Sanctions Against Economic Freedom
Taking Away Individual Economic Rights
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Here is a shocking summary, straight from United Nations reports, highlighting the effects of "sanctions" against people living in Iraq. Thanks to the Iraq Action Coalition for compiling this.
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Impact of the 9-Year Sanctions War on
the People of Iraq
From UN Reports
Iraq "has experienced a shift from relative affluence to massive
poverty. In marked contrast to the prevailing situation prior to the
events of 1990-91, the infant mortality rates in Iraq today are among the
highest in the world, low infant birth weight affects at least 23% of all
births, chronic malnutrition affects every fourth child under five years
of age, only 41% of the population have regular access to clean water, 83%
of all schools need substantial repairs. The ICRC states that the Iraqi
health-care system is today in a decrepit state. UNDP calculates that it
would take 7 billion US dollars to rehabilitate the power sector
country-wide to its 1990 capacity." - UN Report on the Current
Humanitarian Situation in Iraq, submitted to the Security Council, March
1999
"The humanitarian situation in Iraq will continue to be a dire one in
the absence of a sustained revival of the Iraqi economy, which in turn
cannot be achieved solely through remedial humanitarian efforts." - UN Report on the Current
Humanitarian Situation in Iraq, submitted to the Security Council, March
1999
"The increase in mortality
reported in public hospitals for children under five years of age (an
excess of some 40,000 deaths yearly compared with 1989) is mainly due to
diarrhea, pneumonia and malnutrition. In those over five years of age, the
increase (an excess of some 50,000 deaths yearly compared with 1989) is
associated with heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, cancer, liver or
kidney diseases." Approximately 250 people die every day in Iraq due to
the effect of the sanctions. - UNICEF, April 1998.
"The Oil-for-Food plan has not yet resulted in
adequate protection of Iraq's children from malnutrition/disease. Those
children spared from death continue to remain deprived of essential rights
addressed in the Convention of Rights of the Child." -- UNICEF, April 1998.
"32 percent of children under five, some 960,000
children are chronically malnourished - a rise of 72 percent since 1991.
Almost one quarter (23%) are underweight - twice as high as the levels
found in neighboring Jordan or Turkey." - UNICEF, November
1997.
"There is no sign of any improvement since Security
Council Resolution 986/1111 ["Oil for Food"] came into force." - UNICEF, November 1997.
"One out of every 4 Iraqi infants is malnourished.
… Chronic malnutrition among children under five has reached 27.5%. After
a child reaches two or three years of age, chronic malnutrition is
difficult to reverse and damage on the child's development is likely to be
permanent." UNICEF and
World Food Programmed (WFP), May 1997
"Iraq's health system is close to collapse because
medicines and other life-saving supplies scheduled for importation under
the 'oil-for-food' deal have not arrived. … Government drug warehouses and
pharmacies have few stocks of medicines and medical supplies. The
consequences of this situation are causing a near-breakdown of the health
care system, which is reeling under the pressure of being deprived of
medicine, other basic supplies and spare parts." World Health
Organizations (WHO), February 1997.
"4,500 children under the age of 5 are dying
each month from hunger and disease. … The situation is disastrous for
children. Many are living on the very margin of survival." - UNICEF,
October 1996.
"Since the onset of sanctions, there has been a
six-fold increase in the mortality rate for children under five and the
majority of the country's population has been on a semi-starvation diet."
- WHO, March 1996.
"Famine threatens four million people in
sanctions-hit Iraq - one fifth of the population - following a poor grain
harvest...The human situation is deteriorating. Living conditions are
precarious and are at pre-famine level for at least four million people. …
The deterioration in nutritional status of children is reflected in the
significant increase of child mortality, which has risen nearly fivefold
since 1990." - UN FAO, September 1995.
- "Sanctions are inhibiting the importation of spare
parts, chemicals, reagents, and the means of transportation required to
provide water and sanitation services to the civilian population of Iraq.
… What has become increasingly clear is that no significant movement
towards food security can be achieved so long as the embargo remains in
place. All vital contributors to food availability - agricultural
production, importation of foodstuffs, economic stability and income
generation, are dependent on Iraq's ability to purchase and import those
items vital to the survival of the civilian population." - UNICEF, 1995
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