Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq

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Information Sources:
Government sites and statements

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This section contains an incomplete listing of statements and documents by governments and inter-governmental organisations on Iraq. It attempts to link directly to official websites. As a result, it has fewer remarks from those governments who have less well-developed websites. Please e-mail CASI if you know of any links that should be added.

Click on a name on this list to go straight to the statements of the relevant country or organisation:

The Government of the United Kingdom

The Government of the United States of America

The Government of France

The Government of Russia

The Government of China

The Government of Australia

The Government of Austria

The Government of Bahrain

The Government of Bangladesh

  • The statement of Mr. Chowdhury, Representative of Bangladesh at the UN, at the Security Council, pp.23-24 (26 June 2001): "The strict control on Iraq's imports and exports has resulted in a steady decline in the living conditions of the Iraqi people.... Security Council resolution 1284 (1999)...is deficient in not indicating clearly a pathway towards the suspension and final lifting of the sanctions... If the Council fails to get the political perspective right, no procedural simplification is likely to bring the desired result".

The Government of Belgium

The Government of Canada

The Government of Colombia

The Government of Congo (Democratic Republic; formerly Zaire)

The Government of Côte d'Ivoire

The Government of Cuba

  • Statement by Cuba's representative at the UN in the Security Council on 15 August 1991, pp.15-17: "In the opinion of my delegation, the Council should have acted a long time ago in order to put an end completely to the economic sanctions, which cease to be justified at a time when the reasons which had justified them - which are set forth in Security Council resolution 661 (1990) - have been taken care of."
  • Statement by Cuba's representative at the UN in the Security Council on 3 April 1991, pp.17-21: "The Council has persistently ignored the fact that the economic sanctions were established in order to ensure compliance with one paragraph of resolution 660 (1990), which called for the unconditional withdrawal of Iraqi troops from the territory of Kuwait.....The Council tries to ignore the fact that the continuation of those sanctions, imposed rightly or wrongly, is doing great harm to the people of Iraq."
  • Statement by Cuba's representative at the UN in the Security Council on 13 September 1990, pp.6-11: "We do not believe that anyone has the political, juridical or moral authority to apply any inhuman measures such as those whose sole and exclusive victims would be innocent civilians. And that is what we are now concerned with here. .... This indeed may be the point of no return."

The Government of Ecuador

The Government of Egypt

The Government of Ethiopia

The Government of Finland

The Government of Germany

The Government of the Holy See - the Vatican

  • Comments by Pope John Paul II (28 April 2001): "As the embargo in your country continues to claim victims, I renew my appeal to the international community that innocent people should not be made to pay the consequences of a destructive war whose effects are still being felt by those who are weakest and most vulnerable."
  • Speech by Pope John Paul II (18 March 2000): "all the Iraqi people who are being so severely tried by the continuing international embargo, never cease to be present in my thoughts. I assure all those who are suffering, especially the women, children and elderly, of my prayerful support."
  • Speech by Pope John Paul II (10 January 1998): "an entire people is the victim of a constraint which puts it in hazardous conditions of survival. I refer to our brothers and sisters in Iraq, living under a pitiless embargo [...]. The weak and the innocent cannot pay for mistakes for which they are not responsible."

The Government of India

The Government of Indonesia

The Government of Iran

The Government of Iraq

The Government of Ireland

The Government of Israel

  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
    • Rabin endorses continued sanctions against Iraq (14 August 1994): "We support the policy of President Clinton and the policy of sanctions against Iraq in order to change its behavior... we line up with the United States and the other developed nations to bring Iraq to change its policies."
  • Permanent Mission to the United Nations:
    • Speech by Mr. Jeremy Issacharoff, Representative of Israel to the first Committee, head of Regional Security and Arms Control, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jerusalem (13 October 2000): "The United Nations bears a critical responsibility to the countries of the Middle East to ensure that Iraq is disarmed of all its WMD and missile capabilities in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions."

The Government of Italy

  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs
    • Statement on the Gulf States (updated in early-mid 2002): "Italy has also followed the developments in the Iraqi crisis closely and in particular, the humanitarian and social aspects to assess the consequences of the continued sanctions on the local population. The government continues to operate .. to ease the application of sanctions with a view to ending the embargo given their impact on the humanitarian situation in Iraq, which is deteriorating."
  • The statement of Mr. Vento, Representative of Italy at the UN, at the Security Council, pp.9-10 (28 June 2001): "one cannot but feel the greatest compassion for the innocent civilian population of Iraq, where health conditions, especially those of women and children, remain critical and cry out for a prompt and appropriate response by the international community. ...Measures must be devised to stimulate the supply of commodities and services and to facilitate economic cooperation, including investment in civilian sectors".

The Government of Jamaica

  • The statement of Miss Durrant, Representative of Jamaica at the UN, at the Security Council, pp.22-23 (26 June 2001): "Jamaica has consistently stated in the Council that sanctions regimes must be focused, effectively targeted and of limited duration. We have also emphasized that sanctions must be designed in such a way that the civilian population is not made to suffer for the intransigence of its leaders. For this reason, Jamaica supports the current efforts being undertaken in the Security Council to modify the sanctions regime so as to alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi people".

