A/HRC/24/NGO/X

United Nations

General AssemblyDistr.: Generaldate
English only

Human Rights Council
Twenty-fourth session
Agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including theright to development

Written statement* submitted by Human Rights Now, a nongovernmental organization in special consultative status*
The Secretary-General has received the following written statement which is circulated inaccordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31.
[22 August 2013]*GE.13-This written statement is issued, unedited, in the language(s) received from the submitting
non-governmental organization(s).

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Children and Armed Conflict~ Violation of Rights to healthof children in Iraq needs immediate international attention.
1. Introduction
Human Rights Now (HRN), a Tokyo based international human rights NGO, urges the governmentsof the US and UK to disclose all information regarding the types of weapons and hazardous materials usedby military forces in Iraq following the 2003 invasion and during the later occupation. Following a fact
finding mission on congenital birth defects in Fallujah, Iraq in 2013, HRN found a troubling rise in thenumber of birth defects in the country and believes that the rights to health and life of children has been
seriously violated from environmental contamination resulting from the combat.
In light of the alarming increase in birth defects being reported, HRN urges the governments of theUS and UK to investigate the sources and spread of these birth defects and adopt measures to address theharms imposed on Iraqi citizens as a result of the conflict.
Furthermore, HRN calls on the Iraqi government to establish an independent commission toinvestigate serious health problems reported after the war, and on the UN Human Rights Council to establish
measures for the investigation of all human rights abuses committed during the war, including the use ofinhumane and toxic weapons. HRN additionally urges the WHO to provide technical assistance and guidancein creating policies and measures to tackle the issue, as well as to consider conducting further investigations
to try to better clarify the epidemiological nature of the phenomenon.
2. BackgroundIn the US attacks on Fallujah in 2004, there were reports of direct attacks against civilians and theuse of white phosphorous weapons and depleted uranium munitions in civilian areas without preventative
measures. Depleted uranium (“DU”) is a radiological heavy metal that was used extensively by US and UK
forces during the 1991 Gulf War and 2003 Iraq war, dispersing an estimated total of at least 400,000 kg over
the two years.
The radiation emitted by DU munitions has been shown to be significant: a DU tank shell emits 260
to 270 millirads of radiation an hour which is significantly over the established safety limit of 100 millirads
per year.
Furthermore, an overview of scientific literature relating to the effects of uranium and heavy	 
metals associated with munitions used in the 2003 Iraq War and occupation strongly suggests thatenvironmental contamination resulting from combat is playing a significant role in the observed rate of birthdefects in Iraq. Despite the gravity of the situation, there has not been a sufficient investigation of the healthconsequences associated with toxic munitions in Iraq by the US, UK or any independent internationalorganization. A recent WTO investigation of post-war birth defects in Iraq has yet to be published, and it did
not investigate causes or the possible role of toxic munitions. Furthermore, without sufficient disclosure ofdetailed information related to toxic weapons used during the conflict, the cause of problem cannot beidentified.
In addition, the US administration has admitted it used white phosphorous, a weapon that has toxic
chemical properties and may contribute to increases in lead and mercury contamination. The Iraqi
government’s Radiation Protection Center reported 300 to 365 contaminated sites as of 2006. Although theUK government has disclosed data about firing locations to UNEP, the US refuses to do so, obstructing
clean-up efforts in Iraq. HRN believes that the US should disclose their data to UNEP to expedite thecontamination clean-up process.
3. Increase in birth defects
The 2003 Iraq War led to a significant release of toxic materials into the environment that continues toput the life and health of children in particular at risk. In the years following the war, there was an epidemic
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A/HRC/24/NGO/Xof congenital birth defects in Iraq cities. Iraqi physicians have expressed serious concern to the international
community about the prevalence of birth defects through various media. In Fallujah, an area where white
phosphorous weapons and DU munitions were allegedly used, the Fallujah General Hospital showed that
15% of infants since 2003 have had congenital birth defects.
From January 8 to February 6, 2013, HRN conducted an investigation in Fallujah and found an
extraordinary situation of congenital birth defects in nature and quantity. HRN recorded a total of 24 births inthe period with some kind of congenital anomaly immediately detectable at birth, as well as 13 stillbirths and59 preterm deliveries, miscarriages, or abortions. When observing ultrasonography for seven women, threewere found to have problems with the fetus. In cases such as anencephaly, where the livelihood of the child’ssurvival is extremely low, the woman is administered an abortifacient agent to induce miscarriage. HRN
found that the rights to health and life of children have been seriously violated in Fallujah, Iraq, and that theepidemic of congenital birth defects in Iraq needs immediate international attention. 1
Recent studies have also shown a noted increase in birth defects in Iraq following the 2003 invasion.
A study by al-Sabbak2 found that the prevalence of birth defects documented in a hospital in Al-Basrah
increased 17-fold between 2003 and 2011, and certain defects, such as congenital hydrocephalus occurred atrates 3.5 times higher than world averages. A 2012 study found that the incidence of cancer in Fallujah has
increased three-fold following the invasion, with a higher incidence than other nearby regions.
4. Potential link between increase birth defects and the use of munitions containing environmental
contamination such as heavy metals and DU
Although the source of the increase in birth defects is unclear, depleted uranium is a known
carcinogen, and it can cause birth defects. The mean levels of uranium found in Fallujah were 0.16 ppm,
almost five standard deviations from the mean, and thus highly likely to be a primary cause or related to thecause of the increase in birth defects and cancer rates.
Other heavy metals associated with firing of munitions, such as lead and mercury, have an evenstronger weight of evidence demonstrating their toxicity if taken up into organic matter. Both lead andmercury are designated by WHO as being in the top ten chemicals of major public health concern, and havewell documented adverse effects particularly for fetuses and children. Uptake of lead into the body can leadto a range of negative effects, including neurological damage, kidney damage, miscarriage, premature birth,and death. Mercury is known to cause impairment of neurological development particularly in fetuses andinfants, as well as toxic effects on the immune and digestive systems, and it is a possible human carcinogen.3
5. Legal responsibilities
The governments of the US and UK are bound by legal regimes to address the issue of toxic orotherwise harmful munitions and debris left following conflict, and their risk of ill effects on an occupied
population. These include the Fourth Geneva Convention’s Article 56 duty on occupying powers to provide
for the public health in occupied territory; the duty of the UK under 1977 Additional Protocol I to ensure
human rights guarantees to life and health in territory it occupies; and the ICESCR’s Article 12 recognitionof a right to health and duty on members to take steps to improve environmental hygiene, to which the UK isbound as a state member and the US is bound not to undermine as a signatory. Domestic federal and military1“ 10 years after the Iraq war ~Innocent New Lives are Still Dying and Suffering ~Report of a Fact Finding Mission oncongenital birth defects in Fallujah, Iraq in 2013”

