February/March 1996, Pages 82-83

Human Rights

“Now More Than Ever” Human Rights in Palestine/Israel

With the peace process entering a crucial phase and Palestinian elections complete, 300 clergy and lay leaders have addressed a petition to American, Israeli and Palestinian leaders to make human rights a priority in further policies and negotiations. The Jan. 17 petition condemned human rights violations by both Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), and it urged the United States to link financial aid to Israel and to the PA to their compliance with basic human rights laws.

"As the peace process begins to speed up, it is even more important to remind leaders of their human rights responsibilities," said petition signer Robert Liston, co-founder of the American Alliance for Palestinian Human Rights. "Some people think the Oslo agreement solved everything, but there are still some very real problems. We can't start ignoring them now."

Rev. Paul A. Wee, senior pastor at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Washington, DC, and journalist and human rights activist Maha Ayoub joined Liston Jan. 17 in a Washington press conference to discuss the petition. Wee said that now, while all sides are developing new positions and policies, human rights activists have the opportunity to make sure all sides are accountable. "It's a very opportune moment to keep everybody honest and make sure that agreements already made are kept," Wee said.

The petition was initiated by veteran peace activist Edmund (Ned) Hanauer and his Boston-based non-profit organization, SEARCH for Justice and Equality in Palestine/Israel. He said the signers of the petition call for an end to "violence against civilians whether by Palestinians, Jewish settlers or the Israeli state." Hanauer also stressed the importance of the United States and the financial aid it gives to both Israel and the Palestinian Authority. He said that, by giving aid to these governments regardless of human rights violations, the U.S. would encourage such acts. "If President Clinton heeded Judeo-Christian values and international law," Hanauer said, "his policies would reflect the positions of U.S. religious leaders and human rights groups" rather than powerful lobbies.

The petition points to Israel's long-standing violations of United Nations and Geneva Convention rules including prohibitions against: torture, collective punishment, annexation of occupied territory and denial of the right to return to one's country. The petition also condemns more recent human rights violations by the Palestinian Authority. Wee said the Authority's intimidation of those critical of President Yasser Arafat and the Fatah movement is a major concern to human rights activists.

"Although Israeli violations have been more widespread, it doesn't detract at all from the gravity of Palestinian violations," he said. "Detentions without trial, torture, arrests, secret trials and restricting free speech have all been reported to have occurred under the Palestinian Authority."

Wee admitted that the petition alone will not halt abuses. Human rights groups, he said, must take legal action as well by focusing on specific cases and prosecuting them. The human rights cases not only help the individual involved but sometimes set precedents for future cases. Like the petition, these cases also bring public attention to the issue. Wee said this awareness is the key to putting a final end to human rights abuse. "Hopefully, with enough statements like this, the world community will respond," he said.

—Geoff Lumetta

Churches Call for Clinton to End Iraqi Suffering

A coalition of religious denominations and organizations is calling for action to relieve the widespread malnutrition and death among Iraqi civilians due to sanctions imposed during the Gulf war. The coalition, Churches for Middle East Peace, called on President Clinton and the United Nations to "move with urgency to end the suffering and to provide relief to the victims" of the economic sanctions.

The statement was prompted by a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization study that found more than 500,000 children have died as a result of the sanctions. The report added that the rising rates of malnutrition could lead to even more deaths. The coalition statement pointed out that before the invasion of Kuwait, Iraq had a state-of-the-art medical system and low hunger rates. After five years of sanctions, the percentage of Iraqi children affected by emaciation has escalated to levels equal to that of the poorest developing countries, according to the report. The economic sanctions prohibit export of oil or import of any other goods into the country. The loss of oil revenue, combined with the continued funding of a massive military, has left little money for the people's basic needs. The U.N. Security Council has offered assistance to Iraq by allowing it to sell $2 billion worth of oil to purchase food and medical supplies. The Iraqi government originally rejected such offers as an infringement on its sovereignty.

In its Dec. 7 letter to Clinton, the coalition stated that it "recognized the complicity of the government of Saddam Hussain in these tragic and needles deaths," but asserted that the organization "could not remain silent in the face of a policy which victimized the most vulnerable Iraqi citizens." Instead of bringing down the Hussain regime, the letter stated, "the sanctions have contributed to the death of children." The letter went on to urge the president and the U.N. to remove the international obstacles that prevent the Iraqi government from purchasing food, clothing and health care for its people.

Since the letter, the United States has joined with Britain and France in supporting a special U.N. humanitarian mission to Iraq. The mission would investigate the crippling effects of the trade sanctions and report on the extent to which the Iraqi government is responsible. The U.N. Security Council is currently debating whether to send the mission. Also, Iraq has recently accepted the U.N. offer to allow the sale of $2 billion worth of oil to pay for humanitarian needs. The Security Council is considering this issue as well.

—Geoff Lumetta