Human rights violations and Saddam Hussein's crimes

The debate on Iraq must be based on an overview of all the events that together have led to the current situation, for Iraq is a highly complex country, every facet of which merits closer inspection.

Iraq is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious state with a population of 23 million. It is composed of two main ethnic groups, the Arabs and the Kurds, the vast majority of whom are Muslim. Of these Muslims a majority are Shi'ites with a significant Sunni minority. But Iraq also has several other ethnic, religious and linguistic groups such as the Turkomans, other Kurdish groups such as the Yazidis, Shabaks, and Kakais, Assyrians and Armenians who make up a significant proportion of the Catholic and Orthodox Nestorian Christian minority, Saebas and so on.

In addition, although the Shi'ites comprise a majority of the population they enjoy only limited representation in the various spheres of power and are oppressed by the clannish Sunni power structure.

At the end of World War I, the decision to cobble together an Iraqi state without consulting the peoples in question and in so doing granting a monopoly on power to the Sunni Arab minority condemned the people of Iraq to perpetual conflict and instability.

A strategic region with vast oil riches, Iraq - and in particular the Iraqi people - were left in the clutches of an unscrupulous, machiavellian dictator. The exactions committed by the regime were hushed up for years, concealed in the conspiratorial silence of the international community.

Human rights violations and the regime's crimes have always been kept in the background. Since Saddam Hussein took power, Iraq has been home to all manner of crimes. Any proposed solution for the future of Iraq must in no way rehabilitate a regime guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

The system of government established by Saddam Hussein only serves the interests of a family that pillages the country's wealth for its profit while martyring a helpless population. There is no room for human liberties in Iraq. All associations, unions and newspaper are controlled by the government. Civil society cannot exist in a country where the majority of resources are used either to develop a host of repressive tools, or to produce or buy arms.

Below are some examples that illustrate the extremely serious nature of these violations:

two bloody wars leading to the deaths of Iraqi civilians and inhabitants of neighbouring countries;
elimination of one million people (5% of the population) since Saddam Hussein took power (this figure does not includes victims of wars with neighbouring countries). Not even the Sunni minority and his own family were spared;
disappearance of 8,000 men in Kurdistan (Barzan region) and 10,000 Feyli Kurds;
destruction of 4,500 Kurdish towns and villages;
deportation of more than one million Kurds in southern Iraq and a quarter of a million Feyli Kurds to Iran;
continuation of the policy of ethnic cleansing in Kurdish regions under Baghdad's control, such as Kirkuk, Sinjar, Khanaqin, Mandeli, Makhmour, Tuz and Mossul;
destruction of more than 150 Assyro-Chaldean villages, along with their ancient monasteries and churches, and repression targeting the Turkoman minority;
disappearance of more than 180,000 people during Anfal campaigns. UN Special Rapporteur Max Van der Stoel said that these campaigns were a form of genocide;
massive deployment of chemical weapons (gas) against the Kurdish population in Halabja;
deployment of more than 10 million anti-personnel mines in the Kurdish region (nearly 15,000 individuals have been killed or wounded since the end of the Gulf War);
inhumane and degrading treatment (decrees legalising the amputation of various parts of the body);
systematic torture, including the rape of women;
beheading of women (at least 130 women were executed between June 2000 and April 2001 for alleged prostitution);
destruction and systematic drainage of the marshlands of southern Iraq;
summary executions (2000 prisoners in March 1998 in just one day in the Abu Greb prison as part of the 'prison cleansing' operation).

In humanitarian terms, despite various UN resolutions the Iraqi regime has used sanctions as weapons of repression and propaganda by taking its own people hostage.

Despite a steadily rising income under the 'food for oil' resolution, plus additional exports to neighbouring countries providing a heaven-sent source of non-UN-controlled income, the people of Iraq still have trouble surviving.

The distribution system deprives the families of government opponents and all those who do not pledge their allegiance to the regime of the essential minimum for survival. Nearly 50% of income from the 'food for oil' resolution is not spent on the population but on the regime's leadership. The use of protein- and vitamin-enriched flours is prevented by the government, aggravating malnutrition and leading to serious medical consequences.

As staggering as that may seem, exports of foods and medicines to other countries continue.

WHO has pointed out that the government is very slow to state which medicines are needed. In a letter sent on 14 February 2001 to the Iraqi authorities, the UN Secretary-General urged Baghdad to feed its people better and asked for clarification on the extremely limited resources the authorities devote to health care and child nutrition.

Today, there are increasing calls for the sanctions to be lifted. There is no doubt whatsoever that the people of Iraq are suffering, but the key role played by the Iraqi authorities - who are in large part resp onsible for this suffering - must be clearly identified.

A simple comparison with northern Iraq shows that in the autonomous region governed by the Kurds, infant mortality is on the decrease, even when compared to figures from before the second Gulf War. Moreover, the incidence of malnutrition is much lower than in the rest of Iraq.

The Kurds have rebuilt their towns and villages that were destroyed in the wars waged by the Iraqi government. They enjoy relative stability, not because the portion allocated to them under the 'food for oil' resolution is too big, as the Iraqi government maintains (this region has 805,000 internally displaced persons), but because the United Nations and non-governmental organisations go about their business unhindered in collaboration with the Kurdish authorities.

Advances unprecedented in Iraq's history are being made in this region with the development of a civil society, media diversity and rights for ethnic and religious minorities. These advances must be supported by Europe. Indeed, Europe must pledge to guarantee the security of the Kurd population who are constantly under threat from the Iraqi government.

What future can we imagine for the 3.5 million people living in northern Iraq if, in the debate on the situation in Iraq, no long-term protection is found for them and if the 13% of oil income that the Kurdish administration can use to feed its population is eliminated?

With its track record of violating human rights and international humanitarian law, Saddam Hussein's regime and - if nothing is set up to protect the Kurds - the autonomous Kurdish region as well as the Kurdish people will be severely 'punished' and all aid they need to survive taken away. Fear of the regime and its violations can only encourage the people to flee to Europe and other parts of the world.

Studies carried out into the long-term impact of chemical weapons in Kurdistan show that survivors suffer multiple pathologies which appear years later. For instance, people affected by gas attacks and who initially seemed unharmed have subsequently developed respiratory, muscular and neurological diseases. The chemical and bacteriological products used have modified the DNA of contaminated individuals, which in turn will have a devastating impact on future generations in Kurdistan.

None of these victims has received any compensation. No programme has been set up to help these people receive the care they need.

The debate on Iraq must aim to come up with solutions to the serious problems facing all peoples living in Iraq.

R E CO M M E N D A T I O N S

ensure that the Iraqi government complies fully with the spirit and the letter of Security Council Resolution 688 on protecting the entire population of Iraq;
ensure the establishment of a mechanism to monitor the human rights situation and deploy human rights observers in Iraq;
call for the creation of an international commission to investigate disappearances throughout Iraq;
call for the release of prisoners of war from Iran, Kuwait and elsewhere. Exchanges with Iran have led to the release of prisoners, but Iraq stopped attending ICRC discussion meetings on Kuwaiti prisoner of war issues several years ago. Like the Gulf War hostages used as human shields, these prisoners are a means for putting pressure on the governments in question;
demand that Iraq halt the policy of 'Arabisation' and ethnic cleansing in the Kurdish regions, racial discrimination, the policy of destroying marshlands in the south, and the repression and deportation of civilians under the control of the Iraqi government;
take on board the prevailing situation in Iraqi Kurdistan and the progress made in terms of humanitarian issues, reconstruction and human rights;
ensure the long-term, unceasing protection of the Kurdish and Shi'ite populations, who must benefit - both in Iraq's interior and its border areas - from genuine, long-lasting security. The protection and overfly interdiction zone must be extended to include the Kurdish regions on the other side of the 36th parallel;
establish an ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal to judge the Iraqi regime. In November 2000, the European Parliament approved the request to establish just such a tribunal, which should make it possible to distinguish between the Iraqi people and its leaders who are guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The people of Iraq can finally believe that the international community's concern about them is genuine. Too many arms have been sold and economic contracts signed while turning a blind eye to the grave violations of fundamental rights. This would also allow victims and their families to obtain the reparations they require to survive, and would give civil society as a whole a chance to look forward to a more positive outlook in the future (as was the case in the former Yugoslavia).
It is critical that the European Parliament respect its commitments and take action vis-a-vis the Member States of the European Union and the UN Security Council so that the tribunal can be set up as soon as possible;
improve people's access to consumer goods and repair infrastructure needed for the survival of the Iraqi people. Essential aid must be contributed as part of humanitarian programmes managed directly by UN agencies, not the Iraqi government. The 13% of oil income allocated to the Kurdish region must be maintained and managed by the autonomous Kurdish administration as is currently the case. The sanctions must affect the Iraqi leadership, not the Iraqi people. Any change in the sanction scheme must be made for the sole purpose of reducing the suffering of the civilian population, not to encourage the rehabilitation of the regime. The lifting of sanctions must therefore be accompanied by politically and diplomatically isolating the regime and its representatives;
call for a freeze on Iraqi assets, in particular those belonging to the Iraqi leadership. These funds must be used to compensate the families of Iraqis who have disappeared, the families of victims of terrorism by the Iraqi state, Kurdish families who have fallen prey to gas attacks and internal displaced persons who have been the victim of ethnic cleansing;
call for the maintenance of the arms monitoring mechanism in Iraq. All sales of arms to Iraq must be banned and very stringent financial controls established in order to prevent the regime from re-arming. Iraq's repeated refusals to comply with UN requests to let in disarmament teams are very worrying given that this government has caused two wars, gassed its own people and waged more than 20 years of war against the Kurds. Lifting the sanctions unconditionally will give the Iraqi government all the power and would allow it access to all its income in order to reinforce its military arsenal and its tools of repression.

