C E B O . org

Posted 11:27 AM by The Moderator

TIMEOUT requests all global Faith and Ethics bodies:

7. To call an emergency global conference on The Root Cause of Conflict and The Culture of Peace. The conference will deliberate upon the problems and
prospects of the Oil Industry and the International Weapons Industry and articulate action plans and timelines for their conversion to socially useful and sustainable industries. We propose that the conference be held in Baghdad as soon as possible, drawing ‘stakeholder’ participation from NGO’s and labor unions, government and industry.

8. To mobilize UNESCO to hold a Middle East Cultural Festival in Iraq by early fall. The festival should include scholarly forums/ conferences on religion and peace, for example, Islam, Judaism, Christianity and World Peace, Mapping Peaceful Paths for our Children’s Children’s Children; health and healing, ecology and human culture, youth culture. We envision a great surge in International travel on missions of goodwill to replace the cold and cruel insanity of the war fever.

Please contact your faith/belief/ethics bodies, endorse this resolution, and send information to:

Premilla Dixit, Women’s International League For Peace And Freedom, NY Metro
prem.dixit@verizon.net

Posted 10:59 PM by The Moderator

POLITICS - Lawyers, Doctors Warn U.N. Over U.S. Attack on Iraq
Thalif Deen
Oneworld.net
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 12 (IPS) - Groups representing more than 300 international lawyers, jurists and physicians warned Wednesday that a military attack on Iraq would not only be a blatant violation of international law but could kill over 260,000 people.

The statements, issued separately by two groups, have been transmitted to the 15-member U.N. Security Council, which is expected to decide soon whether to authorise a U.S.-led attack on Baghdad.

''(U.S.) President (George W.) Bush has no interest in or understanding of international law,'' said Peter Weiss, vice president of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA).

''He is in the process of dismantling the entire structure of law-based international security created since World War II,'' he told IPS.

Posted 1:31 PM by The Moderator

ANNAN STRESSES UNITY, EXHAUSTING ALL AVENUES OF PEACE IN DEALING WITH IRAQ
New York, Feb 8 2003 12:00PM
Stressing the importance of a united Security Council as it ponders the next steps in dealing with the disarmament of Iraq, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today reiterated his belief that all possibilities of a peaceful settlement should be exhausted before resorting to the use of force.

"If we succeed in getting Iraq to comply fully and disarm, by effective and credible inspections, then the prize is great," the Secretary-General said in an address this morning to the College of William & Mary in Virginia, where he was awarded an honorary degree during the school's celebration marking the 310th anniversary of its charter.

"Iraq would no longer be a threat to its neighbours, and we would send a very powerful message to all other countries that are tempted to develop or acquire weapons of mass destruction," he added. "We would strengthen the non-proliferation regime throughout the world."

The Secretary-General noted that the disarmament of Iraq was not an issue for one country alone, but for the international community as a whole. "When States decide to use force, not in self-defence but to deal with broader threats to international peace and security, there is no substitute for the unique legitimacy provided by the United Nations Security Council," he said. "States and peoples around the world attach fundamental importance to such legitimacy, and to the international rule of law."

In citing the "horror" threatened by weapons of mass destruction, an issue confined not just to Iraq, Mr. Annan said it was vitally important the entire international community carefully re-examine the foundations of its security in a united way. "Only a collective, multilateral approach can effectively curb the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and make the world a safer place," he said. "Nothing would undermine that goal more fatally than the actual use of weapons of mass destruction."

He recalled that it was due in large part to the firm challenge issued by United States President George W. Bush - and the pressure that followed it - that UN inspectors have returned to Iraq after a nearly four-year absence, backed by the power of a unanimous Security Council resolution giving them a new, more authoritative and robust mandate.

With that unanimity in the international community - a message conveyed by a united Security Council, by the Arab League and by Iraq's neighbours - the Secretary-General warned that if Iraq fails to make use of this last chance to disarm and continues its defiance, the Council will have to make another grim choice, based on the findings of the UN inspectors. "When that time comes, the Council must face up to its responsibilities," Mr. Annan said.

"In my experience, it always does so best and most effectively when its members work in unison," he said, underscoring that the Council should proceed in a determined, reflective, deliberative manner. "Its measures must be seen as firm, effective, credible and reasonable - not only by the Council members, but by the public at large."

He added: "The broader our consensus on Iraq, the better the chance that we can come together again and deal effectively with other burning conflicts in the world. These conflicts cause untold suffering, and urgently need our attention: from Israel and Palestine to Congo and Côte d'Ivoire, not to mention our efforts to stabilize Afghanistan."

Even beyond that, the Secretary-General said, the United Nations has a wider international agenda, set when the world's leaders came together in 2000 and adopted the Millennium Declaration, which established clear targets - not only for peace, security and disarmament but for a host of other global ills. "It is by our success or failure in fulfilling those Millennium Goals, and not just in Iraq, that the role of the United Nations in the twenty-first century should be assessed," he said.

Posted 11:54 AM by The Moderator

The Center for Constitutional Rights recently called upon member states of the General Assembly of the United Nations to act to avert an aggressive war with Iraq. Under a little-discussed resolution, aptly titled Uniting for Peace, 377, when there is a stalemate among members of the Security Council regarding the use of force, the General Assembly can be convened to consider the threat to international peace and recommend collective measures to maintain or restore peace.

The Charter gives the UN Security Council “the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.” But long ago, the members of the United Nations recognized that due to the permanent members veto powers, impasses would occur within the Security Council. They set up a procedure for insuring that such stalemates would not prevent the UN from carrying out its mission to “maintain international peace and security.” The aptly titled “Uniting for Peace” Resolution 377 was the solution to this problem. The resolution provides that, if because of the lack unanimity among permanent members of the Security Council, the Council cannot maintain international peace, the General Assembly “shall consider the matter immediately…” The General Assembly can meet within 24 hours to consider such a matter and can recommend collective measures to “maintain or restore international peace and security.”

CCR believes that due to the current impasse in the Security Council, Resolution 377 “Uniting for Peace” should be used to require that no military action be taken against Iraq without the explicit authority of the Security Council. It could also mandate that the inspection regime be permitted to complete its inspections. We believe it unlikely that the United States and Britain would ignore such a measure. A vote by the majority of countries in the world, particularly if it were unanimous, would make the unilateral rush to war more difficult.

A letter has been circulated to activists around the world to encourage them to contact their UN representatives to call for a special session under the “Uniting For Peace” resolution.

Posted 3:11 PM by The Moderator

TWO PROPOSALS FOR HALTING/STOPPING the IRAQ WAR

1. Democracy in Iraq: An Alternative to Preemptive War. Details from World Citizen Foundation and more specifically at: Iraq Intro
For further information, please speak directly with Timeout. Send comments and any assistance to Prem.dixit@verizon.net This proposal is being developed.