ALLIED COALITION MUST WITHDRAW FROM IRAQ

Dated Monday, April 21, 2003

Prague – The International Union of Students observes with sadness the costs of the war against Iraq, and vigorously condemns the bilateral action taken by the governments of the United States of America and the United Kingdom. While the International Union of Students did not support the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, at the same time it did not and does not support the military attack on Iraq and subsequent military occupation that have clearly compromised the future of the Iraqi people.

The International Union of Students urges the people of Iraq and Iraqi community leaders to unite under the banner of a democratic and free Iraq, and supports a strong role for the United Nations in addressing the many challenges of the aftermath of war.

In consideration of the current situation in Iraq and in the region, the International Union of Students issues the following declaration:

1. The U.S. occupation of Iraq must end immediately. The U.S. government, including its military, had no right to undertake its pre-emptive attack against Iraq, and has no right to remain as an occupying force in or near Iraq. An immediate and complete withdrawal of all personnel and equipment must be carried out.

2. Civilians wounded in Iraq must be given priority for immediate medical treatment, with all expenses for the most reliable and effective medical attention being assumed by the Allied Coalition. Further, a plan must be devised, which should be led by the Iraqi people and their popular institutions, with assistance from the United Nations, to undertake a healing process for the physical and psychological damage caused to individuals.

3. The Allied Coalition has behaved with impunity, killing and wounding so many innocents, littering the country with unexploded bombs and other dangerous weapons, and destroying vital infrastructure that will take decades to rebuild. The Allied Coalition utterly failed to protect Iraqi civilians, infrastructure and cultural heritage, despite having the means at their disposal to do so. Further, the war has left in its wake, after the initial euphoria of sudden change, desperation, disorder, poverty, and a military occupation.

4. The Allied Coalition has shown little regard for the awesome cultural heritage of Iraq, the historical hub of Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization. While U.S. Marines protected oil rigs and the Ministry of Oil, all cultural sites, including the El Mossal University, the National Library, the National Museum, and other storehouse of priceless and unique artifacts and cultural items many thousands of years old were left to desperate and professional looters.

5. The leaders of the Allied Coalition must be held responsible for the destruction and death that has been the result of the invasion of Iraq, in the International Criminal Court and through other mechanisms of the United Nations. If the Iraqi people demand reparations for this death and destruction, the Allied Coalition has a responsibility to fulfill its obligations, but not through direct intervention in establishing any institution, government, or markets in or for Iraq. All reparations and reconstruction funds and assistance must be channeled through the United Nations and non-governmental organizations established in the area.

6. Any new Iraqi government is encouraged to investigate the actions of the former government, and to do everything it can to ensure that any individuals who are responsible for crimes against humanity are held responsible according to national and international laws and agreements.

7. It must be left to the United Nations Security Council to decide the future of the sanctions against Iraq, keeping in mind that it will be detrimental to global stability and development to allow the United States’ government to take control of oil in Iraq.

8. The reconstruction of Iraq must not lead to the privatization and commercialization of public services and utilities such as public transport, water, health care, and education at all levels: these must be provided as universally-accessible, free, public services. For-profit service providers, especially those based in the U.S. and U.K., must not be allowed to profit from the devastation of Iraq.

9. The United States’ government has no right to issue threats against any sovereign government, such as it has against the government of Syria. The United States government should adhere to international laws and process established and carried out through the United Nations.

10. The war against Iraq was predicated on the former Iraqi government’s posing an immediate threat to the U.S., the U.K. and other countries, and its possession of weapons of mass destruction; however, these motivations quickly dissipated once the war began and can now be exposed as part of a double-standard. There are about 60 countries in the world that possess weapons of mass destruction, including the U.S. itself. Rather than waging war to secure American and British control over Iraqi oil resources, the Allied Coalition should work as part of the international community, through the United Nations, to disarm governments and build lasting peace, not just in the Middle East, but worldwide.

11. Every possible support must be channeled through the United Nations and established non-governmental organizations and community institutions, to the people of Iraq in order to re-establish security, eradicate poverty, and to build understanding among the different populations in the country. Part of this process must include forgiveness of Iraq’s foreign debt.

12. The people of Iraq must be left to choose their own government, and to build the organs of civil society that will be needed for a democratic system in a sovereign, united Iraq.

The International Union of Students calls upon its member unions to unite in calling for a transitional government in Iraq, led by the Iraqi people and their local leaders, not by the U.S. government and U.S.-imposed leaders. In order to avoid U.S. control over a new Iraqi government, the United Nations must take immediate steps to assist in establishing a new government, in consultation with the League of Arab Nations.

The Executive Secretariat of the International Union of Students commits itself to working with its members in the Middle East and Arab Region and around the world to rebuild the student movement and the Iraqi education system, at all levels.

- The Executive Secretariat