HUMANITARIAN DELEGATION TO IRAQ WILL SPONSOR PROTEST AT UNITED NATIONS JUNE 3, 1998

DEMONSTRATION WILL COINCIDE WITH TESTIMONY BY RICHARD BUTLER ON IRAQ SANCTIONS

For Immediate Release
Attention: Assignment Editor
Contact: Deirdre Sinnott
Sulaifa Habeeb (212) 633 - 6646

May 28, 1998

Having just returned from Iraq, where they delivered
more than $4 million in donated medicine, a delegation
of anti-sanctions activists will stage a dramatic
protest at the United Nations on June 3, 1998, starting
at 9:30 AM at Ralph Bunche Park (between 42nd and 43rd
streets on 1st Avenue).

"We went to Iraq with Ramsey Clark, Bishop Thomas
Gumbleton, Rev. Lucius Walker, representatives of the
Americans Muslims for Global Peace and Justice, and
others. And we could see firsthand that the UN
sanctions are a death sentence for thousands of Iraqi
civilians each and every month," stated Brian Becker, a
co-coordinator of the Iraq Sanctions Challenge.

More than 1.5 million Iraqis have perished in the last
eight years as a result of sanctions, according to
studies conducted by UN agencies.

"We will gather outside the United Nations with giant
placards displaying the photographs of the countless
children whom we saw in the hospitals and clinics last
month in Iraq. These children are now dead from amebic
dysentery, acute diarrhea, dehydration, and other easily
treatable ailments and diseases," Becker said.

"The sanctions are genocide and must be lifted now,"
said Sharon Ayling, one of the 80 delegates who
participated in the Iraq Sanctions Challenge. She
stated, "that it is unconscionable for Butler or any
official to talk about the possible lifting of
sanctions in October, when he knows full well that
another 40 thousand civilians will die between now and
then. Furthermore, it would be naïve to believe in some
vague promise about the future end of sanctions when we
know that the US government has created scores of
pretexts that have provoked one crisis after another in
order to justify the maintenance."

The Iraq Sanctions Challenge is producing a new video
and book on their findings in Iraq. This material will
include an assessment of how sanctions have affected
Iraq's health care system, sanitation and water
treatment systems, the impact of depleted uranium, the
food rationing system, and its consequences on higher
education. To obtain these materials or to schedule an
interview with delegates of the Iraq Sanctions Challenge
call (212) 633-6646 or fax (212) 633-2889.
--30--

International Action Center
39 West 14th St., #206
New York, NY 10011
(212) 633-6646 Fax: (212) 633-2889
http://www.iacenter.org
email: iacenter@iacenter.org

Back to IAC Alerts  &  Press Releases on Iraq

Go to: Cities Demonstrating

Go to: Iraq Sanctions Challenge