Since 1992 the FIDH has condemned embargoes that "have direct and indirect consequences for the civilian populations, whether they are imposed by a government or the international community, and whether they apply indiscriminately or are accompanied by humanitarian safeguard measures". (31st FIDH Congress, 25 January 1992). The FIDH again called for the lifting of the embargo against Iraq at its 34th Congress in January 2001 in Casablanca.
While it is necessary and legitimate to denounce the embargo, this should not serve as an excuse for saying nothing about the terrible repression inflicted, in particular on its own populations, by the Iraqi regime itself, in violation of its international commitments. Nor should it be forgotten that the repression was one of the causes of the establishment of international sanctions in the first place.
These populations, who have already deeply suffered from the deadly deprivations inflicted on them in the name of the "international community" and from the criminal repression enforced by a despotic regime, are also the victims of the effects of the unilateral approach of the "pro embargoes" and the "anti-embargoes" which results in total lack of action.
For the FIDH any prospect of improving the situation - which is certainly not easy - requires that it should be first described and documented systematically, objectively and in all its dimensions.
That is the rationale behind the FIDH’s approach when, with Human Rights Alliance, it gathered testimonies of the victims of the Iraqi regime, which constitute the corner-stone of the report entitled "An intolerable, forgotten and unpunished repression". The report highlights the horrors of a hardly mentioned repression and which the Iraqi population is still subjected to.
Such is also the rationale behind the FIDH report on the sanctions, entitled "The sanctions against Iraq from the point of view of Human Rights: a devastating, unjustified and unacceptable method". The legal analysis shows how the sanctions imposed are completely contrary to international Human Rights law, which in this case should take precedence over the law on the maintenance of international peace and security.
For several years the FIDH has constantly requested to be allowed to carry out an international enquiry on the Human Rights situation, including the consequences of the embargo, without ever receiving an answer from the Iraqi authorities. In 2001 the request was reiterated, without success. The FIDH reaffirms its readiness to carry out such an enquiry.
Things being as they are, the obstacles raised against an objective evaluation of the situation in the field make it even more justified to denounce the situation the Iraqi populations find themselves in. The sole aim is to carry the voice of the desperate calls for help from the victims, all the victims.