The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
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Friends, I'm new to this list, so I apologize if I'm repeating things already said. Amnesty International (AI) is not a pacifist organization, they are neutral on war. Their founding motivation was, and the great majority of their work has been, devoted to freeing political prisoners and opposing capitol punishment. While AI's mandate does begin with support for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, they have tended to focus on political rights rather than economic ones. They are neutral on sanctions. But, AI is a democratic organization, and last year five member countries all passed resolutions asking (at least implicitly) that AI advocate an end to sanctions on Iraq. The International Committee has been directed to study the issue and come up with a policy by mid-2001. I know that isn't very satisfying. We should be able to make the case to AI that the issue here isn't sanctions, per se, but their application in Iraq; which has resulted in hundreds of thousands of non-combatant deaths. This is clearly something that AI should strongly oppose. However, absent significant pressure on this issue (from us, as well as from other NGOs & IGOs), I think the petition is the best we can hope for right now. Pierre Sane is Secretary General of AI, and I believe that Don Giles heads up the Mid-East group. You can write them at: Amnesty International 1 Easton Street London, WC1X 8DJ, UK If anyone would like more information about Amnesty and how to lobby them on sanctions, please get in touch with me through my personal e-mail. Peace, Ramsey Kysia mbakery@erols.com -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk Full archive and list instructions are available from the CASI website: http://welcome.to/casi