[GP-Eldorado-n] (petition) stop bloodshed in Iraq. Japan Peace Petition

[Diana Stauffer]

Hi Friends,

I have just read and signed the petition: "Call for U.S. Military to Abide by International Law and Stop the Bloodshed in Iraq!"

Please join the Iraq Hope Network, a Japan-based citizens coalition, which is calling for an immediate end to the suffering of people in Iraq that is resulting from the violent and illegal tactics presently being employed by the U.S. military. 

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/507914513

Thanks!
)









The initiator of this petition is  Nahoko Takato, the Japanese women
and peace activist who was captured in Fallujah and then accused of
irresponsibility by Japan's pro-Bush government and a compliant press. 

   If you agree with the message, I hope you will:

(1) Sign it
(2) Ask other individuals and organizations to do the same.

They are only at about 500 signatures and have a ways to go.




http://japan.indymedia.org/newswire/display/2809/index.php
http://tokyoprogressive.org/


The petition is here: 

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/507914513?ltl=1151976078







Call for U.S. Military to Abide by International Law and Stop the
Bloodshed in Iraq!

We, the signers of this petition, call on the U.S. government to
immediately stop the violent, heavy-handed tactics that are presently
being employed in Iraq, most recently in the city of Ramadi (the
capital of Anbar province, lying to the west of Baghdad, with a
population of 400,000 people). 

The United States of America has ratified the Geneva Convention, whose
common article 3 prohibits the infliction of aggression, murder,
injury, or abuse against civilian populations, and which is practiced
internationally as a legal norm.

The U.S. military, however:

- cut off basic lifelines such as electricity, food, water, and
gasoline to the city of Ramadi beginning in April, which has resulted
in extreme distress for its citizens. This is in violation of Article 
54, Number 1 of the First Protocol Addition to the Geneva Conventions,
which prohibits the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.

- has taken control of the city of Ramadi in a campaign of fear and
violence whereby houses are being attacked (in some cases by
missiles), rooftops commandeered, residents killed and wounded, and
pedestrians shot at. This failure to distinguish between military and
civilian targets is in violation of Article 51, Numbers 2 and 4 of the 
First Protocol Addition to the Geneva Conventions, which prohibits
acts or threats of violence that are aimed at spreading terror amongst
the civilian population.

- refuses to let injured individuals pass freely through its 
inspection checkpoints, resulting in many civilians dying from
untreated wounds. This is in violation of Article 10, Number 2 of the
First Protocol Addition to the Geneva Conventions, which states that
all wounded, sick and shipwrecked persons shall be treated humanely 
and shall receive the medical care and attention required by their
condition to the fullest extent practicable and with the least
possible delay.

- is targeting hospitals for attack, preventing injured citizens from 
receiving medical care. This is in violation of Article 12, Number 1
of the First Protocol Addition to the Geneva Conventions, which states
that medical units shall be respected and protected at all times and
shall not be the object of attack.

- has arrested and continues to detain seven Iraqi journalists,
including those from the Reuter news service, with no credible reason.
This is in violation of Article 79, Number 1 of the First Protocol 
Addition to the Geneva Conventions, which states that journalists
engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflict
shall be considered as civilians within the meaning of Article 50,
paragraph 1. As such, journalists maintain the civilian right of to be 
protected from violence and the threat thereof.

Citizens who remained in Ramadi???either because they had no economic
means to leave, or because they stayed behind to take care of
relatives or protect their homes???remain essentially trapped inside 
the city. The situation in Ramadi also comes on the heels of the
attack that killed countless civilians in Fallujah, as well as
repeated attacks over the past three years on the cities of Al Qaim,
Haditha, Tal Afal, Samarra, Najaf, and Baghdad. Despite soaring 
temperatures, cities throughout Iraq also remain without electricity
with the exception of brief, sporadic intervals.

The bloodshed in the country has resulted in more than 100,000 Iraq
citizens being killed, in addition to over 2,500 U.S. soldiers. The
U.S. strategy is succeeding only in increasing the number of enemies
amongst the Iraqi population, since the resistance against the U.S.
and Iraqi government becomes stronger as increasing numbers of 
citizens are killed and maimed.

The Geneva Convention IV, to which the United States is again a
signatory, also includes the following regulations:

Article 16: The wounded and sick, as well as the infirm, and expectant 
mothers, shall be the object of particular protection and respect.

Article 18: Civilian hospitals organized to give care to the wounded
and sick, the infirm and maternity cases, may in no circumstances be
the object of attack but shall at all times be respected and protected
by the Parties to the conflict.

Article 32:  Physical suffering or extermination against civilians
including murder, torture, corporal punishments, mutilation and 
medical or scientific experiments are prohibited, whether applied by
civilian or military agents.

Regardless of the fact that the U.S. is not a signatory to the First
Protocol Addition to the Geneva Conventions, this does not alter the 
fact that its present actions in Iraq are in violation of the
international laws upon which the treaty is based.

We the signers of this petition, call for the immediate withdrawal of
U.S. military occupation troops from the city of Ramadi, and for the 
treatment of its people in line with the standards laid out in the
Geneva Convention.

We call for an end to the bloodshed in Iraq, and for the immediate
restoration of the human rights of its citizens.

June 25, 2006

This petition is sponsored by the Iraq Hope Network, a Japan-based
network of NGOs,aid workers, journalists, lawyers, university
professors and volunteers who together sponsor projects in Iraq 
focused on humanitarian aid, reconstruction and human rights.



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