arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)
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Demand for "health, no occupation" at BRussells Tribunal demands end to occupati by Bert De Belder Tuesday, Apr. 20, 2004 at 10:19 AM |
| bert.debelder@intal.be |
Partners in the international campaign "Health NOW" (NO War, NO WTO, Fight for People's Health) didn't go unnoticed at the BRussells Tribunal, as the fight against the occupation of Iraq is one of their major concerns.
From April 14 to 17, a people's tribunal in Brussels condamned the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) for its role in the US war of aggression and subsequent occupation of Iraq. The tribunal, presided by François Houtart of the Tricontinental Center, was named "BRussells Tribunal" after Bertrand Russell, who pioneered this kind of tribunals in 1967, when the US was condamned for its war of aggression against Vietnam.
The jury consisted of eminent personalities such as Samir Amin, Nawal Al Saadawi and Dennis Halliday. Among the witnesses were US author Michael Parenti, Belgian author Michel Collon, Sara Flounders of the International Action Center (US) and Hans von Sponeck, a former UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq. Von Sponeck, just like Halliday, resigned from that position in protest against the embargo on Iraq.
While it was the PNAC that stood accused - the subtitle of the tribunal being "People versus Total War Incorporated" - also the concrete effects of the war and occupation in Iraq were looked into. Gazwan Al Mukhtar, who works with the Iraqi Health NOW partner Occupation Watch, gave an eyewitness account of life under occupation. Von Sponeck mentioned the recent report on Belgian Dr. Geert Van Moorter's fact-finding mission to Iraq, for intal/Medical Aid for the Third World, another Health NOW partner. Von Sponeck suggested that the report be sent to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
The BRussells Tribunal was an initiative of academics and artists. It had in parallel a lively cultural program, showing in première a 53' documentary film by a Belgian film-maker based on Dr. Geert Van Moorter's video images shot during the war in Iraq last year. The film is called "A legitimate act of mass prevention", referring to the testimonial and advocacy role of health workers against war and occupation.
The verdict of the BRussells Tribunal appeals to the UN to avoid any complicity with the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, but to the contrary to help bring about the complete withdrawal of all occupation forces and the full restoration of Iraq's sovereignty. The Tribunal expresses its solidarity with the Iraqi people and supports all their efforts to regain their full sovereignty.