Tracking Number: 217974
Title: "US Endorses UN Report on Iraqi Rights Abuses." The State Department has broadly endorsed a UN report that condemns widespread Iraqi human rights abuses both before and
after the Persian Gulf war. (920303)
Translated Title: EU respalda informe ONU sobre violaciones derechos en Irak. (920303)
Author: DYBVIK, RUSSELL E (USIA STAFF WRITER)
Date: 19920303
Text:
U.S. ENDORSES U.N. REPORT ON IRAQI RIGHTS ABUSES
(Human rights situation termed appalling) (800) By Russell Dybvik USIA Diplomatic Correspondent Washington -- The State Department has broadly endorsed a United Nations report that condemns widespread Iraqi human rights abuses both before and after the Persian Gulf War.
In a written statement released late March 2, the department said the U.S. government's deep concern with human rights in Iraq is well-documented and ongoing and "seeking ways and means to improve the human rights situation there remains a question of high priority."
Much of the statement concerned a report prepared by Max van der Stoel, former foreign minister of the Netherlands, in his capacity of Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
"While we are appalled by the human rights situation in Iraq, as documented by the Special Rapporteur," the statement said, "we are impressed by the report and the great amount of effort that obviously went into it."
Under his mandate, van der Stoel was asked to report on serious human rights violations affecting the population of Iraq as a whole, including enforced or involuntary disappearances, torture and arbitrary detention, denial of freedom of expression and of the press, and specific repression of the Kurdish population in a variety of ways.
"The report and its conclusions are in tune with reports made by other groups and with information which the United States government considers generally reliable," the State Department said, adding it could not directly confirm all of the contents of the report.
Van der Stoel's report focused on human rights violations that have occurred in Iraq both prior to, and following, the gulf war. It included information gathered during his most recent visit to Iraq January 3-9, 1992.
While the report "does not claim that there have been mass executions of Kurds in northern Iraq since the end of the war," the State Department noted, it does "document widespread abuses such as forced evictions and indiscriminate shelling which have caused many Kurdish deaths." The report also includes information on human rights abuses against the Assyrians in northern Iraq and against Shi'as in the south.
There have been massive violations of human rights of the gravest nature for which the government of Iraq must be held responsible, the Special Rapporteur says, and he notes that there is no reliable information that Iraq has taken steps to ensure that there will be no further violations of the human rights of its people.
There is reason for "special alarm" since there have been human rights violations directed against the Kurdish people per se, the report states. It urges the Iraqi government to end the practice of torture, place legal constraints on its security forces, resume negotiations on a formula which would enable Iraq to sell oil under U.N. supervision to buy food and medical supplies, end the blockade of Kurdish-controlled areas of Iraq, and restore full religious freedom to the Shi'a community.
In a separate statement, the department reiterated the U.S. government's deep concern over the Iraqi government's "de facto embargo on shipments of food, fuel and other essential humanitarian supplies" to northern Iraq. "We continue to believe that the blockade underscores the importance of maintaining sanctions on Iraq," the statement said.
Some northern cities have received no government food shipments for months, and food deliveries to the region as a whole are only about half of the government's allocation to other areas of Iraq, the State Department said.
The United Nations, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Program, drawing on contributions from the United States and other donors, currently are providing food to more than 500,000 displaced persons in northern Iraq. The United Nations estimates that an additional 78,000 metric tons of food will be required for northern Iraq through the end of June.
To date, the United States has contributed $94 million to U.N. agencies, $6.9 million to private organizations, and over 63,000 metric tons of food. Together with Operation Provide Comfort, U.S. contributions of humanitarian assistance to northern Iraq total about $600 million, the department said.
It also noted that no Iraqi military forces have attempted to violate the security zone established by the allied coalition last year in northern Iraq. While coalition forces have observed a renewal of skirmishes between Iraqi forces and Kurdish elements over the past several days, the State Department said it could not confirm an Iraqi offensive at this time. There has been an increased level of fighting in the south over the past month where there is continuing conflict between government forces and Shi'a factions, it said.
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File Identification: 03/03/92, PO-201; 03/03/92, AR-211; 03/03/92, EP-204; 03/03/92, EU-210; 03/03/92, NE-204; 03/04/92, AS-304
Product Name: Wireless File
Product Code: WF
Languages: Spanish
Keywords: HUMAN RIGHTS; REPORTS & STUDIES; IRAQ/Politics & Government; UNITED NATIONS-HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION; VAN DER STOEL, MAX; UNITED NATIONS-US RELATIONS; IRAQ-US RELATIONS; ATROCITIES;
MINORITIES; KURDS
Thematic Codes: 2HA; 1UN; 1NE
Target Areas: AR; EA; EU; NE
PDQ Text Link: 217974; 218076
USIA Notes: *92030301.POL
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