IADL REJECTS ANY NEW U.S. RESOLUTION AS A PRETEXT FOR WAR

The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), an organization in consultative status with ECOSOC and represented at UNESCO and UNICEF, and with affiliates in over ninety-six countries,

CONGRATULATES the peace-loving people throughout the world who sent an unequivocal message that they oppose any United States war against the sovereign state of Iraq, and its peoples. Last month's massive demonstrations - in hundreds of cities, and in countries spread across all the continents - filled the streets. Upwards of eleven million people declared a resounding "No" to a U.S.-led war against Iraq.

ENCOURAGES the Security Council to give the inspectors the necessary time and resources to successfully fulfill their mission, as mandated by the Security Council Resolution 1441. SUPPORTS the continuing efforts of the Permanent members of the Security Council , France, Russia, and China and of the non-Permanent members, to oppose a U.S.-led "pre-emptive strike" which is illegal and violates the U.N. Charter and international law. URGES the Permanent Members of the Security Council to veto any U.S.-sponsored resolution which would authorize an aggressive war against Iraq by the U.S. and any "coalition of the willing," and URGES the non-Permanent members to vote against any authorization for military action.

The cataclysmic costs of war will be borne by the whole world, and especially the peoples of Iraq and the region. For Iraq, whose population has been forced to live under more than twelve years of sanctions, the proportions of the humanitarian crisis are catastrophic. As reported in a draft document produced by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on 7 January 2003, in the event of a crisis, 30% of children under five [1.26 million children] would be at risk of death from malnutrition and only 39% of the population would be serviced [with water[ on a rationed basis. In addition, the report predicts that up to 900,000 people may be displaced, in addition to the 900,000 to 1,100,000 who are currently internally displaced persons.

Any U.S. resolution must be rejected as a pretext for an unjustified war. Resolution 1441 is not a green-light for military action, and all nations must resist the intense U.S. pressures to invoke the use of force under UN approval. As the Memorandum circulated by France, Germany and Russia unequivocally states, the Security Council must step up its efforts to give a real chance to the peaceful settlement of the crisis.

WELCOMES the recent Statements on Iraq from the Non-Aligned Movement and the Arab Summit, recognizes that a peaceful resolution of the current crisis will contribute to the goal of establishing the Middle East as a zone free of weapons of mass destruction, and urges all countries, to comply with their obligations for disarmament under the Security Council's resolutions.

IADL calls upon its members ,the democratic lawyers the world over, to continue their efforts in cooperation with the peace loving people of the world which have so decisively come out against all attempts to force a US-led war against Iraq.

JITENDRA SHARMA
PRESIDENT,
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF DEMOCRATIC LAWYERS
[Released on March 5,2003 at New Delhi, India ]