YouSaid · the spoken record

Al-Andari

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23
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1992-08-11
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1992-08-11
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1
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un-security-council

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  1. “Irag and the Iraqi people recognize those countries, but we do regret that the Spscial Rapporteur, knowingly or not, should lend his name and position to such a scheme.”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  2. “In conclusion, I would like to make it clear that my intervention in this discussion is not made because of the contents or recommendations of a report which my Government considers as irrelevant as it is insignificant. The reason for any intervention, or for my intervention, is that regardless of the merits or demerits of the report, it is an illegal attempt to help accomplish an illegal sim, namely, to dismember my country by calling for the so-calied permanent human-rights observers, then eventually to establish another so-calied safe haven in the south. We know the countries, be they big ones or small onea in the region, which sim at destroying Iraq and the Iraqi people through a perpetual embargo, through the establishment of safe havens in the north and the south and eventually through dismemberment.”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  3. “Such assertions raveal ence more the lack of knowledge or even familiarity with the living conditions in the marshlands, in view of their relative inaccessibility and the nature of the rationing system which the Government adopted to help the Iraqi people withstand the inhumane embargo imposed against them. Nor do such assertions show any understanding of the nature and structure of the Iraqi rationing system. It is the embargo, covering everything except air and water, that violates every Iraqi citizen's right to life, be he or she an Arab, a Kurd, a Sunni, a Shiite or a marshland inhabitant. To divert the attention of the Council and world public opinion to the so-called internal economic blockade is a cruel and inhumane act, to say the least, on the part of the Special Rapporteur.”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  4. “It is in this context that the Government offered voluntary - yes, voluntary - relocation to the marsh people, giving them free housing and free agricultural land in nearby villages. The report mode reference to the speaker of the National Assembly, asserting that he confirmed the compulsory nature of the relocation programme. That assertion is simply untrue. The fact that no source, written or otherwise, was cited indicates how flimsy the assertion is. The most ironic, albeit tragic, allegation in the report is the one to the effect that the Government has imposed an internal economic blockade on the marshlands. How could the Government do that?”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  5. “And why should the Government attempt to alienate them, let alone destroy them? Without our people in the marshes, the marshes would have become a colony of criminals, subversives and foreign agents. As to the video cassette which the Special Rapporteur says he possesses, I have not seen it, though I very much doubt its authenticity. The claim on the video cassette that the Prime Minister ordered tribes to be wiped out is such an ignorant and naive claim a3 to prove its lack of authenticity. I say "ignorant claim" because those tribes do not live only in the marshes - some members do, but the majority o£ members live iu major towns, such as Basra, Omara and others throughout the country, partly to escape the harsh conditions of the marshes or for other social and economic reasons.”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  6. “Here I must quote an Iraqi proverb. We have a saying: "Tell any person something totally unreasonable. and if he believes it. he is not a reasonable person." Ia it reasonable that the Government would intentionally attempt to kill the Iragi citizens living in the marshes? Those people have been living in the marshes for thousands of years. Ali Iraqis are proud of their heritage and their contributioca to Iraq's agriculture, fisheries and civilisation. They live under such difficult sonditions in small and isolated villages that they can hardly afford to do anything except manage their daily life. True, their conditions have improved recently, but life there is still difficult. They can hardly organize themselves, let alone carry out any political actions against the Government. Why should they?”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  7. “It is those elements, not the Government forces, that steal, kill and destroy the houses and property of the marsh Arabs, particularly in areas where Governmexit authority cannot always function effectively to provide safety and protection to innocent civilians. Are we to accept the idea that only the deserters, murderers, smugglers and foreign infiltrators have human rights to be protected and that if a sovereign State wants to free the innocent citizens from the terror those criminals inflict on them, it must be condemned? But the report asserts that the Government's main objective in carrying out aerial surveys, or sending police patrols, or attacking the hideouts of foreign agents and other criminals, is actually to carry out indiscriminate murders, on a massive scale, of the innocent inhabitants of the marshlands.”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  8. “Anyone familiar with the marshes in Irag - and for those who may be interested, let me refer them to the books written by Wilfred Thesiger and Gavin Young - knows that, given the difficulty of gaining access to some parts of the marshes, where reeds could be as high as several metres, they become safe havens ~ yes, such safe havens are not new ~- for many deserters, murderers and smugglers, as well as agent-infiltrators from ueighbouring countries. On many occasions Government forces do carry out raids to arrest such elements and to collect material evidence, such as communications equipment, grenades and other spying and subversive articles brought into the country by foreign agents.”