Newsgroup: it.politica.ulivo
Titolo: THE ONE MILLION SIGNATURE CAMPAIGN


A DECLARATION IN OPPOSITION TO THE ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AGAINST THE
PEOPLE OF IRAQ
WE, THE UNDERSIGNED CITIZENS & RESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA, BELIEVE that economic sanctions, when they prevent or
otherwise hamper a nation's ability to provide for the public health,
unjustly target civilians.
WE NOTE that the economic sanctions on Iraq have resulted in serious
shortages of food, clean water, and medicine. Water and sanitation
systems have collapsed, spreading disease. United Nations agencies
estimate over one million fatalities, mostly children under the age of
5.
Even under the Oil for Food program, sanctions have resulted in the
deaths of approximately 250 people each day and over 90,000 each year
[UNICEF April '98].  Thus the economic sanctions imposed on Iraq have
become equivalent to violence, sowing the seeds of enmity, war and
division.  
WE THEREFORE CALL UPON the United Nations General Assembly to ban all
such economic sanctions forthwith, as they are themselves weapons of
mass destruction.  WE URGE the United Nations Security Council to
respect International Law, including laws relating to the treatment
and protection of civilian populations.  Since restrictions on Iraqi
oil sales severely limit Iraq's ability to purchase adequate food,
medicine and necessities vital for the repair of the civil
infrastructure, WE URGE all UN member states to immediately end
compliance with the economic sanctions on Iraq.
WE APPLAUD the 43 U.S. Representatives who signed Congressman John
Conyer's letter calling on President Clinton to de-link economic
sanctions from military sanctions.
WE CALL UPON the U.S. Congress to immediately hold fair and objective
hearings on the humanitarian impact of the UN sanctions.
Furthermore, WE URGE Congress and the President to immediately end the
ongoing economic sanctions against the people of Iraq.
 
Printed NAME                        	SIGNATURE
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3.	(Not intended as an email petition.  Please use hard copies only.)
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The One Million Signature Campaign commenced on Jan. 15, 1999, the 8th
anniversary of the Gulf War.  Send petitions by April 1,1999 to EDU.
for PEACE in IRAQ CENTER, 747 Tenth St. SE #2, Washington, DC 20003.
For info, call 
(202) 543-6176
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FROM EGYPT:
World's Largest Petition Celebrated
by Sohair Soukkary
Cairo, Egypt ~ On December 30, 1997, a coalition of Egyptian and
international organizations held a ceremony to celebrate the
completion of the Cairo Declaration, a petition "to save the children
of Iraq and ban economic blockades as weapons of mass destruction."
Begun as the One Million Signature Campaign by the Arab Women
Solidarity Association (AWSA) who wrote it, over 18 million signatures
were collected in Europe and the Middle East. This far exceeded the
expectations of the creators of the Declaration, who rightfully call
it the World's Largest Petition ever compiled. 
The ceremony took place at the Cairo Official Stadium.  A coffin,
representing the Iraqi child, was led by a replica of the funeral
hearse that carried the body of Alexander the Great when he was buried
in Egypt.
Copies of the Declaration were presented to a representative of UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan and the League of Arab States.
Excerpts from the Cairo Declaration:
"We, the undersigned Citizens of Earth, are determined to save all
children everywhere, irrespective of their nationality, race, ethnic
origin or religious faith, not only from the scourge of war, but from
all measures that are claimed to be non-military in nature but in
actual fact constitute war..."
"We emphasize that economic blockades inflict wholesale slaughter on
children and on innocent civilians, and stunt the growth of surviving
children and afflict them with countless physical and mental illnesses
and disabilities...We firmly believe that blockades constitute a crime
against humanity..."

L'Irak , secondo il programma OIL FOR FOOD, può vendere alle Nazioni Unite
fino a 2 miliardi di dollari per ricevere cibo e medicinali. Non lo fà
perchè Saddam al Tikrit (smettiamola di chiamarlo Hussein) vuole mano libera
per fare ciò che vuole. E non mi sembra che finora abbia migliorato le
condizioni di vita del suo popolo.
ciao
--
Giacinto Lorusso
Giacinto...@lycosmail.com