YouSaid · the spoken record

Van Der Stoel

lines on the record
16
first
1992-08-11
most recent
1992-08-11
sittings or episodes
1
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un-security-council

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  1. “Also, I have to express my particular concern about the fate of the Grand Ayatollah's son, Sayed Mohammed Taki al Khoei, who stayed with the Grand Ayatollah during the last years of his life. I have spoken repeatedly about violations of Security Council resolution 688 (1991). Violations because the Government of Iraq refuses to end its policy of repression, as has been demanded in this resolution. Violations because the Government of Iraq does not respect the obligation to allow international humanitarian organizations access in all parts of Irag. I have emphasized this not because I enjoy making legal points. I have done so because I am convinced that if a full implementation of resolution 688 (1991) cannot be ensured, many thousands of innocent people are in danger of losing their lives.”

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

  2. “Efforts on my part to obtain information about their fate from the Goverament of Irag have remained fruitless. The attitude of the Government of Iraq towards the Shia faith was again demonstrated after the death last Saturday of the Grand Ayatollah Abul Qasim al Musawi al Khoei. In normal circunstances thousands of Shias would have attended the burial of their religious leader. But the Government did not allow this. According to a report I received, only six aides and one family member were permitted to attend the burial, which took place at dawn. The report also states that the authorities even denied the al Khoei family the right to perform al-fatehah, the reciting of traditional Koranic verses.”

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

  3. “Irag has a totalitarian regime, which uses totalitarian methods to crush any opposition or even any dissenting opinion. As I have demonstrated in the report for the Commission on Human Rights which I published last January, many thousands of people have disappeared in Irag after being arrested by the security services. It is likely that many of them have been liquidated. Several witnesses have testified that summary executions have often taken place. I have spoken with many people who have been subjected to the gravest forms of torture. Iraq has in the past not refrained even from using chemical weapons against the Kurdish population. I must also express great concern over the treatment of the Shia clergy. After the uprising in the north in the spring of last year, many have been arrested.”

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

  4. “The second is that the food blockade against the Kurds in the north and the Shiites in the southern marshes can rapidly lead to a situation in which famine can be avoided only by a major international relief operation. The third is that recent artillery bombardments and attacks by fixed-wing aircraft in the ares of the southern marshes point to the start of a major military effort by the Government of Irag to restore its control over that region, whatever the cost in human iives. In the late 1980s the world looked on passively as the Government of Iraq couducted operations against the Kurds that resulted in the extermination of a part of the population. I hope that members of the Council will agree that everything possible ought to be done to avoid a repetition of that tragedy.”

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

  5. “What has been happening in the southern marshes in recent weeks constitutes a flagrant violation of that paragraph. Nor are there any signs that the policy of repression in other parts of Iraq has been discontinued. Permit me to summarize my main conclusions concerning the present human-rights situation in Iraq. The first is that while it is even more urgent than immediately after the end of the Gulf war that international humanitarian organizations should be able to perform their task to the full, continuous harassment, travel reStrictions and refusals to grant visas rapidly make continuation of their wotk virtually impossible.”

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

  6. “All these developments serve to point to the same conclusion: The Government of Iraq is now in the process of undertaking a major operation to subdue the population of the marshes. The "Anfal operations" in the north against the Kurds in the 1980s have shown how ruthless such a campaign can be. There is no evidence at all that might lead to the conclusion that this time a more humane approach will be followe?. The Government of Iraq claims that criminals are hiding in the marshes. But how can this justify air attacks and artillery bombardments, which clearly affect an innocent civilian population? Security Council resolution 688 (1991) demands, in paragraph 2, that Iraq, as a contribution to removing the threat to international peace and security in the region, should immediately end this repression.”

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

  7. “There have begn artillery bombardments of parts of the marsh areas. There are reports of fixed-wing aircraft carrying out attacks. And, even though there are days when no attacks take place, there are reports of heavy casualties among the civilian population. Moreover, people are forced to leave their villages and to accept relocation in new settlements - an ominous development because in the late eighties, during the so-called Anfal operations against the Kurds, similar measures were used to subdue them. And then, finally, causeways are being built to dry sections of the marshes. These works, carried out without any consultation with the local population, constitute a threat both to their Gaily needs, which are largely met through fishing, and in terms of the survival of their ancient culture.”

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

  8. “This, again, constitutes a violation of paragraph 3 of resolution 688 (1991), which speaks of immediate access to all those in need of assistance in all parts of Iraq. The Government of Iraq, while condemning the United Nations embargo as inhuman and endangering the health situation of the country, does not hesitate to pursue a food blockade against parts of its own populations - which constitutes a threat to the most basic human right: the right to life. The life of the population of the uorth and of the population in the marshes in the south is also threatened in a more direct way. In the north there is intermittent shelliag by Govorrment forces of parts of the Kurdish area. Even more critical is the situation in the marshes. Since early June there has been an alarming increase of military activity.”

