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Iraq Occupation Watch Center by (posted by Guido) Tuesday July 08, 2003 at 09:55 PM |
Cognizant of the current lack of information about Iraq and knowing that Iraq will receive increasingly less attention as media sources abandon the country for the newest “hot spot,” an international coalition of peace and justice groups is organizing the Baghdad-based International Occupation Watch Center.
The Center will function under the auspices of United for Peace and Justice (http://www.unitedforpeace.org), a U.S. anti-war coalition with more than 600 member groups, with participation from a diversity of international groups including Focus on the Global South, Iraqi Democrats Against Occupation, and members of the World Social Forum.
The Center will:
• Monitor the role of foreign companies in Iraq and advocate for the Iraqis’ right to control their own resources, especially oil;
• Act as a watchdog regarding the military occupation and U.S.-appointed government, including possible violations of human rights, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly;
• Research the dynamics, programs, and composition of the Iraqi movement to resist occupation in order to provide a more comprehensive picture to the international community;
• Support the creation of independent Iraqi organizations, such as media and environmental groups;
• Examine any changes in the rights and freedoms of Iraqi women and support local Iraqi efforts to promote women’s rights;
• Monitor the relationship between U.S. corporations/subcontractors and Iraqi workers and support the formation of independent trade unions;
• Track the international community’s financial commitments to rebuilding Iraq and hold the responsible parties accountable for those commitments;
• Monitor the physical impact of the U.S. invasion, including civilian casualties, the Iraqis’ ability to have access to the basic necessities of food, water and shelter, and the effects of depleted uranium and cluster bombs on the population and the environment;
• Regularly provide reliable information to the outside world.
Advisory Board Members - June 2003
Rev. Patty Ackerman, Fellowship of Reconciliation
Sami AlBanna, writer, systems and knowledge architect
Rafael Alegria, president, Via Campesino
Tariq Ali, author
Sinan Antoon, writer, professor, Dartmouth College
Walden Bello, Director, Focus on the Global South
Medea Benjamin, Global Exchange/United for Peace and Justice
Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies
Gene Bruskin, US Labor Against War
Leslie Cagan, United for Peace and Justice
Bernard Cassen, Director, Le Monde Diplomatique
Nahla Chahal, International Civilian Campaign for the Protection of the Palestinian People
Munir Chalabi, Iraqi Democrats Against Occupation
Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch
Jodie Evans, Code Pink: Women for Peace
Assaf Kfoury, professor, Boston University
Kamil Mahdi, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, England
Rania Masri, Iraq Action Coalition
Maria Luisa Mendonça, Organizing Committee, World Social Forum
Martha Mundy, professor, London School of Economics
Kevin Murray, Grassroots International
Milan Rai, author, War Plan Iraq
Adbul Amir Rakaby, Iraqi Democratic Opposition Current
Omeyya Seddik, Commission for an Arab Gathering of Global Resistance (C-RARG)
Anas Shallal, Iraqi Americans for Peaceful Alternatives USA