International Relief Association 24522 Harper Ave. The International Commission of Inquiry on Economic Sanctions was established in London to coordinate international work against sanctions. Tony Benn, former First Lady of Greece Margarita Papandreou and former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark. The main meeting of 350 people heard international delegates from more than twenty countries present eyewitness testimony and help build the campaign for an International Convention to end the use of these sanctions and blockades. Sanctions have increasingly become the weapon of choice, a brutal instrument of foreign policy carried out by the big powers, particularly the United States and Britain.
Sanctions are a new weapon of racism and colonial domination.
These criminal sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council against Iraq, Libya, and other countries are a continuation of the policy of unilateral sanctions imposed by the U.S., most notably the blockade of Cuba, and on north Korea, Nicaragua, Panama, and Vietnam. Sanctions as a form of collective punishment are a violation of all international laws, conventions and humanitarian norms. We therefore condemn all sanctions, embargoes, and blockades as a continuing crime against humanity and urge public mass action to prevent new aggression. Among its activities, the Iraq Action Coalition has set up a homepage on the Internet that presents detailed information on the effects of the deadly blockade, the illegitimacy of the blockade, the use of chemical and biological weapons in the military war against Iraq, and the associations and relief organizations working to lift the blockade. In addition, updated news and urgent appeals for needed action to stop the war against Iraq are continually added to the page.