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

  9. “If, as I fervently hope, current negotiations with the Government of Iraq lead to agreement on unimpeded continuation of the work of international humanitarian organizations in Iraq, the United Nations, in my view, cannot afford to forget the situation in the marshes in the south. The population of the marshes is also subjected te a food embargo, even though such a policy of discrimination by a State against a part of its own population constitutes a clear violation of articles 2, 11 and 32 of the Covenant of Economic, Social and Culture] Rights. to which Irag is a party. The population of the marshes is in urgent need of humanitarian relief. But the Government of Iraq has never allowed international humanitarian organizations to establish a presence there.”

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

  10. “But, on the other hand, it is difficult to imagine that such acts would be committed by Kurds, who, whatever their differences, all have a clear interest in the continuation of the humanitarian work in their ares. The rapidly deteriorating food situation in the north has so far - attracted little international attention, Human tragedies elsewhere in the world may provide an explanation for this. But, in my view, we cannot afford to forget that in the Kurdish area of Irag, too, thousands of human lives are at stake. It is essential that steps be taken right now to avoid a catastrophe in the coming winter. First and foremost, it is necessary that the international humanitarian organizations be enabled to resume their work in the north without being endangered or hindered in any way.”

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

  11. “In operative paragraph 3 of that resolution the Council "Insists that Iraq allow immediate access by interuational humanitarian organizations to all those in need of assistance in eli parts of Irag and to moke available all necessary facilities for heir operations". (resolution 688 (1991). para. 3) Clearly, the present policy of the Government of Irag, which makes it virtually impossible for international humanitarian organisations to continue their work, constitutes a clear violation of this resolution. In this respet, I must also make a comment about the hit-and-run raids that have occurred in the north in recent months. The Government of Iraq Genies any responsibility for them.”

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

  12. “neonle start to eut wand: if this continues, the danger of deforestation will become vory real. As it is summer now, the situation is at present alleviated to some extent by the fact that there is a supply of local products like vegetables and fruit. But with the coming of winter the situation would worsen dramatically. In the eighties. tens of thousands of Kurds were killed as a consequence of the repressive policies of the Government of Iraq. Now a new danger is threatening the Kurds: hunger. If the Government of Iraq continues its present policy of tightening the embargo against the Kurds, there will be cnly one method to avoid a new human tragedy - that is, a massive humanitarian aid programme for the north. In this respect, I must recall resolution 688 (1991), which the Security Council adopted in April last year.”

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

  13. “Wile complaining about the effect of the embargo against iraq, the Goverament of Irag has not hesitated to impose an even stricter embargo against the population of the marshes in the south and against the population of the governorates in tke north which are no longer under Government control. The embargo against the population in the north has even tightened in recent weeks. Virtually no food supplies are coming in. The supply of petroleum products has been cut. As reserve stocks dwindle, prices increase rapidly in the north. A constantly increasing number of Kurds are discovering that their income is no longer sufficient to provide for their most basic needs. They are forced to sell their possessions in order to stay alive. As petroleun products aet more and more searce.”

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

  14. “Against that background, I can only express my alarm at the fact that the humanitarian aid programme in Iraq is at present inexorably grinding to a halt. The Government of Iraq has refused new visas for eight workers who were due to come into the country under rotation schemes. It has refused to renew the visas of those who were staying. They are, moreover, subjected to various forma of harassment. Even more dangerous incidents are reported from the Kurdistan area in the north of the country. Restrictions on the supply of fuel for humanitariau agencies adi te their difficulties.”

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

  15. “The Government food-rationing programme, with its low prices, provides the population with only 1,400 calories per person per day, while large parts of the population cannot afford the high prices for additional food on the free market. All this underlines the need for a quick breakthrough in the endless negotiations on the implementation, on the basis of Security Council resolutions 706 (1991) and 712 (1991), of the so-called "food tor oil" formula. In this way, a rapid improvement of the nutritional situation could be achieved. It is also obvious that if the health of the population is deteriorating as rapidly as these data suggest, there is an even increased need for uninterrupted international humanitarian assistance.”

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

  16. “Mr. VAN DER STOEL: On 17 June, the Ministry of Health of Irag provided me with information about the health situation of the Iraqi people. It is a shocking report. For instance, it says that the number of deaths caused by various types of dysentery is now five to six times higher than in preceding years. A cholera epidemic has broken out anc 1,270 cases requiring treatment have been reported. Dozens have died. The report claims that respiratory diseases are 7 to 8 times higher than in the past. Infant mortality has also risen sharply. I have not yet been able to check the accuracy of this data, but in my opinion there is little doubt that the poorer sections of the population in particular are suffering.”

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