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Arms Sales to the Middle East
Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Territories
Lebanon
Right of Return of Palestinian Refugees
Iraq
Statement: Violation of Indigenous rights in Norway
Justice in Chile
Statement:
The Situation in the Balkan Region
Depleted Uranium
National Missile Defence
Statement:
Textile Factory Workers
Colombia
Statement:
Diamonds and Armed Conflict
Turkey and the situation of the Kurds
Resolutions and Statements passed by the IEC 2000
from the Pre IEC International Seminar
Palestine
Chernobyl
WILPF calls for
Nuclear testing, health and environment
"Plan Colombia"
Burundi
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s International Executive Committee, meeting in Berlin, July 31 - August 4, 2000 resolved that,
Whereas the multilateral discussions on regional security agreements, including all countries in the Middle East, were discontinued in 1995 because of Egypt's refusal to continue discussion because of Israel maintaining its policy of "nuclear ambiguity";
Whereas many countries in the regional have declared and undeclared weapons of mass destruction - biological, chemical and nuclear - as well as delivery vehicles, or appear to be developing such, leading to increased hazards of war and unspeakable destruction;
Whereas Israel's continued nuclear weapons programme poses a threat of accident, contamination, and calamity to Israel itself and the region, and is a spur to the arms race in the Middle East;
Aware that Israel and the United States were the only two votes in the United Nations against reaffirmation of the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Treaty, indicating an alliance in the "weaponization" of space, adding a new and dangerous dimension to the Middle East arms race;
Whereas the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled in 1997 that nuclear weapons are generally illegal under international humanitarian law;
Whereas Mordechai Vanunu continues to be imprisoned;
Whereas the Israeli government is unwilling to engage in the recently held Knesset debate on nuclear policy; and
Whereas the New Agenda Coalition at the Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty called for unequivocal actions by the nuclear weapons states for the elimination of such weapons,
Therefore, be it resolved that the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom:
Add its voice to the calls for reconvening the multilateral discussion for the elimination of all weapons of mass destruction from the Middle East, including weapons in space and, in particular, calls on Israel to associate itself with the New Agenda Coalition for the elimination of nuclear weapons, and to become an active signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and, as a sign of this policy, to release from prison Mordechai Vanunu.
Arms Sales to the Middle East
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s International Executive Committee, meeting in Berlin, July 31 - August 4, 2000 resolved that,
Whereas the Israeli government is acquiring and developing its nuclear arsenal such as the Jericho missile program at a cost of two billion dollars, of which 60% is funded by the United States;
Whereas the United States proposes to supply Israel with Tomahawk Cruise missiles and other such armament as part of the Israeli-Syrian Peace Treaty;
Whereas most of the US aid to Israel and other Middle East countries is given with an obligation for the receiving country to spend the aid money in the United States acquiring weaponry;
Whereas Israel's nuclear arsenal of allegedly more than 200 nuclear weapons is prompting other nations in the region to acquire weapons of mass destruction in order to counter the deadly threats by Israeli nuclear weapons; and
Whereas it has been shown that military escalation will not bring peace to the Middle East, and that funds spent on weapons could be used for construction of a just and viable peace through the reconstruction of war-devastated areas,
Therefore, be it resolved that:
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s International Executive Committee, meeting in Berlin, July 31 - August 4, 2000,
Calls upon President Clinton and the government of the United States, as well as the heads of state and governments of the Middle East countries to halt the arms trade in the Middle East and redirect resources toward the fulfillment of human needs such as health care, education, conflict resolution, creative technologies for sharing water, land, resources, and developing means of subsistence in desert land, protecting the environment.
We call upon all heads of state and governments to consider the real problems of survival that will be caused by nuclear waste pollution, the lack of water, and the lack of autonomous, sustainable, economies based on people's need.
Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Territories
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s International Executive Committee, meeting in Berlin, July 31 - August 4, 2000,
Reaffirms the WILPF document, "Breaking the Barriers to Peace" known as the "Cyprus Document" of March 25-28, 1997. We wish to add the following:
Whereas, since 1967, some 6000 Palestinian homes have been destroyed on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, some 1800 since 1987, leaving more than 30,000 people homeless, destitute after fleeing in fear and trauma;
Whereas, since 1967, some 300,000 olive and other fruit trees have been uprooted from Palestinian fields, 17,000 in 1998 alone, undermining the Palestinian economy and culture, deeply affecting their economic survival;
Whereas 12 new by-pass highways are currently being constructed as part of a massive system of 29 by-pass roads with restricted access, each of these highways being 50 meters wide with "sanitized" margins of 300 meters width, effectively limiting the growth of Palestinian towns, cities, and villages and preventing the territorial contiguity needed for a viable Palestinian entity linking individual Israeli settlements into "blocs" that surround and swallow Palestinian communities;
Whereas, since 1967, Israel has taken control of 70% of the Occupied Territories and more than one million acres of agricultural land;
Whereas more than 195 settlements have been established on the West Bank with home to 180,000 settlers, 350,000 in all if Israelis living in neighborhoods of Jerusalem beyond the green line are counted;
Whereas, despite international resolutions, Israel has continuously appropriated Palestinian lands dangerously undermining the Peace Process and making peace less and less viable; and
Whereas Israel refuses to recognize the binding nature of human rights covenants to which it is signatory as they relate to its actions in the Occupied Territories, and uses intimidation, closures, collective punishment, denial of residency, the rights of work, and the criminalization of Palestinian daily life, all of which is a violation of the human rights of the Palestinian people and the fourth Geneva Convention,
Decides to take effective actions to implement the recommendations contained in the "Cyprus Document", and calls in particular on the US Section to take action in view of the fact that the above-mentioned Israeli policies are executed in part through the misuse of US tax dollars.
Lebanon
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s International Executive Committee, meeting in Berlin, July 31 - August 4, 2000,
Welcomes the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, thus implementing Security Council Resolution 425;
Calls on Israel to supply the UN with maps of the mines it placed in South Lebanon to enable to halt the death they cause to dozens of people every week.
Statement
Right of Return of Palestinian Refugees
The Executive Committee of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, meeting in Berlin 31 July to 4 August 2000 reaffirms the statement it adopted at its meeting in Costa Rica, 2-6 August 1999, calling for the implementation of UN General Assembly resolution 194 (III) which guarantees the return of the Palestinian refugees to their homes and for compensation to be paid for the property of those who, under the principles of
international law, should be compensated by Israel. the responsible government.
Iraq
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s International Executive Committee, meeting in Berlin, July 31 - August 4, 2000,
Reaffirms its resolution on Iraq adopted by the 27th WILPF Congress in 1998 in Baltimore, USA, which called on all Sections, particularly the US Section, to contact their legislations to vote for the lifting of the sanctions by the Security Council.
Statement
Violation of Indigenous rights in Norway
Northern Norway is a strategically important part of NATO's area, bordering on Russia and with a long coastline along the Barents Sea close to the Polar regions. Norway has no permanent military bases on its territory. In order to avoid provoking the Soviet Union, NATO military activities were not permitted in the areas closest to the common border during the Cold War. However, large mountainous areas further to the west have been used for large annual NATO training exercises, involving several thousand military personnel from many countries. Heavy tanks and other vehicles have invaded small local communities for several weeks while simulating battles between the "invaders" and the "defenders". The main training areas cover several hundred square kilometres. This area, Troms County, has the most military installations in Norway, entailing much needed local employment in a largely non-industrialized area. In addition the mountain areas of Troms County is traditionally reindeer herding country. WILPF Norway has for many years supported the complaints from the local population over the intrusion, noise and pollution from these military activities. We have also supported the protests from the Sami families who see their traditional areas reduced because of "security" restrictions on movement.
Following the fall of the Berlin Wall there is common agreement that the potential threat of a military invasion from Russia no longer exists. However, rather than cutting down on military exercises and use of Sami land for military purposes, the Norwegian Parliament has accepted to combine the two major training territories by a transport area 1 km wide and 70 km long. According to all Sami institutions this enlargement threatens the very existence of reindeer herding in this area because it will destroy the pastures of all the local reindeer-herding Samis.
In addition, this is a clear violation of Norwegian obligations in relation to international conventions on the rights of indigenous peoples. The Sami organizations have raised legal protests and are prepared to take the case to international institutions, but the military wants to start constructing the track before the legal questions have been sorted out. The Norwegian Government must say no to this demand.