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		Druckversion
	Alliance Internationale pour la Justice Human rights violations and Saddam Hussein's crimes The debate on Iraq must be based on an overview of all the events that together have led to the current situation, for Iraq is a highly complex country, every facet of which merits closer inspection. Iraq is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious state with a population of 23 million. It is composed of two main ethnic groups, the Arabs and the Kurds, the vast majority of whom are Muslim. Of these Muslims a majority are Shi'ites with a significant Sunni minority. But Iraq also has several other ethnic, religious and linguistic groups such as the Turkomans, other Kurdish groups such as the Yazidis, Shabaks, and Kakais, Assyrians and Armenians who make up a significant proportion of the Catholic and Orthodox Nestorian Christian minority, Saebas and so on. In addition, although the Shi'ites comprise a majority of the population they enjoy only limited representation in the various spheres of power and are oppressed by the clannish Sunni power structure. At the end of World War I, the decision to cobble together an Iraqi state without consulting the peoples in question and in so doing granting a monopoly on power to the Sunni Arab minority condemned the people of Iraq to perpetual conflict and instability. A strategic region with vast oil riches, Iraq - and in particular the Iraqi people - were left in the clutches of an unscrupulous, machiavellian dictator. The exactions committed by the regime were hushed up for years, concealed in the conspiratorial silence of the international community. Human rights violations and the regime's crimes have always been kept in the background. Since Saddam Hussein took power, Iraq has been home to all manner of crimes. Any proposed solution for the future of Iraq must in no way rehabilitate a regime guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The system of government established by Saddam Hussein only serves the interests of a family that pillages the country's wealth for its profit while martyring a helpless population. There is no room for human liberties in Iraq. All associations, unions and newspaper are controlled by the government. Civil society cannot exist in a country where the majority of resources are used either to develop a host of repressive tools, or to produce or buy arms. Below are some examples that illustrate the extremely serious nature of these violations: two bloody wars leading to the deaths of Iraqi civilians and inhabitants of neighbouring countries; elimination of one million people (5% of the population) since Saddam Hussein took power (this figure does not includes victims of wars with neighbouring countries). Not even the Sunni minority and his own family were spared; disappearance of 8,000 men in Kurdistan (Barzan region) and 10,000 Feyli Kurds; destruction of 4,500 Kurdish towns and villages; deportation of more than one million Kurds in southern Iraq and a quarter of a million Feyli Kurds to Iran; continuation of the policy of ethnic cleansing in Kurdish regions under Baghdad's control, such as Kirkuk, Sinjar, Khanaqin, Mandeli, Makhmour, Tuz and Mossul; destruction of more than 150 Assyro-Chaldean villages, along with their ancient monasteries and churches, and repression targeting the Turkoman minority; disappearance of more than 180,000 people during Anfal campaigns. UN Special Rapporteur Max Van der Stoel said that these campaigns were a form of genocide; massive deployment of chemical weapons (gas) against the Kurdish population in Halabja; deployment of more than 10 million anti-personnel mines in the Kurdish region (nearly 15,000 individuals have been killed or wounded since the end of the Gulf War); inhumane and degrading treatment (decrees legalising the amputation of various parts of the body); systematic torture, including the rape of women; beheading of women (at least 130 women were executed between June 2000 and April 2001 for alleged prostitution); destruction and systematic drainage of the marshlands of southern Iraq; summary executions (2000 prisoners in March 1998 in just one day in the Abu Greb prison as part of the 'prison cleansing' operation). In humanitarian terms, despite various UN resolutions the Iraqi regime has used sanctions as weapons of repression and propaganda by taking its own people hostage. Despite a steadily rising income under the 'food for oil' resolution, plus additional exports to neighbouring countries providing a heaven-sent source of non-UN-controlled income, the people of Iraq still have trouble surviving. The distribution system deprives the families of government opponents and all those who do not pledge their allegiance to the regime of the essential minimum for survival. Nearly 50% of income from the 'food for oil' resolution is not spent on the population but on the regime's leadership. The use of protein- and vitamin-enriched flours is prevented by the government, aggravating malnutrition and leading to serious medical consequences. As staggering as that may seem, exports of foods and medicines to other countries continue. WHO has pointed out that the government is very slow to state which medicines are needed. In a letter sent on 14 February 2001 to the Iraqi authorities, the UN Secretary-General urged Baghdad to feed its people better and asked for clarification on the extremely limited resources the authorities devote to health care and child nutrition. Today, there are increasing calls for the sanctions to be lifted. There is no doubt whatsoever that the people of Iraq are suffering, but the key role played by the Iraqi authorities - who are in large part resp onsible for this suffering - must be clearly identified. A simple comparison with northern Iraq shows that in the autonomous region governed by the Kurds, infant mortality is on the decrease, even when compared to figures from before the second Gulf War. Moreover, the incidence of malnutrition is much lower than in the rest of Iraq. The Kurds have rebuilt their towns and villages that were destroyed in the wars waged by the Iraqi government. They enjoy relative stability, not because the portion allocated to them under the 'food for oil' resolution is too big, as the Iraqi government maintains (this region has 805,000 internally