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*Appeals to UN

Appeals to UN

 We participated the Fifty-seventh Session of Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and appealed DU issue to UN Sub-commission for keeping attentions.

 Our speeches are Speech1 and Speech2 below.

Speech1

 Thank you, Mr. Chairperson.

 Those who damaged most are women and@children in Gulf war and Iraq war 2003 as in other wars. The life in Iraq has been destroyed by cruel weapons.@Among other weapons, during 1991 through 2003, depleted@uranium weapons ( DU weapons) were used in a large amount and their toxicity has been pointed out since after war. A company, under contract to the military,@warned in its report that low level alpha radiation DU weapons omit can be linked@to cancer when exposures are internal.
 Childrenfs cancer rates in Basra,@jumped more than 300 % during a decade after war. I would introduce some facts using report by Asian Journalists of their own. Tanks destroyed by DU munitions were left in around south in Iraq, and near the tanks, extremely high levels of radiation were measured. Children are at risk to be exposed to DU dust. They suffer from disease such as leukemia, and malignant tumor. A doctor of Masour Teaching Childrenfs Hospital told a girl in a picture taken by these journalists had died. He pointed out other children in the picture one after another, repeating, This one died, too. Four to six children were dying every day there. (This episode explains the current severe situation.) These children must have stood with painful shots everyday.
 DU weapons brought disasters in family life. Mothers lost their hopes when they saw their childrenfs hairs getting extremely thin and finally told they are going to die. Babies having congenital disorders became higher in Basra. A mother who faced her child with abnormal brain at birth was so shocked that she disappeared from the hospital. In this way the attacks by DU weapons took away a motherfs pride and a Childfs pride. Children, in fact, have been deprived of their rights to be born with good health and grow normally. Those who are in hospitals had lost their chances to be cured properly, to get education and finally to live, which are all regulated under Convention of the Rights of Child.

 The shortage of medical needs for proper treatment due to the economic sanctions took away the chances to avoid death. Women, who removed components of tanks destroyed by DU penetrators to sell in town, are affected by the radiations. Carrying around these parts can spread the contamination further. Lack of cautions on these dangerous tanks escalates these serious conditions. All these are against rules of U. N. charter.@Besides, many women are in danger of being raped or looted.

 Although there are justifications that attacks were for anti-terror war, it was sure that the attacks would harm indiscriminately many innocent citizens including women and children. DU weapons are@used extensively and mainly in the south of Iraq where about 2 million citizens live. This is a breach of international humanitarian Law. It is violation of U N charter and human rights laws which respect human rights to live in health.

 The voice of citizens spread in Japan and to the world, who request more respects for Human rights in Iraq. The attack on Iraq is an attack on justice, on liberty, on our@safety, on our future, and on us all.@We, people decided to stand up and formed citizenfs court, called the World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI) and International Tribunals for Iraq (ICTI). We challenged to accuse war crimes in citizenfs courts with solidarity of people from over than 10 countries. Why did we take such actions? Because no international institutions had the courage or conscience to stand up to the threat of aggression of the US and UK governments.@None of them, including United Nations and WHO, have yet confirmed holding discussion how to compensate the victims for their damages and to be responsible for fair legalities.

  Use of depleted uranium for what is called ganti-terror warh is itself an act of terrorism made by states.

 Mr. Chairperson,

 I am speaking on behalf of citizens, and of citizens in Japan, a country with an experienced of tragedy in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I request U.N. sub-commission of Human Rights to take initiative to persuade other mandated institutions to set special institutions to remove D.U. ammunitions from all countries attacked, to compensate the victims for their loss, to supply sound medical needs and to conduct firm medical research. Thank you.

a note (PDFfile)

Speech2

 Thank you, Mr. chairperson. Ifd like to speak mainly on the urgent issue of human rights in Iraq under occupation.

 The effort to research the damages of war victims, especially of those injured by inhuman and indiscriminate weaponry, and the effort of recovery are now interrupted by the military activities between the occupational troops, Iraqi Army, and the armed political groups. The members of Iraq Freedom Congress(IFC) visited Japan this June. IFC is the organization for Iraq civil resistance which is the non-violence mass movement to establish the rights of women, the rights of workers and the unemployed, and to demand evacuation of the occupation troops. They told us that the lack of security is the heaviest block for their activities including to have survey on the war victims and support their demand for compensation. Some NGOs from Europe and America tried to support their effort soon after the last war. However, they have left Iraq because it is too dangerous to continue staying. The war victims are left behind and, what is worse, some of them face the risk of being affected by the toxicity of depleted uranium. At this point, uranium bullets are left behind lying in the densely populated areas like Baghdad, producing radioactivity just next to the people.

 Several researchers related to U.S. military, including Dr. Miller of the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, reported carcinogenic effects of depleted uranium from animal experiments. It is clear that U.S. military knows the toxicity of it. This reinforces our insistent that the use of uranium weapons should be regarded as war crime.

 However, people in Iraq still do not have a chance or right to access justice and claim compensation, and their voices do not yet reach the United Nations. All the military operations must be halted in order to prepare the prerequisite condition for the war victims to use their rights and call out their demand.
 Also, Japanese soldiers are deployed and sent to Samarwa, where uranium weapons were used. Japanese government and military authority did not provide enough guidance on depleted uranium or proper protections. There is an apprehension that the soldiers and their families may be affected by its toxicity.

 Mr. Chairman.
 Today is the 60fth NAGASAKI day. The survivors of the atomic bombs of HIROSHIMA and NAGASAKI are still struggling at trials. They claim that government should recognize their diseases caused by the radiation of atomic bombs, and their efforts have won two decided judgements. It is very important and must be emphasized that Japanese judiciary is on the way to establish a notion that the radiation dose lower than ICRPfs permissible dose level can affect human health. In addition to this, some local assemblies in Japan adopted the resolutions that the use of uranium weapons is the violation of the humanitarian laws and should be perfectly banned.

 Mr. Chairman.
 The sub-Commission have repeatedly pointed out the illegality of the use of inhuman and indiscriminate weaponry including uranium weapons, and discussed on the issues of compensation of the war victims. However the current situation in Iraq is going toward the opposite direction.

 I request sub-Commission to recollect the resolution 16fth in 1996, and express a clear reproach against the use of uranium weapons in the last war on Iraq by adopting another resolution. I also require sub-Commission to resume the work on the issue of gweapons of mass-destruction and human rightsh.
 Finally I require sub-Commission, as an urgent matter, to call an immediate halt of all the military activities in Iraq.

 Thank you for hearing.

a note (PDFfile)