DATE=        JANUARY 9, 1998

TYPE=        EDITORIAL

NUMBER=      0-07599

TITLE=       EDITORIAL:  SUMMARY EXECUTIONS IN IRAQ



CONTENT=THIS IS THE ONLY EDITORIAL BEING RELEASED FOR BROADCAST 

JANUARY 9, 1998.



ANNCR:

THE VOICE OF AMERICA PRESENTS DIFFERING POINTS OF VIEW ON A WIDE 

VARIETY OF ISSUES.  NEXT, AN EDITORIAL EXPRESSING THE POLICIES OF

THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT.



VOICE:



    AS UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR MAX VAN DER STOEL HAS 

REPORTED, ALL POWER IN IRAQ "IS IN THE HANDS OF A CRUEL 

DICTATORSHIP.  AS SUCH, IT CANNOT BE SAID THAT ANY HUMAN RIGHTS 

ARE ENSURED."  IN RECENT WEEKS, THE CRUELTY OF IRAQI DICTATOR 

SADDAM HUSSEIN HAS BECOME APPARENT ONCE AGAIN.  ACCORDING TO 

CREDIBLE REPORTS FROM A NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT SOURCES, HUNDREDS, 

PERHAPS THOUSANDS, OF POLITICAL PRISONERS HAVE BEEN SUMMARILY 

EXECUTED IN PRISONS NEAR BAGHDAD.



    MANY OF THOSE REPORTED KILLED HAD BEEN SERVING LONG PRISON 

SENTENCES FOR TRYING TO EXERCISE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS, SUCH AS 

FREEDOM OF SPEECH OR FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION.  FAMILIES OF MANY OF

THE EXECUTED PRISONERS SAY THEIR BODIES HAVE BEEN RETURNED TO 

THEM BEARING CLEAR SIGNS OF TORTURE.  IN ADDITION, IRAQ RECENTLY 

EXECUTED FOUR JORDANIAN STUDENTS ACCUSED OF SMUGGLING AUTOMOBILE 

PARTS WORTH LESS THAN ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS.



    THIS PARALLELS THE IRAQI REGIME'S ABYSMAL RECORD ELSEWHERE.  

AS MANY AS TWO-HUNDRED THOUSAND IRAQI KURDS ARE STILL MISSING 

FROM THE 1988 ANFAL ['AHN-FAHL] CAMPAIGN, IN WHICH THE GOVERNMENT

USED CHEMICAL WEAPONS ON IRAQI CIVILIANS.  THE WHEREABOUTS OF 

FIVE-THOUSAND IRANIAN AND SIX-HUNDRED KUWAITI PRISONERS OF WAR 

REMAIN UNKNOWN YEARS AFTER IRAQ WAS FORCED TO HALT ITS AGGRESSION

AGAINST IRAN AND KUWAIT.  NEARLY ONE-THOUSAND PEOPLE ARE STILL 

MISSING IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE IRAQI REGIME'S VICIOUS ATTACK ON 

IRBIL [ER-'BEEL] IN 1996.  THE REGIME IS FORCING TENS OF 

THOUSANDS OF ETHNIC KURDS TO ABANDON THEIR HOMES IN KIRKUK 

[KIR-'COOK] IN A FORM OF ETHNIC CLEANSING.  AND IT IS 

DELIBERATELY DESTROYING THE MARSHES OF SOUTHERN IRAQ IN AN 

ATTEMPT TO ELIMINATE THE UNIQUE CULTURE OF THE MARSH ARABS.



    THE IRAQI GOVERNMENT HAS AN OBLIGATION UNDER U-N SECURITY 

COUNCIL RESOLUTION 6-8-8 TO CEASE ITS REPRESSION OF THE IRAQI 

PEOPLE.  IRAQ IS BLATANTLY VIOLATING ITS OBLIGATIONS UNDER THIS 

AND OTHER U-N RESOLUTIONS.  AS LONG AS THIS IS THE CASE, IRAQ 

MUST REMAIN SUBJECT TO INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS.



ANNCR:



    THAT WAS AN EDITORIAL EXPRESSING THE POLICIES OF THE UNITED 

STATES GOVERNMENT.  IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE HEARD ON THIS ISSUE, 

PLEASE WRITE TO EDITORIALS, VOICE OF AMERICA, WASHINGTON, D-C, 

20547, U-S-A.  YOU MAY ALSO SEND US A FAX AT (202) 619-1043.  

YOUR COMMENTS MAY BE USED ON THE AIR.



08-Jan-98 2:34 PM EST (1934 UTC)

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Source: Voice of America

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