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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