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Iraq
Policy Interactive Component ©
2003
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HUMANITARIAN & "Iraq War Could Put 10 Million in Need of Aid, UN Reports," Washington Post "Likely Humanitarian Scenarios," Report by UN Task Force "Iraq Sanctions: Humanitarian
Implications and Options for the Future," multi-organizational
report produced by Save the Children UK Amnesty International 2002 Report
on Iraq Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) Research
Mission to Iraq January 19-31, 2003 Resources Numerous organizations with on-the-ground experience in Iraq have concluded that the 1991 Gulf War and the subsequent twelve years of economic sanctions have had a devastating effect on the people of Iraq. Comprehensive economic sanctions have hurt Iraqis by limiting access to food and medicines, crippling the national economy, and damaging water treatment and electrical systems critical for health. In addition to the Iraqi government's own human rights abuses against its people, U.N. sanctions have unintentionally added to poor human rights conditions in Iraq. A war would further exacerbate these conditions. " The U.N. Security Council has maintained comprehensive economic sanctions on Iraq since August 6, 1990. The Oil-for-Food program established in 1985 under UN Resolution 986 improved conditions in Iraq but has failed to resolve the humanitarian crisis. Delivery delays and politically motivated blocks and holds on imports have hampered the program's effectiveness. There has been little repair of Iraq's deteriorated infrastructure and less than $200 per capita has arrived in Iraq under the program. " According to UNICEF, infant mortality in Iraq doubled between the late 1980s and the late 1990s, from 4.7 percent to 10.8 percent. In that same period, the death rate for children under age 5 rose from 5.6 percent to 13.1. "There is a clear consensus that the humanitarian and developmental situation in Iraq has deteriorated seriously since the imposition of comprehensive economic sanctions whilst, at the same time, sanctions have clearly failed to hurt those responsible for past violations of international law as Saddam Hussein and his ruling elite continue to enjoy a privileged existence." (Report issued by House of Commons Select Committee on International Development [UK], January 2000.) " The Bush administration has asserted that toppling Saddam Hussein through force is justified in part because of the regime's atrocious human rights record. However, a war would likely increase human rights abuses and exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. The possible use of weapons of mass destruction during wartime could endanger thousands of Iraqi civilians. Military strikes would further destroy the country's infrastructure and spur refugee flows. EXPERTS G. Simon Harak, S.J. |