Human Rights Watch strongly criticized the government of
Iraq for refusing to cooperate with United Nations efforts to assess the country's humanitarian
situation.
In a separate letter to the U.N. Security Council, Human Rights Watch criticized the negative humanitarian impact of "holds" placed on equipment ordered for infrastructure repair, and urged the Council to remove sanctions on the import of civilian goods and financial transactions.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a report last week to the Security Council on the current phase of the oil-for-food program, said that Iraq had refused to issue visas to experts he had selected to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the humanitarian consequences of the sanctions. He also wrote that the government refused to discuss with the U.N. how a "cash component" to the oil-for-food program could allow U.N.-controlled funds to be used to purchase locally produced goods and services.
The same report frequently cited serious problems stemming from protracted holds by the Security Council's sanctions committee on key infrastructure repair items affecting public health. The report underscored the fact that humanitarian relief, no matter how significant, cannot address the overall impoverishment of ordinary people, and noted that many Iraqi families lack the income to purchase basic goods, including fruits, vegetables, and meat products that are available on the market.
"Iraq's stance of non-cooperation is deplorable," said Hanny Megally, executive director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch. "The government clearly does not place a high priority on addressing the vital needs of ordinary citizens." At the same time, Megally pointed out, the Secretary-General's report painted a disturbing picture of a continuing public health emergency. "One key factor in this is the resistance of the United States in the Security Council to making necessary changes in the sanctions regime," Megally said. "It's unfortunate that the major media stories on the report focused exclusively on Iraq's non-cooperation."
Human Rights Watch wrote to the Security Council in early January to advocate restructuring the sanctions on Iraq to minimize the impact on the civilian population by permitting the unrestricted import of civilian goods and investments in the civilian economy.
