DATE= JANUARY 9, 1998
TYPE= EDITORIAL
NUMBER= 0-07599
TITLE= EDITORIAL: SUMMARY EXECUTIONS IN IRAQ
CONTENT=THIS IS THE ONLY EDITORIAL BEING RELEASED FOR BROADCAST
JANUARY 9, 1998.
ANNCR:
THE VOICE OF AMERICA PRESENTS DIFFERING POINTS OF VIEW ON A WIDE
VARIETY OF ISSUES. NEXT, AN EDITORIAL EXPRESSING THE POLICIES OF
THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT.
VOICE:
AS UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR MAX VAN DER STOEL HAS
REPORTED, ALL POWER IN IRAQ "IS IN THE HANDS OF A CRUEL
DICTATORSHIP. AS SUCH, IT CANNOT BE SAID THAT ANY HUMAN RIGHTS
ARE ENSURED." IN RECENT WEEKS, THE CRUELTY OF IRAQI DICTATOR
SADDAM HUSSEIN HAS BECOME APPARENT ONCE AGAIN. ACCORDING TO
CREDIBLE REPORTS FROM A NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT SOURCES, HUNDREDS,
PERHAPS THOUSANDS, OF POLITICAL PRISONERS HAVE BEEN SUMMARILY
EXECUTED IN PRISONS NEAR BAGHDAD.
MANY OF THOSE REPORTED KILLED HAD BEEN SERVING LONG PRISON
SENTENCES FOR TRYING TO EXERCISE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS, SUCH AS
FREEDOM OF SPEECH OR FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION. FAMILIES OF MANY OF
THE EXECUTED PRISONERS SAY THEIR BODIES HAVE BEEN RETURNED TO
THEM BEARING CLEAR SIGNS OF TORTURE. IN ADDITION, IRAQ RECENTLY
EXECUTED FOUR JORDANIAN STUDENTS ACCUSED OF SMUGGLING AUTOMOBILE
PARTS WORTH LESS THAN ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS.
THIS PARALLELS THE IRAQI REGIME'S ABYSMAL RECORD ELSEWHERE.
AS MANY AS TWO-HUNDRED THOUSAND IRAQI KURDS ARE STILL MISSING
FROM THE 1988 ANFAL ['AHN-FAHL] CAMPAIGN, IN WHICH THE GOVERNMENT
USED CHEMICAL WEAPONS ON IRAQI CIVILIANS. THE WHEREABOUTS OF
FIVE-THOUSAND IRANIAN AND SIX-HUNDRED KUWAITI PRISONERS OF WAR
REMAIN UNKNOWN YEARS AFTER IRAQ WAS FORCED TO HALT ITS AGGRESSION
AGAINST IRAN AND KUWAIT. NEARLY ONE-THOUSAND PEOPLE ARE STILL
MISSING IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE IRAQI REGIME'S VICIOUS ATTACK ON
IRBIL [ER-'BEEL] IN 1996. THE REGIME IS FORCING TENS OF
THOUSANDS OF ETHNIC KURDS TO ABANDON THEIR HOMES IN KIRKUK
[KIR-'COOK] IN A FORM OF ETHNIC CLEANSING. AND IT IS
DELIBERATELY DESTROYING THE MARSHES OF SOUTHERN IRAQ IN AN
ATTEMPT TO ELIMINATE THE UNIQUE CULTURE OF THE MARSH ARABS.
THE IRAQI GOVERNMENT HAS AN OBLIGATION UNDER U-N SECURITY
COUNCIL RESOLUTION 6-8-8 TO CEASE ITS REPRESSION OF THE IRAQI
PEOPLE. IRAQ IS BLATANTLY VIOLATING ITS OBLIGATIONS UNDER THIS
AND OTHER U-N RESOLUTIONS. AS LONG AS THIS IS THE CASE, IRAQ
MUST REMAIN SUBJECT TO INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS.
ANNCR:
THAT WAS AN EDITORIAL EXPRESSING THE POLICIES OF THE UNITED
STATES GOVERNMENT. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE HEARD ON THIS ISSUE,
PLEASE WRITE TO EDITORIALS, VOICE OF AMERICA, WASHINGTON, D-C,
20547, U-S-A. YOU MAY ALSO SEND US A FAX AT (202) 619-1043.
YOUR COMMENTS MAY BE USED ON THE AIR.
08-Jan-98 2:34 PM EST (1934 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
