ONE MILLION SIGNATURE petition
Sat, 6 Feb 1999
THE ONE MILLION SIGNATURE CAMPAIGN begins in the U.S.:
a DECLARATION in OPPOSITION to ECONOMIC SANCTIONS against the PEOPLE of IRAQ
Dear Friends:
This year marks the 50th year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Within the human rights community, the social and economic rights that are
denied the people of Iraq have increasingly become an issue of grave
concern. There is a growing recognition of the need to take a strong stand
against sanctions that target civilians and prevent nations, like Iraq,
from maintaining the public health of its citizens.
After months of collaboration and feedback, Iraq activists from around the
country helped to create the "One Million Signature" Declaration. We hope
this historic declaration will circulate throughout all of the
organizations and grassroots networks working on Iraq. Inspired by the
Cairo Declaration, our goal is to collect one million signatures by April
first. To do this, we need your help.
The petition was crafted as both educational and political tool. We hope
it will assist your local efforts to raise public awareness. Once a
million signatures have been collected, we will present them to President
Clinton, Members of Congress, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan,
and the United Nations.
The first deadline for signatures will be April 1st, 1999, but the petition
will continue until ONE MILLION signatures are gathered.
As citizens and residents of the nation primarily responsible for waging
war against the people of Iraq, it is time for one million Americans to
take a stand against the killing being done in our names. With every
signature we collect, we remove one more name from the list of those for
which the U.S. claims to take action. Your support is vital in order to
make this effort a success.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Erik Gustafson, Education for Peace in Iraq Center
Kathy Kelly, Voices in the Wilderness
Rania Masri, Iraq Action Coalition
Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies
(if your organization would like to endorse, let us know at epicenter@igc.org)
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.
(this is a hard copy petition, so either request a copy from Erik Gustafson
at EPIC, or write me and I can send you an attachment over e-mail).
_______________________________________
Petition below
(To get the petition as an attachment in MS Word document, please contact
EPIC at: <epicenter@igc.org>
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
Full ADDRESS with Zip Code
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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
_________________________
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..."
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