The Government of Japan

The Government of Jordan

The Government of Kenya

The Government of Kuwait

The Government of Libya

  • The statement of Mr. Babaa, Representative of Libya at the UN, at the Security Council, pp.2-3 (28 June 2001): "we believe that sanctions must be immediately lifted without delay when the reasons for their imposition are eliminated. We believe that sanctions run counter to human rights.... The sanctions imposed by the Security Council against Iraq have become a crime of genocide against the Iraqi people. The States that object to the lifting of those sanctions are guilty of that crime".

The Government of Malaysia

The Government of Mali

The Government of Mauritius

The Government of Morocco

The Government of Netherlands

The Government of New Zealand

The Government of Norway

The Government of Oman

  • Remarks of Oman's Foreign Minister at the opening of the UN General Assembly's 55th session (English | Arabic) (16 September 2000).
  • Summary of speech by Oman's Foreign Minister at the UN General Assembly's 54th session, in General Assembly press release GA/9607 (24 September 1999): calls for the lifting of sanctions. Also summarised here.

The Government of Qatar

The Government of Romania

The Government of Saudi Arabia

The Government of Singapore

The Government of Spain

The Government of Syria

The Government of Thailand

The Government of Tunisia

The Government of Turkey

The Government of the United Arab Emirates

The Government of Ukraine

The Government of Yemen

  • "Yemen urges Arab states to lift embargo on Iraq": report on speech by Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Times of India, 26 March 2002: "We stress the importance of taking a collective Arab initiative at the Beirut summit to lift, unilaterally if needs be, the embargo imposed on Iraq for 11 years".
  • The statement of Mr. Al-Ashtal, Representative of Yemen at the UN, at the Security Council, pp.10-11 (28 June 2001): "The comprehensive embargo imposed on Iraq 10 years ago continues ceaselessly to crush the Iraqi people. ... Indeed, life has come to an end for hundreds of thousands of children felled by disease and epidemic in the wake of a comprehensive blockade imposed by military force. ...The embargo imposed on Iraq, whether smart or stupid, today has no political or ethical justification".
  • Statement by Yemen's representative at the UN in the Security Council on 15 August 1991, pp.12-14: "Everybody says that he is not against the Iraqi people. Why then do some insist on the continuation of its suffering? Why do these people not lift from its shoulders the embargo that is harming and weakening Iraqi society day by day?"
  • Statement by Yemen's representative at the UN in the Security Council on 3 April 1991, pp.11-15: "why this cruelty to the Iraqi people, who suffered from the aerial bombardment for a whole month, who suffered from the intensified destruction, and who had already suffered the embargo for seven months?"
  • Statement by Yemen's representative at the UN in the Security Council on 13 September 1990, pp.3-6: "we refuse to starve the weak and innocent in Iraq and Kuwait, including those of third countries, as a way to achieve political ends, since the use of such methods is in contradiction to many international humanitarian agreements prohibiting them, for such inhumane actions make victims of innocent civilians who have no part in the conflict. ... Surely the Council does not wish to take the responsibility of exposing these persons to disease and starvation. For if that were to happen we should not blame the Government of Iraq; we would have to bear part of the responsibility."

The Government of Zimbabwe

  • Statement by Zimbabwe's representative at the UN in the Security Council on 15 August 1991, pp.14-15: "The critical humanitarian situation facing the people of Iraq following the end of the Gulf war has been a source of grave concern to Zimbabwe... we cannot fail to register our reservations regarding those provisions of the draft resolution before us which encroach on national sovereignty."
  • Statement by Zimbabwe's representative at the UN in the Security Council on 3 April 1991, pp.16-17: "It was also my delegation's expectation that, in keeping with the commitment it expressed in the presidential statement issued on 3 March regarding the humanitarian aspects of the situation in Iraq, the Council would, through the present draft resolution, proceed beyond the recent decision taken by the Committee established under resolution 661 (1990) and lift all remaining restrictions on the supply of foodstuffs and essential civilian needs to Iraq."

The European Union

The Interparliamentary Union (IPU)

The League of Arab States

  • The Beirut Declaration (unofficial translation of excerpts) of 28 March 2002: "The Council calls for lifting the sanctions on Iraq and ending the tribulation of the fraternal Iraqi people. [...] The Council rejects threats of aggression against some Arab states, particularly Iraq, and reiterates categorical rejection of attacking Iraq." Other translated versions: 1, 2, 3.
  • The statement of Mr. Hassouna, Permanent Observer of the Arab League at the UN, at the Security Council, pp.14-15 (28 June 2001): "The League of Arab States calls for the lifting of the sanctions against Iraq and for an end to the blockade".
  • The Amman Declaration (unofficial translation) of 28 March 2001: "We call for lifting the sanctions on Iraq and for dealing with the humanitarian issues pertaining to Iraqi, Kuwaiti and other prisoners of war according to the principles of our religion and national heritage."
  • A draft text on Iraq was drawn up for the final statement of the Amman summit (27-28 March 2001). Although there is still some dispute about this, it is generally believed that every Arab State except Iraq accepted it, and the text was then dropped from the final statement.

Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)


 

   
         
   

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