NO MORE ECONOMIC SANCTIONS. THE IRAQI PEOPLE HAVE SUFFERED ENOUGH!
We, the undersigned, representing a wide international consensus,
demand the immediate lifting of economic sanctions against Iraq.
The sanctions regime imposed on the people of Iraq for over a
decade is one of the great injustices of our time. It has brought
starvation and disease to millions of innocent Iraqis. UNICEF has
shown that economic sanctions have contributed to the death of half
a million children. For the period 1990 to 2000, UNICEF found that
of 188 countries surveyed, Iraq suffered the worst change in mortality
levels amongst children under five years old. Child mortality rates
in Iraq actually more than doubled during the decade.
This is not simply a crime against the children of Iraq and millions
of Iraqi families. It is a violation of internationally recognised
human rights and humanitarian standards.
Plunged into mass poverty, Iraqis need jobs and living wages.
The UN Security Council's own 'Humanitarian Panel' concluded in
1999 that the humanitarian crisis in Iraq will continue until there
is a 'sustained revival of the Iraqi economy'. Yet the sanctions
are designed to damage the Iraqi economy and prevent such a revival.
The 'smart sanctions' proposed by the governments of the United
Kingdom and the United States, and the latest Security Council resolution
on Iraq, are still economic sanctions . Although they are claimed
to ease restrictions on humanitarian imports, they do not allow
the economic revival so desperately needed . No foreign loans, no
foreign investment, no access to foreign exchange, and no Iraqi
exports other than oil are permitted under the resolution. Nor will
resources become available for teachers and civil servants, or for
the rehabilitation and upkeep of the shattered infrastructure, hospitals
and schools. The proposed 'smart sanctions' are not the solution
to the economic and social catastrophe facing ordinary Iraqi citizens,
but a grim perpetuation of a failed policy.
We demand an end to the suffering. The global conscience demands
an end to the economic sanctions NOW.