Crisis Grows In Iraq: Res. 986 Delays Continue Collapse of Medical Syst

National People's Campaign, press release, 6 March 1997

PRESS RELEASE
March 6, 1997
IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS CONTACTS: (212) 633-6646
Sara Flounders, Kadouri Al-Kaysi

The Anti-Sanctions Project of the International Action calls on all concerned organizations and individuals to demand an immediate end to the sanctions against Iraq which have resulted in the deaths of more than 1.4 million Iraqi civilians, over 750,000 of them children under the age of five.

According to a statement released on February 27th by Hiroshi Nakajima, the director general of the World Health Organization, Iraq is facing a near breakdown of the health care system, which is reeling under the pressure of being deprived of medicine, basic supplies and spare parts. Delays in the implementation of the woefully inadequate UN Resolution 986 have further exaggerated the already dismal situation for the Iraqi people. According to the Permanent Mission of Iraq to the United Nations, out of 222 contracts submitted to the Sanctions Committee for approval up to March 2, only nine contracts were approved. These approved contracts only account for $136 million of the $700 million currently in the Iraq Account for the purchase of medicines and food.

Every two months since the imposition of sanctions in August of 1990, former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark has written detailed letters to every permanent and non-permanent member of the UN Security Council concerning this human tragedy. The most recent letter stated; The only effect of Res. 986 to this date is that it confirms the complete indifference in the Sanctions Committee/ Security Council to the misery and deaths among the Iraqi people. Instead of expediting delivery of medicines, wheat, rice and milk to a sick and hungry people, you have delayed delivery when you know the plight of the people.

Resolution 986 has never provided a solution to the drastic crisis now occurring within Iraq. Its passage has given the impression to the world community that the situation is now improving. This is completely false. The resolution, which has been delayed at each step of implementation, provides for only a small fraction of the needs of the Iraqi people. Major United Nations agencies including the WHO, UNICEF, WFP and the FAO have all documented beyond question the effects that the US/UN sanctions are having on the Iraqi people. A removal of all UN sanctions against Iraq must occur immediately.