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  9. “But if the report in its present form is 80 oblivious of such basic, elementary end unclassified technical and economic data concerning the Third River, what cradence can a fair-minded person give to the other subjective, secretive and vague allegations regarding indiscriminate killing, internal economic blockade and forced relocation? The Special Rapporteur keeps us in total darkness as to the evidence he possessed ao and the scurces, countrss laws that ¢ es, intelligsacs organisations ane otis provided him with the secret evidence that convinced him that he must make sweeping claims and recommendations about killing, shelling and starving, as sweepirg ag the ones he made about the Third River.”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  10. “Some of our neighbouring countries, Sensing the prevalence of lawlessness in international relations, built a large number of big dams on the Euphrates, such at the Kayban and Karakayan dams in Turkey, the Tabgah dam in Syria and the filling since 1990 of the giant Ataturk dam in Turkey. I feel compelled to appeal once again to the Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iraq to seek solid and objective information from the Iragi Government or, for that matter, from any other bona fide source before making his condemnations and recommendations for the improvement of human rights in Iraq. I do hope that when preparing his revised version of this report, the Special Rapporteur will correct his data and reconsider his recommendation concerning the Third River Project.”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  11. “However, on crucial point must be made clear. The Third River does not mix with any of the marsh waters or with any fresh water in Iragi rivers, for it is to "run inside a strictly separate dyke, built parallel to the southern edges of the marshland and from there to the Arabian Gulf through the Shatt al-Basrah canal" (8/24388. p. 4). The report also refers to the lowering of the water level of the marshes. Here I have to agree with the report, although the report was again mistaken as to the causes of the paucity of the marshlands water. Contrary to what the report suggests, this paucity is not related to the Third River Project. It is caused by the reduction of the Euphrates water, which is the main source of the marshlands water.”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  12. “It was this company that recommended that a network of main drains should be built, of which the Main Outfall Draia, i.e., the Third River, is the backbone. The work on the MOD has gone through several phases since 1952, until 6 August 1990, when the Brazilian company Mandes Junior, which waa working on the project, had to stop because of Security Council resolution 661 (1990). Because of the sanctions imposed by that resolution, which has cynically and inhumanely been interpreted by a small minority of the members of the Council to include even irrigation equipment and drainage operations, Irag decided to complete the project using Iraqi engineers and workers. I do not want to burden the Council with additional technical aad historical data, as they are fully detailed in the letter from the Foreign Minister (S/24388).”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  13. “The so-called Third River Project, known in technical parlance as the Main Outfall Drain (MOD), is 566 kilometres long. It is one of the largest and oldest irrigation projects in Iraq. It was started more than 40 years ago to collect high-salinity drainage water from agricultucal enterprises in central and southern Iraq into one main drain and to channel it into the Arabian Gulf without - and I emphasize the word "without" - intermixture with any of Irag''s rivers or marshlands. Thus, contrary to what the Rapporteur claims, the Third River is not a new project, it is not limited to the southern part of Iraq and it is not intended to drain the waters of the marshes nor will it do so. For those who sre interested in the engineering history of this project, American conrulting firm Tippet, Appett, McCarthy.”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  14. “However, given the irrefutable data detailed in the letter of the Foreign Minister of lrag dated 6 August 1992 addressed to the Secretary~General (8/24388) about the said project, the Special Rapporteur could not have had the benefit of bona fide experts. Whom he consulted and how he arrived at such a dire conclusion I do not know, nor does the Special Rapporteur let us know. The only thing that really puazles me is why the esteemed Rapporteur did not bother to consult genuine experts or ask the Iraqi Government about the project, or at least read a book about the irrigation system in Iraq. I should greatly appreciate it if the Special Rapporteur would explain to us why he chose not to follow any of those courses before committing himself to the recommendation he made.”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  15. “As the reed beds becone exposed, they die, further contributing to the deterioration of the environment ..." (ibid.). Given these dire consequences of the Third River Project, the report recommends that it "... should be ismediately brought to a halt ..." (ibid). Because of the exceptions] importance that the Special Rapporteur gives to this project in his raport, TI shall take up this point before the other three he raised. One must assume that the Special Rapporteur, although he does not say 80, must have had the benefit of enginesring, irrigation, environmental and even anthropological specialists; otherwise, he would not make such dire predictions.”