Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Title:  "Editorial: Iraqi Human Rights." Iraq's violation of international law by invading Kuwait has brought to light the gross human rights violations within Iraq itself. (901001)

Translated Title:  "Les Droits de l'Homme en Irak." (901001)
Date:  19901001

Text:
*TXT105

10/01/90 1Me Op EDITORIAL: IRAQI HUMAN RIGHTS (460)

(Following is an editorial, broadcast by the Voice of America October 1, reflecting the views of the U.S. government.)

Iraq's illegal occupation of Kuwait has received worldwide condemnation. This brutal aggression against a neighboring country has also focused attention on conditions inside Iraq itself. Recently, the U.N. Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities expressed concern over Iraq's lack of respect for basic human rights. The U.N. body said there are reliable reports of mass executions, disappearances and arbitrary detentions in Iraq, as well as forced relocation of Kurds in the northern part of the country and Shi'ites in the south. The subcommission recommended that the U.N. Human Rights Commission initiate a study of Iraq at its next meeting in February.

U.N. action on Iraq's human rights abuses is long overdue. When the Human Rights Commission met last February, delegates from several countries criticized the regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein for its human-rights violations. As U.S. Ambassador Armando Valladares said, "Iraq's human-rights situation remained abysmal.... Effective opposition to government policy is stifled.... Moreover, it is clear that both physical and psychological torture are used by the authorities, and especially by the Iraqi Security Police."

Despite the overwhelming evidence of human-rights abuses, the U.N. commission failed to take any action last February. But now, as Ambassador Valladares said recently, Saddam Hussein's "contempt for the lives and rights of the Iraqi people has been exported to the people of Kuwait." Not only has Iraq committed unprovoked aggression against neighboring Kuwait, it has also violated international law by mistreating citizens from many other countries. Iraq's behavior has become a threat to world peace.

More than half of a century ago, other totalitarian dictators threatened world peace in a similar manner. The dictators of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan began by denying human rights to citizens of their own countries; then they initiated aggression against neighboring countries and ultimately plunged the entire world into war. After World War Two, the major nations of

GE 2 TXT105 the world adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The leaders of these nations had come to realize that respect for human rights has immense significance for world peace. Countries in which human rights are respected are the most responsible contributors to the well-being of the world community. And countries in which governments disregard the rights of their own people are not likely to respect the rights of other nations and other peoples.

The United States remains committed to the worldwide promotion of human rights and urges all other countries to join in this effort. World peace requires respect for human rights. NNNN

File Identification:  10/01/90, TX-105; 10/01/90, AE-114; 10/01/90, AR-142; 10/01/90, PX-102; 10/01/90, EU-124; 10/01/90, NE-105; 10/02/90, AF-206; 10/02/90, NA-209; 10/02/90, AS-223
Product Name:  Wireless File; VOA Editorials
Product Code:  WF; VO
Languages:  Arabic; French; Spanish
Keywords:  IRAQ/Politics & Government; HUMAN RIGHTS; ATROCITIES; UNITED NATIONS; PERSIAN GULF CRISIS; KURDS
Document Type:  EDI
Thematic Codes:  1NE; 6WM; 2HA; 1UN
Target Areas:  AF; AR; EA; EU; NE
PDQ Text Link:  156826; 156955; 157053