It is imperative that the aspiration of the Iraqi peoples to be freed of terror and poverty be heard and supported. The FIDH has spared no effort in denouncing the criminal nature of the Baghdad regime, and the counter-productive effects of the international embargo that aimed at impose constraints on the regime, nor in suggesting to the international community alternative ways of meeting the situation .
However, we can only vigorously condemn the planned American operation, supported by Great Britain and Spain : it is illegal (Resolution 1441, which addresses the disarmament of Iraq, in no way authorises such an intervention, no more than resolutions adopted ten years ago), and illegitimate (in regard in particular to the quasi-unanimous political opposition it has met with), and it will add still further to the suffering of the already sorely tried civilian populations.
Furthermore this unilateral operation, embodying the "pre-emptive war theory", could well be the death of fifty-three years’ efforts to build a world that was more just, based on the Rule of Law and collective security. Instead the theories of the American administration aim at establishing the rule of the strongest, in the name of efficiency. Even if their implementation leads to the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, they will open up an era of dangerous uncertainty, which could in fact aggravate the ills they were supposed to heal.
In addition there is a danger that the conflicts in the whole region will intensify; it is in particular to be feared that the situation of the Palestinian people will become even worse than it is today.
As for the present, the FIDH notes with satisfaction the Security Council’s resistance to the American proposals, but it cannot be satisfied with the resulting situation. Calls for the protection of the civilian populations during an armed conflict, for respect for the laws governing armed conflict, for protecting refugees, for freedom of action for humanitarian NGOs, are of course necessary, and the FIDH adds its voice with vigour. But they are not enough.
The requirement, for the international community, that the peoples of Iraq be freed of the dictatorial oppression they are subjected to, and helped to rebuild their country, the refusal to accept the rule of the strongest, and selectivity, the paramount principle of international legality, and the necessary strengthening of the multilateral system of collective security, all this demands a firm reaction in the face of the present situation, and that concrete measures be taken.
The FIDH therefore calls on the United Nations General Assembly, taking into account the foreseeable paralysis of the Security Council as long as the American operation is under way, to hold an Emergency Session (on the basis of Resolution 377 known as "Uniting for Peace" ) with a view in particular:
– to expressing its condemnation of the American military operation, as being a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter;
– to taking all necessary steps to guarantee respect for Human Rights in Iraq. The FIDH reiterates in this respect its call for the setting up of an ad hoc international criminal court for putting on trial Saddam Hussein and the other authors of crimes against humanity belonging to his regime, and the imposition of sanctions targeted at them; and, if necessary, for the lifting of the embargo, except the arms embargo.
– to deciding, if necessary, to maintain the programme for the disarmament of Iraq.
– to set up, if necessary, a programme for the reconstruction of Iraq, which can only be administered by the United Nations;
– to setting up a comprehensive programme for the respect for Human Rights and the protection of the civilian populations in the region;
– to organising, as a matter of urgency, a mission for the protection of Human Rights in the Palestinian Occupied Territories.
The deep international crisis resulting from the obstinacy of the Bush administration to go to war can be the occasion for a new mobilisation of States and public opinions, not only against war, but for the application of international law, in the only legal and legitimate framework, the United Nations. Today the FIDH issues an appeal for Uniting for Peace, and for the right to Justice for the victims of the Iraqi regime.