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s International Executive Committee, meeting in Berlin, July 31 - August 4, 2000,
Supports the Norwegian Section of WILPF’s protest against NATO's use of Sami reindeer land for military purposes and calls on the Norwegian government to wait for legal procedures to be terminated and to ultimately honour the wishes of the Sami.
Justice in Chile
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s International Executive Committee, meeting in Berlin, July 31 - August 4, 2000,
Confirms its conviction that it is not possible to reach reconciliation, true and lasting peace or future progress in a society where injustice continues for those who have already suffered, while those responsible for violations of human rights have impunity.
Whereas the Chilean governments claims to enforce the process of reconciliation among the people of Chile;
Whereas Oriana Alcayaga Zepeda’s father was arrested and executed without a trial or any other judicial process, on the orders of the military junta’s leader A.Pinochet in 1973 when Oriana was only 12 years old;
Whereas the efforts of Oriana Alcayaga Zepeda’s family to obtain justice were met by the representatives of the dictatorships’ administration with mockery, harassment and threats;
Whereas the consequences of Oriana Alcayaga Zepeda’s involvement in a forbidden organization fighting for social justice and refusing to accept the impunity of the dictatorship’s criminals were prosecution, arrest, torture and a 6 year sentence of imprisonment for the possession of a hand gun by a military court in accordance with military law five years after the civilian government was installed; and the prosecution still calling for a life-imprisonment for assault of a policeman;
Whereas Oriana Alcayaga Zepeda also faces charges by a civilian court to 15 years in prison for belonging to a forbidden organization; and
Whereas Oriana, the mother of 5 children, has been in prison since 1995,
WILPF demands that Chilean government and the Chilean Authorities within the judicial establishment re-establish civilian law, break the cycle of injustice and save the younger generation from the consequences of the military dictatorship’s terror by:
Immediately releasing Oriana Alcayaga Zepeda and all other political prisoners from prison, giving them and their families compensation for their suffering, invalidating all sentences handed down by military courts, and guaranteeing every citizen their legal rights and equal rights before the law and guaranteeing independent and impartial trials in civilian courts.
Statement
The Situation in the Balkan Region
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, meeting in Executive session in Berlin, July 31 - August 4, 2000, expresses extreme concern about the situation in the Balkan region, the gravity of which particularly affects the most vulnerable parts of the population such as women and children. As women, we are concerned that the global community still resolves regional conflicts by bombings and the use of boycotts.
We request the OSCE States to take such steps that guarantee the human rights of all people living in the Balkan region, and to immediately lift all boycotts and sanctions imposed on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, with the exception of military equipment, and end the supply of arms to all in the region.
This demand is addressed particularly to those nations who have, with the bombing attacks by the NATO forces, contributed to the worsening of the situation in the region. The NATO member states must take responsibility for the consequences of the attacks, which had grave effects on the stability of the region. Economic stability and democracy can only be restored by support from and integration into international non-military institutions and the strengthening of civil society.
Depleted Uranium
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s International Executive Committee, meeting in Berlin, July 31 - August 4, 2000,
Deplores the use of depleted uranium munitions by NATO in Kosovo and Serbia and by the USA and UK in Iraq that are pyrogenic and ignite on impact, are radiologically and chemically toxic weapons that are primarily alpha emitters with beta and gamma decay products with a half life of 4.5 billion years,
Understands that after detonation, DU weapons produce very small, volatile and "ceramic" particles of uranium oxide which release long term, low level radiation in the human organism and system, in which they remain for many years;
Recognizes that the use of these weapons is illegal under existing international humanitarian law because they fail the four main tests of weapons under international humanitarian law: temporal (continues after war), environmental (soil and water contamination), humaneness (unnecessary suffering beyond that required for military purposes) and affecting non-combatants under the Martens Clause;
Believing that because depleted uranium weapons are also chemically toxic, they are illegal under existing treaties against poisonous weapons;
Demands the immediate cessation of the manufacture, sale and use of these weapons in maneuvers and in war situations worldwide;
Demands that countries that have used these weapons take financial and moral responsibility for de-contaminating the areas in which the munitions have been used;
Demands that the UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights take up the use of DU weapons as a blatant violation of human rights;
Demands also that those countries guarantee life time health care for all those civilian populations in Kosovo, Serbia and Iraq potentially affected, as well as veterans of several nationalities in the Gulf War and those active in Kosovo;
Deplores the denial by authorities of the danger caused by low-level radiation exposure to internalized radio nuclides linked to depleted uranium, which only serves to perpetuate the nuclear power and weapons industry. Such denial is reinforced by the inability of the World Health Organisation to properly investigate the health effects of radiation due to the 1959 agreement it has with the International Atomic Energy Agency;
Insists on the immediate provision of information on protective measures in the languages of those populations potentially affected, focusing on prevention of inhalation and ingestion of re-suspended radioactive insoluble particles;
Insists on the immediate commencement of long-term epidemiological studies of all affected populations, and biological studies on all plants and animals affected, paid for by those countries that have used the weapons.
