Violations Of Iraqi Children Rights Under The American Occupation

اضيف الخبر في يوم الثلاثاء ٠٦ - يوليو - ٢٠١٠ ١٢:٠٠ صباحاً.


Violations Of Iraqi Children Rights Under The American Occupation
 
By Souad Al Azzawi
     
BRussels Tribunal
http://www.brussellstribunal.org/
 
I pride myself in being a scientist and a researcher. I built my academic
career on theories and numbers. As a teacher, I teach my students that
everything is based in science ­ everything has a reason. That is why, I am


always frustrated with myself when I find I am overwhelmed with feelings on
specific topics.  One such topic is the occupation of my country, Iraq. On
this subject I find that I cannot always be dispassionate. I cannot be the
researcher and observer and discuss it without feelings or emotions as I am
sometimes expected to do. I find myself doing research on the damages caused
by the war and occupation, and my head buzzes with anger, my eyes burn with
tears of desperation at the state of my country.  I decided, I would view it
as a scientist. I would not attack the subject with emotion. I would let the
numbers speak for themselves. This year I will sit back and play the part of
the analyst- the researcher- on the topic that is closest to my heart.  We
will show that the American occupation violated children's rights on all
levels, including health care, education, social security, family unity and
non separation of children from their parents through detention,
imprisonment and exile

For two decades, Iraqi children, along with all other elements of Iraqi
society, have been subjected to grave violations of human rights.  The
American occupation forces, and the occupation-assigned Iraqi government,
grossly failed to fulfill their most basic duties towards the children of
Iraq in accordance with the UN/CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child,
Resolution 25/ Session 44, November 1989. The convention was ratified by 194
United Nations countries, except the USA and Somalia.  Principals of the CRC
emphasized the need to protect children's rights' to life and physical,
mental, moral, and spiritual development in a safe environment.  Numerous
violations of Iraqi children's rights have systematically and continuously
been committed under the American occupation of Iraq.  We will show that the
American occupation violated children's rights on all levels, including
health care, education, social security, family unity and the non separation
of children from their parents through detention, imprisonment and exile.
1.Iraqi Children under the Economic Sanctions (1990-2003)  During the
economic sanctions imposed on Iraq, the country was denied the right to
import equipment, medicine, educational items, health care requirements,
etc. The economic sanctions were imposed by US/UK administrations and
enforced by UN resolution 661 in 1990. The sanctions committee in the UN was
dominated by the USA and UK, who insisted on blocking most essentials
related to human rights  2.Status of Iraqi Children under the Anglo-American
Occupation of Iraq  Thirteen years of suffering and the death of more than
half a million children under five as a result of economic sanctions ended
with the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. Iraqi people, and children have
had to face the excessive use of power, shock and awe techniques, raids, the
destruction of infrastructure, burning and looting of the civil services and
cultural centers of Iraq, damage to health care centers and hospitals, and
sectarian killing staged by occupation intelligence. Numerous violations of
Iraqi children's rights have continuously and systematically been committed
under the Anglo- American occupation of Iraq.

Direct killing during the military invasion operations where civilians were
targeted directly. Additional casualties amongst children have resulted from
unexploded ordinances along military engagement routes.

The direct killing and abuse of children during American troop raids on
civilian areas like Fallujah, Haditha, Mahmodia, Telafer, Anbar, Mosul, and
most of the other Iraqi cities[17]. The Massacre of the children in Haditha
in 2005 is a good example of "collateral damage" among civilians.

Daily car bombs casualties, explosion of buildings and other terrorist
attacks on civilians.

Detention and torture of Iraqi children in American and Iraqi governmental
prisons. While in detention, the children are being brutalized, raped, and
tortured. American guards videotaped these brutal crimes in Abu Graib and
other prisons.

Poverty due to economic collapse and corruption caused acute malnutrition
among Iraqi children. As was reported by Oxfam in July 2007, up to eight
million Iraqis required immediate emergency aid, with nearly half the
population living in "absolute poverty".

