Amnesty International launches on-line petition for Iraq

Amnesty International has issued a warning that a humanitarian crisis is imminent in Iraq is military action takes place and provides a page on its website for those opposed to war to send an e-mail to the United Nations Security Council President, Dr. Gunter Pleuger.

The organisation calls on the UNO to assess the humanitarian situation inside Iraq before any further decisions are taken, due to the fact that most of the people in Iraq are dependent on government hand-outs of food after 12 years of sanctions have caused a deplorable situation in which one in eight children dies before reaching the age of five.

Amnesty International urges the Security Council to consider in an open session “the potential effects of military action on the human rights of the Iraqi population; the effects on the humanitarian situation as Iraqis are already suffering under severe economic sanctions and violations by their government; the risk that military action would lead to massive numbers of people being forced into flight; potential grave violations of international humanitarian law, including direct attacks on civilians, the use of human shields and the use of inherently indiscriminate weapons”.

The online petition is at the AI site:

http://www.amnesty.org/go/iraq

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru