Situation in the OPT – Letter from Iraq

Letter dated 29 April 2002 from the Permanent Representative

of Iraq to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

  On instructions from my Government, I have the honour to transmit to you herewith a letter dated 27 April 2002 from Mr. Naji Sabri, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq. The Minister calls attention to the fact that the United States administration has made of the tragic events of 11 September 2001 an excuse to impose policies of brute force, create further tension in international relations and settle old scores with particular countries on the grounds that it is combating terrorism and halting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, which is in flagrant violation of the relevant covenants and the norms of international law.

  The Minister indicates that it is important for the United Nations to declare its categorical rejection of this aggressive American policy and to urge respect for the rule of law in international affairs.

  I should be grateful if you would have the present letter and its annex circulated as a document of the Security Council.

(Signed ) Mohammed A. Aldouri
Permanent Representative


    Annex to the letter dated 29 April 2002 from the Permanent Representative

of Iraq to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

  I should like to alert you to the fact that the United States administration is making of the tragic events of 11 September 2001 an excuse to impose a policy of brute force, create further tension and unrest in international relations and settle old scores with particular countries on the grounds that it is combating terrorism and halting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. I refer to the address given by the President of the United States on 29 September 2001, in which he characterized certain States, including Iraq, as constituting an “axis of evil” and threatened to take unilateral measures against them. Following this declaration, officials of the United States administration, beginning with the President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense and his Deputy and the national security adviser, made frequent statements in which they unequivocally declared the intention of launching a military assault on Iraq so as to invade the country, seize control of it and impose a client political regime on its people.

  For United States officials to talk of plans to invade and occupy Iraq and impose a client political regime on its people is a grave violation of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, including those of non-intervention in matters that are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of States, the sovereign equality of all States Members of the United Nations, the peaceful settlement of disputes and the undertaking to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity and political independence of any State.

  It is also in violation of the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations that was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1970 at its twenty-fifth session. The Declaration states that:

  “No State or group of States has the right to intervene, directly or indirectly, for any reason whatever, in the internal or external affairs of any other State … .

  “No State may use … economic … measures … [or] … assist, foment, finance, incite … terrorist or armed activities directed towards the violent overthrow of the regime of another State … .”

Such talk also violates the Security Council resolutions relating to Iraq, all of which stress respect for Iraq’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence. This is a legal duty that is binding on States according to Chapter VII of the Charter, under which these resolutions were adopted.

  That the United States administration should accuse Iraq of endeavouring to acquire weapons of mass destruction without adducing any evidence in that regard provides renewed confirmation that this administration is fabricating pretexts to commit aggression against independent States and terrorize the international community. This is especially so since the party that is speaking about the hazards posed by weapons of mass destruction to international security is the United States, a country that possesses the largest arsenal of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction and one that has a long record of using such weapons against peoples. That record starts with its use of atomic bombs against Japanese civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and includes the use of chemical and biological weapons against Viet Nam, Korea and Cuba and, most recently, the use of depleted uranium against Iraq and Yugoslavia. The United States also has a long record of supporting and financing its ally the Zionist entity in building up its huge arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.

  The only way to rid mankind or the evils of all weapons of mass destruction is to take action to strengthen the international conventions relating to disarmament with a view to the total and universal elimination of such weapons, beginning with the vast arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in the possession of the United States. This is what was advocated by Mr. Saddam Hussein, President of the Republic of Iraq, in his message of 29 November [i.e. October] 2001 addressed to the peoples and governments of the West and the United States of America, in which he said (S/2001/1034, annex, and A/C.1/56/6, annex):

“[Events and statements clearly indicate] the importance of world cooperation, based on a binding treaty, to eliminate the burden and threat of weapons of mass destruction as a first step that might encourage the taking of other steps … . The primary danger to mankind and to the people of the United States of America is American weapons of mass destruction and similar weapons belonging to the Zionist entity … .

“… the United States [is the first country to be asked to take such an initiative] in order to confirm its credibility. … it is obviously necessary to divest the Zionist entity of those weapons.