National Missile Defence
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s International Executive Committee, meeting in Berlin, July 31 - August 4, 2000,
Recalls its numerous resolutions and policy statements adopted since 1945 on the urgent need for nuclear disarmament and its protests against the "Star Wars" system proposed by the United States of America during the height of the Cold War;
Condemns the reemergence of the "Star Wars" project by the US administration, misleadingly renamed as "National Missile Defence", a system which violates the spirit and the letter of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and lays the groundwork for an offensive space-based weapons system threatening an arms race reminiscent of the "Cold War";
Convinced that the plans for National Missile Defence are merely the beginning of a much larger project including the High Aerial Auroral Research Project (HAARP), and those outlined by the US Space Command for "full spectrum dominance" of space through militarizing the heavens which represents a gross violation of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty;
Outraged that a government representing 4% of the global population, that already dominates, exploits and consumes a hugely disproportionate percentage of the worlds resources, would consider it their right to militarily dominate outer space in blatant violation of the spirit and letter of many international laws, treaties and covenants;
Concerned that the July 20, 2000 test of the US NMD cost 100 million dollars and that the entire NMD project is estimated to cost in excess of 60 billion over the 2000 - 2010 period, funds that the US population desperately needs to overcome gross poverty, as well as to meet basic health and educational needs;
Concerned that tests have already caused environmental damage in the Pacific and that they reinforce colonial domination of the region by the United States of America;
Concerned that the globus two raydomes installed in Norway close to the Russian border is part of NMD plans, as is the Pine Gap base in Australia and the Menwith Hill base in the UK;
Extremely concerned that the international community has repeatedly opposed the proposed NMD project, especially Russia and China, both countries having indicated dire consequences if the AMB Treaty is scrapped;
Convinced that the criteria set by President Clinton have proven the case for abandoning the National Missile Defence system due to excessive cost, test failure and perceptions of threat not grounded in reality;
Outraged that very few women weapons experts and none of the wider peace movement are represented in the decision making process and that a consultation process has been totally absent;
Demands that President Clinton completely abandon the NMD project, also known as "Star Wars";
Calls on all sections of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom to support the October 7, 2000 International Day of Action called by the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space; and
Calls on all WILPF Sections, especially the sections in the USA, UK, Norway, Denmark, New Zealand and Australia which are especially implicated in the US network in the already established ground terminals for the space based infra red laser systems, to protest and oppose the NMD project and the involvement of facilities in their countries.
Statement
Textile Factory Workers
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s International Executive Committee, meeting in Berlin, July 31 - August 4, 2000, is extremely concerned at the closure without notice of the factory "Trajes Internacionales", in Costa Rica, leaving more than one hundred women and men unemployed with no social security.
We urge the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Mr. Victor Morales to ensure that the Costa Rican constitution and labour laws are respected in this situation in order to ensure the workers receive their lost salaries and social benefits.
Colombia
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s International Executive Committee, meeting in Berlin, July 31 - August 4, 2000,
Considering:
That the root causes which gave rise to the resolution "Colombia, a country at war" adopted and implemented by WILPF at the IEC meeting in Costa Rica in 1999;
That the situation presented in this resolution not only continues, but the human rights violations and the violations of international humanitarian law have worsened as a result of the intensification of the internal armed conflict, as has been recognized by the United Nations through the report and recommendations presented to the Colombian government by Mrs. Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights;
That in spite of the recommendations presented by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Government of Colombia has shown no political will to protect the life, honour, or property of Colombian citizens;
That, to the contrary, the imminent implementation of the "Plan Colombia" by the Colombian and United States governments, a plan imposed without consultation, unilateral and anti-democratic, is designed as an investment in war and not in peace;
That as a consequence of the imminent implementation of this plan, there may well be more violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, such as internal forced displacement which has in recent times affected more than two million people, including loss of life, property, and the destruction of the social fabric of the organized communities;
That the internal forced displacement in Colombia has constituted a true humanitarian emergency, becoming one of the largest populations of displaced people in the world at the present time;
That of this displaced population more than 50% are women and children;
That the rights of women and girl children are an inalienable and indivisible part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
That as a consequence of the imminent implementation of "Plan Colombia", the illegal parties may well renew and escalate their acts of war, kidnapping for ransom as one of their forms of financing arms traffic and traffic in illegal substances;
That forced disappearances continue, along with forced displacement, targeted massacres (over 400 massacres during 1999 and 2000 to date) in which women are being used as pawns of war to injure and inflict degradation on the enemy;
That the crime of genocide continues unpunished;
That at the present time there are more than 2000 citizens who are being held by kidnappers, among them 120 children;
That as a consequence of the current internal armed conflict, respect for natural resources, especially those within the lands of indigenous peoples, and respect for their ancestral customs and their communities is being violated, with a consequent loss of their cultural and territorial heritage, violence which threatens these communities with physical extinction;
That as a consequence of the "war on drugs" their territories are being continually fumigated, their food and their sources of water poisoned by the attacks on illegal crops which are being grown illegally on their ancestral land by actors in the conflict;
That the "Plan Colombia" will be carried out on their lands;
That the capitalist logic of multinational companies, such as OXY of Colombia which plans to extract the "blood of our mother earth" from the U’wa community, continues to violate the land rights of this community which is resisting heroic ally, in spite of assassinations targeted against their people, including children, and has threatened to engage in collective suicide as an extreme form of resistance to defend their land and culture;
That there are large scale hydroelectric infrastructure projects and projects along the Pacific which threaten the territories of the Embera Katio minority; and
That the Afro-Colombian people make up a great part of the displaced population and that their lands are being occupied by the actors in the war, as well as by the multinational lumber companies,
Resolves to
Condemn the violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law by armed organizations and by agents of the Colombian government;
Reject the "Plan Colombia", and call on all sections of WILPF to encourage their governments to oppose the Plan Colombia;
Call on the United Nations and on the European Union to continue and increase its commitment to give political and financial support to the office of the High Commission for Human Rights in Colombia in order that it may effectively carry out its duties extended to it by the UN Commission on Human Rights;
Demand that the Colombian Government and the United Nations implement effective policies for the protection of human rights and international humanitarian law;
Demand that the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights investigate violations of human rights and international humanitarian law such as: the selective massacres, including that of women such as that in Salado Bolivar in March of this year, kidnappings, extortion, and forced disappearances;
Demand that the Colombian Government and the United Nations respect and fulfill the provisions of the national constitution and the international agreements on the protection of ethnic minorities and of Afro-Colombians.
Statement
Diamonds and Armed Conflict
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s International Executive Committee, meeting in Berlin, July 31 - August 4, 2000, supports the position of the international community regarding the sale of illicitly extracted diamonds from areas of armed conflict such as Sierra Leone. The sale of illicitly extracted diamonds is fueling the war in Sierra Leone, causing gross human rights abuses such as the displacement of women and children, maiming of people, looting, burning of houses and raping of women.
We demand that the perpetrators of these atrocities be brought to justice and that all diamonds from Sierra Leone be certificated by the legitimate government of the country.
Turkey and the situation of the Kurds
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s International Executive Committee, meeting in Berlin, July 31 - August 4, 2000,
Considering that the PKK (Party of Kurdish Workers) decided to change its struggle from a "guerrilla" strategy to a definitive renouncement of violence in September 1998;
Considering that the continuing disembarkment of clandestine Kurdish refugees in Southern Italy is an unequivocal sign of a local crisis in eastern Turkey;
Demands that the Turkish government will not execute Abdullah Ocalan and that it improves his jail conditions;
Calls on every section to support the Kurdish Peace Proposal demanding a democratic and pluralistic Turkey without any ethnic demarcations for the Kurds; and
Requests the UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights in Geneva to appoint a Special Rapporteur on the situation of the Kurds, with specific attention to that of Kurdish women.
Policy Statement
Peru
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s International Executive Committee, meeting in Berlin, July 31 - August 4, 2000, expresses its deep concern about the reported brutality used by the police and other "security forces" in Lima, Peru in recent weeks, namely that women participating at a women’s peaceful march in Lima, Peru on 27 June 2000, demanding the restoration of democracy, were brutally repressed by the police, and many of them sustained injury and shock. Also that women, men and children participating at the July 26-28, 2000 peaceful protest action held in response to the confirmation of Mr. Fujimori as President were also attacked by police forces and that six workers were killed.
We condemn the use of violence and support the demand of WILPF Peru that an independent investigation team be formed. International experts are needed due to the judiciary and police in Peru being subordinated to the National Intelligence System, which is suspected of instigating the violent acts, mentioned above.
We support people’s organizations working to restore democracy by peaceful means in Peru. Economic globalization, unemployment, poverty and the absence of democracy must be reversed in order to avoid an increased confrontation and polarization between groups of people in Peru.
Resolutions and Statements passed by the IEC 2000
from the Pre IEC International Seminar
The Executive Committee of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, meeting in Berlin from 31 July to 4 August 2000, adopted the following resolutions and statements transmitted to it by the International Seminar on the Elimination of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance — Essential for a Culture of Peace, held in the same city from 26 to 29 July 2000:
Palestine
The International Seminar on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance - Essential for a Culture of Peace, understands that the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is not like any other conflict. The Palestinians and Israelis are two people fighting over the same land, over water, for the right to live a normal life, but with very unequal strength.
Above and around and inside Arab villages in the West Bank are Jewish settlements built in violation of international law. In some cases they are built on the ruins of demolished Arab homes.
Israel has tried to destroy the territorial integrity of Palestine by creating barriers between Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip as separate parts, and Palestinians, living in the West Bank must have permission to go to the Gaza Strip. The checkpoints are there and
elsewhere.
Palestinian waters are taken. The Palestinian villages and towns have 20% of the fresh water and the rest goes to Israel.
Jerusalem is very important to the Palestinians both Christian and Moslem, but they must get permission every time they want to go there. Many of them are refugees and want to have the right to return to their homes which their parents were forced to leave.
Palestinians want the right to live in peace in their land, the land of their ancestors. They want to live as human beings with dignity, and achieve the sovereign state of Palestine.
This seminar calls on WILPF to support the Palestinians in their efforts to end this conflict, and continue to work for the implementation of all relevant UN resolutions. We ask for the support of the United Nations and the European Union. The Palestinians have a right to their state on the basis of the borders before the 1967 war.
Chernobyl
The International Seminar on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance - Essential for a Culture of Peace, held in Berlin 26-29 July 2000, discussed the health consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe.
On the 14th anniversary of the Chernobyl catastrophe, two UN organizations published two contradictory reports - the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR).
WILPF commends the OCHA for its concern for the health consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe. We especially thank Secretary General Kofi Annan for his humane and considerate remarks acknowledging the victims in his foreword to the OCHA report ("Chernobyl, an ongoing catastrophe", UN, New York and Geneva 2000);
We read with bewilderment the conclusions of the UNSCEAR report, "Exposures and Effects of the Chernobyl Accident" (Annex G) 49th Session of UNSCEAR, Vienna, 2-11, May 2000, published in Vienna, UN, New York and Geneva 2000:
Paragraph 362, "No constant relationship was seen between the detected rate of chromosome and chromatic aberrations in children and the level of radioactive ground contamination."
Paragraph 369, "So far, no increase in birth defects, congenital malformations, stillbirths, or premature births could be linked to radiation exposure caused by the accident."
Paragraph 398, "No increase in overall cancer incidence or mortality that could be associated with radiation exposure have been observed... There is no scientific proof of an increase in to"
Paragraph 404, "It is however notable that no increased risk of leukemia, an entity known to appear within 2-3 years after exposure, has been identified more than 10 years after the accident."
Paragraph 406, "Finally from the radiological point of view and based on the assessment of this document, generally positive prospects for the future health of most individuals (from the Chernobyl region) should prevail."
