Statement by Khadije El Husaini, Trade Unionist from Lebanon and Representative of the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU) on the Delegation to the International Labor Organization (ILO) Headquarters in Geneva, on March 15, 2004:
"We Must Affirm Our Solidarity with Iraqi Workers in Their Struggle
against Tyranny and For Their Trade Union Rights!"
,
March 26th,
2004
In the face of the difficulties confronted by the Iraqi people, we came
together and drew up a protest statement directed to the U.S.
authorities which we are delivering to the ILO. In this manner, we have
assumed our responsibilities before the Iraqi people.
The suffering of the Iraqi people has lasted a long time, and we do not
want it to continue. The suffering began with the siege that was imposed
on them under various fraudulent pretenses. The heinous war was
conducted under the pretext of ridding the Iraqi people and the world of
Saddam Hussein's regime and of the so-called weapons of mass
destruction.
After the fall of Saddam's regime and the entry of the forces of
occupation, it is no longer a question of weapons of mass destruction
nor of Saddam Hussein himself, as he has been detained. Given that the
reasons invoked for the invasion of Iraq no longer exist, why then are
the occupying armies still in Iraqi territory?
I will not explain here in detail the vast suffering of the Iraqi
people, and especially of its workers, but I will give some examples of
what happens there. First regarding the activities of the security
forces, I want to underscore their brutality, the unjustified and
lengthy arrests, the barbaric treatment of Iraqis with total disregard
for international law, the rampant arrests of the disabled and children
under 15 (arrested without justification and held for long periods), as
well as the dismissal of 174 judges illegally deprived of their
indemnity.
The mass layoffs affecting a large number of workers have created an
army of unemployed that threatens the fate of their families and
contributes greatly to the aggravation of the economic crisis, placing
security at risk and consequently threatening the stability of different
Iraqi cities.
Today Iraqi workers live in terrible conditions. In addition to the
terrifying fall in their standard of living, the propagation of idleness
and the instability on the social and economic stage, the workers are
threatened today by the deprivation of the trade union freedoms and the
non-application of international labor conventions, ratified years ago.
The workers fear the decisions that could be taken by the armed forces
of occupation, particularly those relative to the economic sphere
(privatization ?). They fear that Iraq's riches could be stolen by
multinational corporations of various countries.
In this dangerous period we are experiencing today, we must affirm our
solidarity with the Iraqi workers in their struggle against tyranny and
for their trade union rights, alongside all the political forces that
reject violence, that reject war and that demand peace.
The tyrannical war launched against the Iraqi people is a war against
humanity. The victims are the Iraqi people and also the soldiers of the
allied countries who have been forced into a deadly war that only serves
the aims of Bush and his allies. This is a war to find markets for the
multinational corporations and that will allow them to control natural
resources all over the world -- today in Iraq, tomorrow the world! (we
don't know where! )
This war was launched in the name of democracy -- but democracy is being
trampled upon daily. It is a war against workers and the freedom of
peoples, a war directed by the stockbrokers, the merchants, the
opportunists as well as the ambitious.
--
Khadije El Husaini, trade unionist from Lebanon, representative of the
ICATU, delegate to the
ILO delegation in Geneva, March 15.
Address:
UUI, Post Box 325,
CH-3000 Bern 11,
Tel :0041 78 882 55 89
Email:asojabbar@yahoo.com