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  16. “So much for the credibility and bona fide character of the annexed letter. Let me turn to some of the main points that were emphasized in the report. The Special Rapporteur made four assertions: firstly, concerning indiscriminate military attacks against the civilian population in the marshes; secondly, concerning forced relocation of the Marsh Arabs in the south; thirdly, concerning an internal economic biockades and, fuurthly, the so-called Third River Project. The report describes the aforementioned Project as "Perhaps the greatest threat to the inhabitants of the southern marshes ..." (§/24386, para. 15). It goes on to conclude that the project will "... Clearly result in the draining of much of the marsh area of its watercover, surrendering the silty soils to the dry air.”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  17. “I do not want to make any speculation of my own, but the letter (8/24386, p.12, Appendix) itself reveals that it was not meant to be a serious sppesl to the Government of Irag, The letter is dated 29 July 1992; instead of waiting for the latter to arrive on the 4esk of th: M Special Rapporteur presented his report to the President of the Council the very next day, on 30 July 1992, not forgetting to annex his letter of 29 July to his report. Is it too far-fetched to conclude that the main reason for writing the letter was to prepare an annex to the report, thereby giving it the appearance of a well-documented, highly accurate report, even though it is totally innocent of any technical, historical or factuel evidence or, for that matter - despite what we have just heard from him - of any legal foundation?”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  18. “I have every reason to trust and respect the judgemant and discretion of the Special Rapporteur, but surely he should have krown, as someone from Human Rights Watch recently said, that "Human rights have always been a political tool: When it is useful to them, they talk about it. When it is not useful, they go completely doaf." That was quoted in the Daily News of 7 Avgust. One wonders, therefore, why the Special Rapporteur did not seek to conduct a £1014 survey inside Irag, not only to satisfy himself but to convince others of his objectivity, his seriousness and his independence. Why did he not bother to take such elemeutary measures? I hope that, after I conclude my speech, he might answer this question.”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  19. “Should not the Government of Iraq be given a chance to reveal the dark motives and the unethical tactics of those who do not hesitate to abuse the noble cause of human rights by fabricating non-existent offensives and fictitious indiscriminate murders? I fully appreciate the heavy responsivility the Special Rapporteur agreed to shoulder by accepting the assignment to be a Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iraq- However, having accepted the assignment, should he not have takea the necessary precautions against becoming a conduit Zor those who do not hesitate to abuse the cause of human rights and, indeed, do not hesitate to commit the most draconian crimes against the Iraqi people yet shsd buckets o£ crocodile tears about their plight?”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  20. “Appendix). This letter reveals # lot about the motives and the tactics foiiowed in the perparation of this regort: it is referred to prominently in the report and 4s annexed thereto. The letter presumes that the reported allagations of a military offensive against the Marsh Arabs, the indiscciminate killings and the deliberate starvation of the civilian population in the south of Iraq and so on are established facts and require no proof whatsoever. Hence, the letter apeais to the Foreign Minister to have such acts stopped immediately. Given the gravity of the ellegaticas, one wonders why the Special Rapporteur 4414 not first seek clarification from the Government of Irag about the slleged violation of human rights.”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  21. “I know that more than anyone elge here, as I chaired my delegation during the 011 nagotiations and while the memorandum of understanding was being negotiated, and I know the gentlemen does not really know all the realities of these issues. Then, after his brief introduction, full of half truths, he came to his report, presenting it paragraph by paragraph, except when he realized the fiasco he had made in devoting go many psges in his paper to the "Third River" in Ivrag. I believe he avoided mentioniug this after he had heard my explanation and after he had read the letter from our Minister for Foreign Affairs addressed to the Secretary-General (8/24388) explaining what the Third River really is. Permit me, Mr. President, cto come first to the letter addressed by the Special Rapporteur to the Foreign Minister of Iraq (§/24)86 p.12.”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  22. “van der Stoel is to be invited as Special Rapporteur, I thought that the Council would refuse to do that because it would violate its mandate, since tho report that he presented a few days ago to the Council should have been presented first and discussed by the Commission on Human Rights rather than by the Jecurity Council, which has no mandate in matters of human rights. Then today, we used a new sort of device, saying that we are inviting him as a person, that perhaps he will talk not about the report or about human rights, but about something else. He did speak about something else, I have to admits: he spoke about ofl], he spoke about Menorandums of Understanding, he spoke about all sorts of subjects. Unfortunately, he did not inform himself well about these subjects.”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source

  23. “When I read the letters addressed to you, Mr. President, by representatives of the United Kingdom, Belgium and France, suggesting that Mr. van der Stoel should be invited in a personal capacity rather than as Special Rapporteur, I thought that the Special Rapporteur must have resigned his job and that he was invited to tell us about something else, about the new world disorder, the history of Irag or other things. And then, when I saw the letter addressed to you by the representative of the United States yesterday, emphasizing that Mr.”

    1992-08-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3105 (1992) · source