Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-13-Speech-4-146"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20000413.5.4-146"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, it is very important to point out that sanctions are themselves a form of warfare. They are targeted at the most innocent civilians, at the innocent people in societies, especially children, the most vulnerable. The sanctions on Iraq have become a weapon of mass destruction against the helpless people there. Over 200 children die there every single day. This is not acceptable. We cannot allow this to go on. Denis Halliday, who resigned his position as Director of the UN Humanitarian Mission in Iraq in protest at the sanctions, confirmed the UNICEF statistics that 5 000 to 6 000 children die every month as a direct result of sanctions.
Mary Robinson, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, has been speaking out against sanctions for a long time. She said you cannot expect her to condemn human rights abuses in other parts of the world and let the United Nations itself be responsible for what is happening in Iraq following the sanctions. In February Mr Hans von Sponek, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, followed in the steps of Mr Halliday when he also resigned in protest at the on-going sanctions and the bombing of the Iraqi people. Within hours of his resignation, the head of the World Food Programme in Iraq since January 1999 also resigned in protest at the sanctions. These resignations must cause the world community to reconsider the justification for the continuing sanctions policy and also the bombings.
I would like to point out that 70 Congressmen sent a letter to Bill Clinton in the United States asking him to lift the embargo, asking him to de-link economic sanctions from the military sanctions that are currently in place in Iraq. It is not just here in Europe that people are concerned, but right across the world. If anyone looked at the very good documentary by the world-famous journalist, John Pilger, they would see what is happening there. Can we allow this to go on without saying something about it? It is a blatant violation of international human rights laws.
The sanctions are targeting the most vulnerable in society and making them suffer yet, at the same time, the elite in that society and the people who are part of the Saddam Hussein regime do not suffer from the sanctions. It is the ordinary people who suffer. We cannot allow this to go on. It is not right and the US Congressmen who sent the letter to Bill Clinton are quite right: we have to de-link economic sanctions from the military sanctions that are currently in place.
We also have to address the bombings that are taking place without any UN mandate. That is absolutely unacceptable. A whole family was wiped out by these bombings, as shown in Mr Pilger's documentary. This is something we cannot ignore and we must push for an end to this inhumane policy."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples