Iraq's continued defiance of the United Nations - address by U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Edward J. Perkins - Transcript

US Department of State Dispatch, August 17, 1992

Mr. President, it is evident from the statement we have just heard that Iraq is in clear and direct violation of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 688, which requires Iraq to end repression of its citizens and allow humanitarian organizations access to all of those in need.

Saddam Hussein has long relied on fear and repression to govern Iraq, maintaining what can truly be described as a reign of terror. The full scope of his brutalities has yet to be revealed, but what is known is a clear indictment of his practices.

Saddam is guilty of human rights abuses throughout the country and involving every ethnic and religious group. We believe it appropriate for the Security Council to address these wider issues as well as the violations cited by [Ambassador Max] Van der Stoel in his remarks to the Council.

Saddam is also obstructing the work of those who seek to help the people of Iraq. His government has refused to issue visas to replacements for UN guards who have rotated out of the country. Those who remain are being harassed constantly. These guards perform an essential job - besides providing a measure of protection for UN personnel and equipment, they are an important symbol of the UN's humanitarian commitment in Iraq. If we accept that Iraq can control the entry of UN personnel by denying visas, Iraqi intransigence could reduce the number to 127 UN guards of a needed contingent of 500 1 week from today. With a reduced number of UN guards, and with UN personnel unable to travel between Baghdad and the north, the Iraqi Government could increase its harassment of groups throughout the country that rely on the UN presence to care for their humanitarian needs.

In recent months, we have witnessed a resurgence of the Iraqi regime's cruel treatment of its citizens in the north. I would like to cite just a few examples.

* In the north, Saddam last week closed three key checkpoints into Kurdistan to humanitarian aid, petroleum products or people, including UN personnel. In addition, Iraq is refusing to sell fuel to humanitarian organizations. The blockade and inadequate fuel supplies are seriously hampering relief operations. Saddam has not paid government workers in the north since last October.

* On the eve of local elections in northern Iraq, three bombs were discovered in Zakho, including a car bomb in front of a hotel housing Western journalists and election observers.

* On June 30, Iraq refused to renew the Memorandum of Understanding on UN activities in Iraq.

* In early July, there were grenade and bomb attacks against UN offices in northern Iraq, including against UN guard headquarters.

Events in southern Iraq show an equally heinous disregard for human rights of the Iraqi people. In southern Iraq last year, observers reported that government troops indiscriminately fired on civilians and hanged some from the barrels of tanks. Government forces damaged mosques and desecrated tombs, razed residential areas around the mosques to create fire-free zones for security units, and banned access to cemeteries.

Recently, the government intensified its attacks against Shi'a civilians, possibly to compensate for its inability to eliminate insurgent groups based in the southern marshes. Iraqi commanders recently were ordered to destroy Shi'a villages and kill their occupants. A videotape shows Iraq's prime minister ordering government commanders to "wipe out" three marsh Arab tribes. Rural Shi'a villages are often shelled, as are residential areas near Shi'a cities such as An Nasiriyah. Numerous settlements have been abandoned as villagers either flee the fighting or are forcibly relocated. During a recent offensive, government forces destroyed more than 45 dwellings in settlements such as Sayqal and Wadiyah.

Reports coming from southern Iraq say that a government offensive in April produced more than 1,000 casualties, and hundreds of families reportedly fled into the marshes after their homes were set on fire. Fixed-wing aircraft, including sophisticated fighter-bombers and helicopter gun-ships, were used to strafe villages and other portions of the marshes. The government has begun executing civilians accused of supporting the rebels. Baghdad has severely limited the number of relief workers in the south because they could monitor the regime's abuses. Baghdad has refused to renew visas for relief workers. In April, the government authorized the removal of Shi'a villages living in or near the southern marshes. This operation is reminiscent of the "anfal operations" [Operation Anfal] - Iraq's forced relocation of thousands of Kurds in the 1980s.

Since the uprising, Saddam also has increased the level of economic pressure on the south. The government maintains a virtual economic embargo against the Shi'as by diverting most goods and services to Iraq's Sunni community. Saddam has refused to reconstruct water and sewage treatment facilities in the south, even though such facilities have been repaired elsewhere in Iraq.

Nor have the Iraqi citizens of Baghdad and other areas in central Iraq escaped the repression of the Saddam Hussein regime. Government manipulation and control of incoming food and medical supplies plus unrestrained printing of currency by the Iraq Central Bank have contributed to escalating prices for basic commodities. The response of the Baghdad regime was to execute merchants, more often than not Sunni Arabs who have been loyal supporters. Obviously, the regime represses ruthlessly any sign of dissent.