displaced persons), but because the United Nations and non-governmental organisations go about their business unhindered in collaboration with the Kurdish authorities. Advances unprecedented in Iraq's history are being made in this region with the development of a civil society, media diversity and rights for ethnic and religious minorities. These advances must be supported by Europe. Indeed, Europe must pledge to guarantee the security of the Kurd population who are constantly under threat from the Iraqi government. What future can we imagine for the 3.5 million people living in northern Iraq if, in the debate on the situation in Iraq, no long-term protection is found for them and if the 13% of oil income that the Kurdish administration can use to feed its population is eliminated? With its track record of violating human rights and international humanitarian law, Saddam Hussein's regime and - if nothing is set up to protect the Kurds - the autonomous Kurdish region as well as the Kurdish people will be severely 'punished' and all aid they need to survive taken away. Fear of the regime and its violations can only encourage the people to flee to Europe and other parts of the world. Studies carried out into the long-term impact of chemical weapons in Kurdistan show that survivors suffer multiple pathologies which appear years later. For instance, people affected by gas attacks and who initially seemed unharmed have subsequently developed respiratory, muscular and neurological diseases. The chemical and bacteriological products used have modified the DNA of contaminated individuals, which in turn will have a devastating impact on future generations in Kurdistan. None of these victims has received any compensation. No programme has been set up to help these people receive the care they need. The debate on Iraq must aim to come up with solutions to the serious problems facing all peoples living in Iraq. R E CO M M E N D A T I O N S ensure that the Iraqi government complies fully with the spirit and the letter of Security Council Resolution 688 on protecting the entire population of Iraq; ensure the establishment of a mechanism to monitor the human rights situation and deploy human rights observers in Iraq; call for the creation of an international commission to investigate disappearances throughout Iraq; call for the release of prisoners of war from Iran, Kuwait and elsewhere. Exchanges with Iran have led to the release of prisoners, but Iraq stopped attending ICRC discussion meetings on Kuwaiti prisoner of war issues several years ago. Like the Gulf War hostages used as human shields, these prisoners are a means for putting pressure on the governments in question; demand that Iraq halt the policy of 'Arabisation' and ethnic cleansing in the Kurdish regions, racial discrimination, the policy of destroying marshlands in the south, and the repression and deportation of civilians under the control of the Iraqi government; take on board the prevailing situation in Iraqi Kurdistan and the progress made in terms of humanitarian issues, reconstruction and human rights; ensure the long-term, unceasing protection of the Kurdish and Shi'ite populations, who must benefit - both in Iraq's interior and its border areas - from genuine, long-lasting security. The protection and overfly interdiction zone must be extended to include the Kurdish regions on the other side of the 36th parallel; establish an ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal to judge the Iraqi regime. In November 2000, the European Parliament approved the request to establish just such a tribunal, which should make it possible to distinguish between the Iraqi people and its leaders who are guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The people of Iraq can finally believe that the international community's concern about them is genuine. Too many arms have been sold and economic contracts signed while turning a blind eye to the grave violations of fundamental rights. This would also allow victims and their families to obtain the reparations they require to survive, and would give civil society as a whole a chance to look forward to a more positive outlook in the future (as was the case in the former Yugoslavia). It is critical that the European Parliament respect its commitments and take action vis-a-vis the Member States of the European Union and the UN Security Council so that the tribunal can be set up as soon as possible; improve people's access to consumer goods and repair infrastructure needed for the survival of the Iraqi people. Essential aid must be contributed as part of humanitarian programmes managed directly by UN agencies, not the Iraqi government. The 13% of oil income allocated to the Kurdish region must be maintained and managed by the autonomous Kurdish administration as is currently the case. The sanctions must affect the Iraqi leadership, not the Iraqi people. Any change in the sanction scheme must be made for the sole purpose of reducing the suffering of the civilian population, not to encourage the rehabilitation of the regime. The lifting of sanctions must therefore be accompanied by politically and diplomatically isolating the regime and its representatives; call for a freeze on Iraqi assets, in particular those belonging to the Iraqi leadership. These funds must be used to compensate the families of Iraqis who have disappeared, the families of victims of terrorism by the Iraqi state, Kurdish families who have fallen prey to gas attacks and internal displaced persons who have been the victim of ethnic cleansing; call for the maintenance of the arms monitoring mechanism in Iraq. All sales of arms to Iraq must be banned and very stringent financial controls established in order to prevent the regime from re-arming. Iraq's repeated refusals to comply with UN requests to let in disarmament teams are very worrying given that this government has caused two wars, gassed its own people and waged more than 20 years of war against the Kurds. Lifting the sanctions unconditionally will give the Iraqi government all the power and would allow it access to all its income in order to reinforce its military arsenal and its tools of repression. http://www.i-a-j.org/droits_generalites.php?selectmenu=1&nommenu=Generalities WADI e.V. \| tel.: (+49) 069-57002440 \| fax (+49) 069-57002444 http://www.wadinet.de \| e-mail: