Iraqi Women Condemn Atrocities Committed by Saddam Hussein Regime
Papillon
Iraqi Women Condemn Atrocities Committed by Saddam Hussein Regime
The terrible plight of Iraqi women under the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein
was brought into sharp focus at a recent press conference by a group of
independent Iraqi women. The group, based in the Washington, DC, area, held
their press conference on Oct. 4 at the National Press Club before a packed
audience of media, prominent Iraq-Americans, supporters and representatives
of non-government organizations.
The speakers, representing a broad geographic cross-section from various
parts of Iraq (South, Central and Iraqi Kurdistan), reflected various ethnic
and religious backgrounds. In a show of courage and open defiance against
Saddam Hussein's regime, they detailed the atrocities committed against
Iraqi women and their loved ones by Saddam and his henchmen. The speakers
stressed the need for the international community to condemn Saddam's regime
and its atrocities committed against humanity.
Moderator Safia Taleb Al Souhail, Advocacy Director for Middle East and
Islamic World at International Alliance for Justice, was joined by Hon.
Zakia Ismail Hakki, the first woman judge in Iraq and founding member of the
Iraqi-American Council; Hetau Ibrahim Ahmad, a prominent Kurdish activist;
and Dr. Katrine Michael, an Iraqi Chaldean and a Christian who joined the
Kurdish resistance.
Safia Taleb Al Souhail described the 1994 assassination of her father Sheikh
Taleb Al Souhail, eminent Iraqi leader and head of the Bani Tamim tribe, at
the hands of Saddam Hussein's intelligence service, the Mukhabarat.
Although the murderers confessed to the killing, the crime went unpunished.
The perpetrators were released and sent back to Iraq by the Lebanese
authorities as part of a diplomatic pact with Iraq.
The Hon. Zakia Ismail Hakki detailed the atrocities committed against the
Faylee Kurds, mostly males aged 16-28, detained unlawfully in Saddam's
torture camps since 1980 as their families were deported to Iran. Judge
Hakki appealed to the international community to enforce U.N. Security
Council Resolution 688 regarding human rights for Iraqis and for worldwide
support for the Iraqi people's efforts to topple Saddam Hussein's outlaw
regime. She also called for the prosecution of Saddam Hussein and his key
officers before an international tribunal for crimes committed against
humanity.
Hetau Ibrahim Ahmad, a prominent Kurdish activist, described her experiences
as a lifelong displaced refugee fleeing from place to place. She described
the systematic killings, oppression and displacement of the Kurds at the
hands of Saddam Hussein-backed terroristic extremist groups.
Dr. Katrine Michael, a 1988 victim of chemical weapons, was forced to flee
to Turkey to escape the continuous chemical bombardment of the Kurds by
Saddam Hussein. Since her arrival in 1997 in the United States, she has
been a tireless champion for women's rights in Iraq.
Conference organizers and their guests-Nidhal Muhi Shalal Aljuburi, Sabria
Mahdi Naama and Peyman Halmat--shared personal accounts of Saddam Hussein's
crimes against women: women's public beheadings, draggings through the
streets, rapes by Saddam's security agents, kidnapping and mass executions,
disappearances and other atrocities.
Nidhal Muhi Shalal Aljuburi, a prominent member of the Iraqi Shi'a majority,
described the almost total extinction of her Jibour tribe, including many of
her close male relatives and their wives, by the Saddam regime. She
described Saddam's systematic environmental destruction of the southern Iraq
marshlands and the subsequent demise of the habitat and ancient culture of
the marsh Arabs.
Sabria Mahdi Naama described her family's escape from Iraq after the 1991
Iraqi people's uprising against Saddam. She called for increased
involvement of Iraqi women in the Iraqi opposition to the Saddam regime.
The conference concluded with a show of support by representatives from
Iraqi and Americans groups, including the Iraqi-American Council,
represented by Aziz Al-Taee. The conference panelists stated that they will
intensify their efforts to mobilize Iraqi women worldwide to help the Iraqi
people reclaim their country and political freedom.
Iffiniac
the lastest version of the Washington Butcher.
"Papillon" <Isla.de...@carib.com> wrote in message
news:4Saea.144913$L1.19798@sccrnsc02...
waggg
<Isla.de...@carib.com>, nous a gratifié de ceci :
>France is an accomplice of the Butcher of Bagdad.
really ?
>Iraqi Women Condemn Atrocities Committed by Saddam Hussein Regime
Like anyone on the planet ! ...