“… when the United States is really willing to divest itself of such weapons, we do not think that any rational person in the world will dissociate himself from such a practical plan. …”

  The conduct of the United States of America in the international disarmament forums, however, reveals the double standards inherent in its policy, its contempt for the interests and hopes of mankind and its preference for hegemonism. The United States recently obstructed the work of the review conference on a draft verification protocol additional to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (Biological Weapons Convention), and it has unilaterally abrogated the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems (ABM Treaty). It has also been obstructing the implementation of paragraph 14 of Security Council resolution 687 (1991), which calls for the establishment in the Middle East of a zone free of weapons of mass destruction. It has approved the largest armaments budget in the history of the world, has continued to develop weapons of mass destruction of all kinds and is endeavouring to militarize and to extend the arms race to outer space.

  When the United States indiscriminately accuses other States of supporting terrorism, the international community must take a firm stand to prevent the United States from blurring the criteria to be applied and from using its brute force, its vast propaganda machine and its deceptive practices to turn the victims into criminal defendants. There are, or ought to be, agreed international standards for characterizing any phenomenon or conduct, and in the absence of such standards the world turns into a jungle ruled by the law of opportunism and power, that is to say the law of brute force.

  For more than half a century, nothing in our region has been more terroristic than the occupier Zionist entity. In full view of the entire world, it commits the most heinous war crimes and crimes against humanity. It destroys Palestinian towns and villages with tanks and bulldozers and bombs them with aircraft; it aims its lethal weapons, including depleted-uranium rounds and toxic gases, at Palestinian civilians; it buries wounded Palestinians in mass graves using bulldozers in order to cover up its crimes; and it refuses to comply with the Security Council resolutions urging it to withdraw from the occupied Arab territories. Despite all these terrorist and criminal practices, the United States provides this entity with unconditional political, material and military support and with its backing and protection at the international level. It furthermore inverts the facts and falsifies events when it recklessly characterizes the Palestinian people and its militants and leaders as terrorists.

  Since 1990 the United States has been engaged in all forms of terrorism against the people of Iraq. The evidence is too abundant to recount, but it includes the crime of the Amiriyah air-raid shelter, one of the United States terrorist military operations against Iraqi civilians in 1991 and one in which more than 400 persons were killed, including women, children and elders, as well as the bombing of Iraq’s towns and villages on a daily basis since 1991 and the criminal embargo maintained against the people of Iraq since August 1990 with the support of Security Council resolutions, which has caused the deaths of more than 655,000 Iraqis. Above all, the United States enacted in 1998 a law that it called the “Iraq Liberation Act”, as if Iraq was an American state occupied by Iraqis, and it allocated more than 100 million dollars to be distributed to an assemblage of mercenary terrorists and to be used to finance, train and arm them so that they could commit acts of terrorism against the people of Iraq, kill Iraqis and undermine the country’s stability, its national security and its sovereignty over its territory.

  Arbitrariness, the use of double standards, the unilateral use of force and threats and blackmail have become the fixed pattern of United States foreign policy. This is a policy in which aggression is a constant factor, and it is contrary to international law, the Charter of the United Nations and the norms of justice and fairness. All of the world’s countries that cherish peace and the rule of law and all the institutions of the international community must therefore declare their rejection of this evil policy and must adhere to the principles of international law and the customs and values that govern international relations.

  The United Nations is urged to proclaim its categorical rejection of this aggressive American policy. I refer in this connection to a sentiment you have expressed on numerous occasions, most recently in your annual report on the work of the Organization (A/56/1):

“The quest of the United Nations to build a world of order and justice can be achieved only through respect for the rule of law in international affairs.”

It is for this that we hope from the Secretariat of the United Nations.

(Signed ) Naji Sabri
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq

________


Document symbol: S/2002/500
Document Type: Letter
Document Sources: Security Council
Country: Iraq
Subject: Armed conflict, Incidents, Intifadah II, Palestine question
Publication Date: 29/04/2002
2019-03-11T20:29:47-04:00

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