF spoke of a
>whole generation of Iraqis who are growing up disconnected from the
>rest of the world." (§25-26)
>
>Mental health: The World Health Organization "points out that the
>number of mental health patients attending health facilities rose by
>157% from 1990 to 1998 (from 197,000 to 507,000 persons)." (§25)
>Economy: "The data provided to the panel point to a continuing
>degradation of the Iraqi economy with an acute deterioration in the
>living conditions of the Iraqi population and severe strains on its
>social fabric. As summarized by the UNDP field office, "the country
>has experienced a shift from relative affluence to massive poverty"."
>(§43)
>
>The second report was produced by the United Nations Children's Fund
>(Unicef) in August 1999. This was the summary produced by Unicef of
>their findings:
>
>"The first surveys since 1991 of child and maternal mortality in Iraq
>reveal that in the heavily-populated southern and central parts of
>the country, children under five are dying at more than twice the
>rate they were ten years ago. UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy
>said the findings reveal an ongoing humanitarian emergency...
>
>The surveys reveal that in the south and center of Iraq -- home to 85
>per cent of the country's population -- under-5 mortality more than
>doubled from 56 deaths per 1000 live births (1984-1989) to 131 deaths
>per 1000 live births (1994-1999). Likewise infant mortality --
>defined as the death of children in their first year -- increased
>from 47 per 1000 live births to 108 per 1000 live births within the
>same time frame. The surveys indicate a maternal mortality ratio in
>the south and center of 294 deaths per 100,000 live births over the
>ten-year period 1989 to 1999.
>
>Ms. Bellamy noted that if the substantial reduction in child
>mortality throughout Iraq during the 1980s had continued through the
>1990s, there would have been half a million fewer deaths of children
>under-five in the country as a whole during the eight year period
>1991 to 1998."
>
>Unicef also reported that approximately one in every three Iraqi
>women who die while of child bearing age (15 - 49 years old) die due
>to complications surrounding maternity (pp.15-16).
>
>In summary, as Denis Halliday, the former United Nations Humanitarian
>Co-ordinator in Iraq said after resigning his post in protest at the
>sanctions regime, we "are in the process of destroying an entire
>society. It is as simple and terrifying as that. It is illegal and
>immoral".
>
>(more info)
>
>
>webmaster@irishantiwar.org
>
>Reader's Comments
>The DCU Green Society purchased a load of sanctions breaking dates
>from Voices in the Wilderness and will be sharing them at a demo,
>vigil, action near you! :-)
>Contact iraqi-dates@greensoc.org for more information.
>
>-- Eoin Dubsky, April 26, 2002
>
>Add a comment
>Related Links
>Guide to Sanctions- A comprehensive guide to the santions from the
>Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq   (contributed by Sys Admin)
>
>Campaign to End Iraq Sanctions- The Campaign to End Iraq Sanctions
>was originally formed in June 1999, by a group of human rights
>activists, concerned members of the general public and members of
>Iraqi community, who were deeply concerned and alarmed by the
>escalating humanitarian crises in Iraq resulting directly from the
>imposition of sanctions by the United Nation's Security Council
>(contributed by Web Master)
>
>Add a link
>Mark Parkinson
>Bodmin
>Cornwall
>
>
>
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