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[ Presenting plain-text part of multi-format email ] Dear List, Please find attached a short bulletin on oral statement made at the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva on the situation of Iraqi children by Dominicans for Justice and Peace. In peace, John O'Connor op Dominican News Service Bulletin: Dominicans Again Express Strong Concerns about the Situation of Children in Iraq by Philippe LeBlanc OP, 4/22/03 Geneva. In an oral statement at the UN Commission on Human Rights, Philippe LeBlanc, OP, on behalf of Dominicans for Justice and Peace and nine co-sponsors, raised the specter of the physical, and long-term emotional, psychological and moral impact on children and women of the bombings in Iraq, following on 12 years of sanctions. Speaking from a humanitarian, ethical, and moral stance, he also expressed their concern about the harmful and long-lasting consequences, especially on children and women, of the use of cluster bombs and depleted uranium. In their statement, Dominicans and co-sponsors, recommended that the international community through the United Nations seek ways and means to establish peace and bring an end to the sanctions, urged the UN Commission on Human Rights to take seriously its Charter obligation to monitor the implementation and respect for international human rights law and to denounce the ongoing violations of the most fundamental human rights of women and children in conflicts and wars and to ensure the application of the guiding principle of the UN Convention on the rights of the child that "in all actions concerning children, the best interest of the child shall be a primary consideration." In addition, it was recommended that the international community through the UN continue their search for peaceful and just solutions in all situations of conflict rather than resorting to war which can only bring untold horror and irreversible harm to the most vulnerable, strongly urge the international community through the UN to take with utmost seriousness its responsibilities for the monumental and long-term challenge of the recovery and reconstruction of Iraq, devastated both by long-term sanctions and by the ravages of war. The statement co-sponsors included Caritas Internationalis, Commission of Churches on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches, Dominican Leadership Conference, Canadian Council of Churches, Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, International Presentation Association: Sisters of the Presentation, Congregations of Saint Joseph, Maryknoll Sisters Inc. and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, in conjunction with Franciscans International and KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives. When the full truth is made known about the destruction of the lives of children and women in Iraq, the international community will need to render justification for these acts and recognize their responsibility for the massive rebuilding of a devastated society. Read the Official Statement at www.un.op.org _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk