C E B O . org

Posted 6:34 PM by Mary

Petition for Civilian reconstruction in Iraq, under UN auspices.
We, the undersigned citizens of the United States, fear the current U.S. war against Iraq will result in disastrous humanitarian consequences. While this war is fought, it jeopardizes the lives of 24 million Iraqi civilians, over half of whom are children.

We call upon all parties involved in the military conflict to respect the laws of war and take every possible step to protect civilians and noncombatants.
We call upon the United States to safeguard civilians by guaranteeing access, impartiality, and adequate funding for emergency humanitarian assistance.
We call upon the U.S. Administration to ensure as soon as possible that humanitarian aid and reconstruction are administered by civilian authorities under the leadership of the United Nations - not the U.S. military.
We pledge to hold our elected representatives accountable for the consequences of this war. For the future of our children and the children of Iraq, we pledge to support peace, justice, prosperity and democracy for all Iraqis. Epic-usa.org

Posted 11:20 PM by Mary

This Sunday, April 6, on the anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, citizen groups and individual activists across the U.S. will begin a simple action campaign that we believe has the potential for a profound impact. Please take a minute to read about a short-term creative campaign that just might get your senators in Washington, DC, to remember why international human rights laws exist: to support and protect the survivors of atrocities - genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity - and to prevent these atrocities in the future. The plan is simple: We're asking people from around the country to join the campaign by sending a $5.00 check to the Victims Trust Fund of the International Criminal Court - through their senators' offices. The donations to the Victims Trust Fund will help victims of future atrocities rebuild their lives.

This campaign is a collaborative effort of a number of U.S. civil society. website: victimstrustfund.org
The campaign is a positive and powerful way for Americans to demonstrate that we recognize pain and suffering beyond our own borders, and want our government to build a better world by cooperating with our global neighbors instead of dictating from the superpower soapbox. Our actions will also send a strong message of solidarity with other amazing on-going global efforts to end impunity for atrocities.

Posted 7:18 PM by Mary

COUNCIL FOR A LIVABLE WORLD E-MAIL ACTION

In the last few days, there have been disturbing signs that the White House is planning to put control of the humanitarian aid and reconstruction effort in Iraq under military rather than civilian control, and that the administration does not intend to give the United Nations any substantial role in this process:

Use This Link to Tell Congress to Require Civilian Control of Iraq's Recovery:CAPWIZ

On March 27th, Douglas Feith, Undersecretary of Defense for policy, told a Senate panel that he saw no role for the U.N. in Iraq following the war:

"If things go well, we will be able to hand things over the Iraqis, so there would be no need for U.N. participation," Feith said.
Then, on April 1st, it was reported that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had rejected eight officials proposed by the State Department to help run post-war Iraq. This action is widely seen as part of an effort to ensure the Pentagon controls every aspect of post-war Iraq.

The reasons why the post-war humanitarian aid and reconstruction effort should be coordinated by the U.N., and U.S. efforts should be administered by civilian agencies are many:

- The U.N. and the State Department's Agency for International Development are better able to distribute aid. Both agencies have long track records of rebuilding and distributing aid in war- torn countries; the Pentagon does not. Military forces must be prepared to provide aid if Iraq is too insecure for civilian groups to operate safely, but as soon as conditions allow, this role should be handed over to civil agencies and non-governmental organizations.

- If aid workers are associated with the U.S. military, their safety will be diminished as they will be seen as legitimate targets for reprisals against the U.S.

- The administration of post-war Iraq will be the defining issue in U.S.-Arab relations for decades to come. If the U.S. is seen as an occupying power in a Muslim country, it will poison U.S.-Arab relations and inspire new acts of terrorism against us.

- If the humanitarian aid and reconstruction effort is not U.N. sanctioned, many countries and non-governmental organizations will be legally barred from participating in it. This will not only force the U.S. to shoulder more of the financial burden of this effort, but will also prevent us from using the effort as a means to close the rift between the U.S. and nations that opposed the war.