These and other conclusions of the UNSCEAR report contradict the experience of many WILPF members of the Chernobyl victims, and scientists from the affected regions.
WILPF calls for:
- an assessment of the recruitment of the UNSCEAR experts and their possible conflicts of interest including links to the pro-nuclear establishment;
- an independent assessment of the sources and methodology used by the UNSCEAR team by UN experts who are independent of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) whose main objective is "to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world."
WILPF expresses its support for scientists, whose work on the health consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe and assessment of the extent of the contamination of foodstuff and the human organism, has brought upon them harassment (e.g. Professor V. B. Nesterenko) and imprisonment (e.g. Prof. Hu. I Bandazhevsky).
Nuclear testing, health and environment
WILPF's International Seminar on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held 26 - 29 July 2000 in Berlin, having discussed the situation regarding the territories affected by French nuclear testing,
Demands the full publication of the secret French medical records detailing the health effects on workers and the population caused by years of nuclear testing in the atmosphere, underground and under water, both in the Sahara as well as Polynesia;
Demands an updated, independent, assessment of the environment (water tables, wells and sand) vegetation and animals in southern Algeria and in Polynesia;
Demands that French Polynesia be re-integrated in the list of Decolonization, as New Caledonia was several years ago.
"Plan Colombia"
WILPF's International Seminar on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held 26 - 29 July 2000 in Berlin,
Considering that the war currently being experienced in Colombia has created horrifying violations of human rights of the civilian, noncombatant population and violations of international humanitarian law;
Considering that according to a report presented by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs. Mary Robinson, the ethical and racial minorities are part of the Colombian population whose fundamental human rights are being violated. The report of 14 April, 2000 (E/CN.4/2000/11) details that communities are being attacked, leaders are being assassinated, lands and crops are being destroyed, and the population is being subjected to forced displacement, the decimation of people and the jeopardizing of cultural and historic heritage, which are deeply linked to the land;
Considering that the implementation of "Plan Colombia" by the Colombian government, with funds from the United States of America and other governments, a plan imposed without consultation upon the affected communities, will intensify the violations of their human rights, leading to greater forced displacement, greater losses of lands, and consequent
loss of cultural integrity;
The participants of the International Seminar reject "Plan Colombia" because it is a plan of militarization and the continuation of the anti-drug war. It will increase human rights violations and violations of the rules of international humanitarian law.
We demand that "Plan Colombia" be canceled.
In case "Plan Colombia" is not canceled, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights should establish permanent monitoring and oversight of the implementation of "Plan Colombia" to ensure that it will not constitute a greater violation of human rights and of international human rights law.
The European Community and all other governments should refrain from becoming involved in the so-called "war on drugs" which is jointly carried out by the Colombian and United States governments through this "Plan Colombia".
Burundi
In view of the preparations of signing a peace agreement in Burundi, finalized with the help of the former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom supports the principle of equal representation and participation of all groups at all levels of political, economic and decision making structures in Burundi. Tension in Burundi is very high subsequent to the peace treaty, not unlike the situation in Rwanda immediately prior to the genocide.
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s International Seminar on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance — Essential for a Culture of Peace, held in Berlin from 26-29 July 2000, having discussed the situation in Burundi,
Notes with dismay the disproportionate and unequal resources, political importance and action given to countries in conflict in Africa and those elsewhere on the globe, particularly Europe; and
Calls on the Security Council to:
Learn from the lessons in Rwanda and pay attention to all early warning signs from the UN system and NGOs, and dispatch in time an adequate peace keeping force including an adequate human rights observer mission, while there is still peace to be kept;
Ensure that all peace keepers and human rights observers undertake adequate gender and cultural sensitivity training given by women and men from Burundi and that at least 50% of the peace keepers be women;
Ensure an adequate post-conflict reconstruction programme, including disarmament, demobilization and re-integration of combatants;
Call on UNIFEM to continue and increase efforts in advocating women’s full participation in all peace negotiations, conflict prevention, conflict resolution, peace building and post-conflict reconstruction;
Call on UNICEF to continue to increase efforts to address the situation of children in Burundi, especially addressing basic needs and trauma recovery;
Call for the cancellation of Burundi’s debt as an essential way of reducing pressure on the national budget, and call on UNDP to solicit and direct funds to Burundi for poverty alleviation and post conflict reconstruction.
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