Full Report is accessible at: http://hrn.or.jp/eng/activity/HRNIraqReport2013.pdf	  Appendix is accessible at: http://hrn.or.jp/eng/activity/area/iraq/press-release10-years-after-the-war-innocent-newlives-are-still-dying-and-suffering-in-iraq-human-r/
2Al-Sabbak et al. (2012) ‘Metal Contamination and the Epidemic of Congenital Birth Defects in Iraqi Cities’89Bull Environ Contam Toxicology 937-944
3“Health effects of mercury” US Environmental Protection Agency http://www.epa.gov/hg/effects.htm

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rules in the US on “stability operations” and “environmental considerations” also impose obligations on US
military operations of environmental clean-up and provisions for public health.4
Rights-based obligations towards environmental harms include both substantive obligations on states toavoid mortal risks within areas of their control and remove them when they are discovered (even if the state
were not responsible for the risk) and procedural obligations when mortal risks are discovered, including
conducting an investigation, disclosing information on the risks such as, in this context, information about
related wartime activities, and providing affected persons effective remedies such as treatment andcompensation. Unless proper investigations and clean-up activities are pursued, it will be impossible for
affected peoples to achieve the full realization of the right to health as the environmental contamination willcontinue to cause disease.
6. Recommendations
HRN calls on the US and UK governments to disclose all information regarding the types of weapons
used during the occupation, quantities fired, and exact firing points, and to take necessary measures toprotect the right to health and life of the local people if a pollution problem is indicated.
Furthermore, HRN calls on the UN Human Rights Council to establish measures for the investigationof all human rights abuses committed during the war, including the use of inhumane and toxic weapons. The
outcomes of the WHO investigation into the birth defect issue in Iraq have yet to be publically released.
However, in the event of a public health issue being identified, HRN additionally urges the WHO to provide
technical assistance and guidance in creating policies and measures to tackle the issue, as well as to consider
conducting further investigations to try to better clarify the epidemiological nature of the phenomenon.

4See, respectively, US Executive order EO 12114, “Environmental Effects Abroad of Major Federal Actions”;
US Department of Defense directive DODD 3000.05 (2005); US field manual FM 3-100.4,
Environmental Considerations in Military Operations.

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