Starving whole cities as collective punishment by blocking the delivery of
food, aid, and sustenance before raiding them increased the suffering of the
young children and added more casualties among them.

Microbial pollution and lack of sanitation including drinking water
shortages for up to 70% of the population caused the death of "one in eight
Iraqi children" before their fifth birthday. Death of young children in Iraq
has been attributed to water borne diseases such as diarrhea, cholera,
typhoid, hepatitis, etc.

Contaminating and exposing other heavily populated cities to chemically
toxic and radioactive ammunitions. Weapons like cluster bombs, Napalm, white
phosphorous, and Depleted Uranium all caused drastic increases of cancer
incidences, deformations in children, multiple malignancies and child
leukemia. Children in areas like Basrah, Baghdad, Nasriya, Samawa, Fallujah,
Dewania and other cities have been having multifold increases of such
diseases. Over 24% of all children born in Fallujah in October 2009 had
birth defects.The Minister of Environment in Iraq called upon the
international community to help Iraqi authorities in facing the huge
increase of cancer cases in Iraq.

The deterioration of the health care system and the intentional
assassination of medical doctors have resulted in an increased number of
casualties amongst children. It has been estimated that the mortality rate
amongst the population of Iraq reached 650,000 from 2003 to 2006. Another
survey indicated that the total number of dead for the period of 2003-2007
is about one million. Among other cases, the failures of the health care
system were specified as one of the major causes.

Damage to the educational system. By 2004, it was estimated that two out of
every three Iraqi children were dropping out of school. Statistics released
by the Ministry of Education in October 2006 indicated that only 30% of the
3.5 million students were actually attending schools. Prior to the US
invasion, UNESCO indicated that school attendance was nearly 100%.
Assassination of educators and academics in Iraq drove their colleagues to
leave the country. This brain drain and the intended destruction of schools
and the educational system is part of the well planned cultural cleansing of
the Iraqi society and identity.

Total collapse of Iraq's economy, the sectarian violence, American troop
raids on civilians, the killing of a dear family member have all deprived
the children in Iraq of an innocent, carefree childhood that is the right of
any child. They have to deal with family breakdowns, poverty, and a complete
and total lack of security. Iraqi children are being forced to assume income
generating roles because their families are suffering from hunger and
poverty. They are leaving schools and having to deal with adult problems
such as unemployment, manual labor, etc. This situation exposes them to
hardship, and many forms of abuse. Exposure to violence on a daily basis has
affected their psychological development and behavior as well.

The drastic increase in the number of orphans in Iraq. The Ministry of Labor
and Social Affairs estimated the number of Iraqi orphans to be around 4.5
million. Other estimates put them at around 5 million. About 500,000 of
those orphans live on the streets without any home or family or specialized
institutions to take care of them. Among these orphans, 700 are in Iraqi
prisons and another 100 in American prisons.

The problems of families who were forced to migrate and the impact on their
children. Since the invasion of Iraq, there have been about 2.2 million
internally displaced people who were forced to migrate due to sectarian
violence, American violence, etc. Well over two million other Iraqis were
driven out of Iraq. On November 20, 2007 UNESCO reports indicated that the
number of Iraqi children taking refuge in Syria alone was around 300,000.
The problems of children who have been forced to migrate represent a real
humanitarian crisis where a large number of families have no shelter, no
finances, no health care, no education, and no security of any kind.
3.Deterioration of Living Conditions of Displaced Iraqi Children  This case
study was conducted by the author with the help of the Iraqi Women Will body
(IWW), an Iraqi NGO fighting for Iraqi women's rights inside and outside of
Iraq.  In October 2009, around 300 copies of the questionnaire were
distributed to Iraqi families within the Yarmouk refugee area of Damascus,
Syria. The researchers visited these families to ensure the accuracy of the
answers and to conduct personal interviews.  You can read the case study and
the conclusions on the website of The BRussells Tribunal here

.

 

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