 |
| The U.N. Sanctions resulted in deaths of over 1.2 million Iraqis, over half are children |
UNITED
NATIONS, May 14 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The United Nations
Security Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to reform its
12-year-old sanctions regime attempting to free the delivery of
humanitarian supplies to Iraq.
The council decided to adopt a goods review list (GRL) to replace the
cumbersome vetting procedures of the U.N.'s oil-for-food lifeline,
extended by the vote for another six months and supposed to allow Iraq
to import basic necessities despite the trade embargo.
Critics
of the sanctions and the oil-for-food program, including top level
U.N. humanitarian aid workers and a weapons inspector, who resigned in
protest, have long asserted that the oil-for-food program has done
little to alleviate the suffering of the devastated Iraqi population
– over 1.2 million of whom have been killed, over being children.
There
has also been criticism of the “dual use” which comprises even
badly needed medical supplies. Doctors, Non-Government Organizations
(NGOs) and human rights workers have repeatedly asserted that even
cleaning supplies needed in the hospitals, such as ammonia, are being
denied entry due to their inclusion the “dual use” list.
In a rare display of unity on the subject of Iraq, all five permanent
council members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States
- co-sponsored the draft, adopted as Resolution 1409.
"This
is an improvement for everybody , the fact that there are many
products to be allowed without any holds or any limitation is better
for the country, for the Iraqis," said Colombia's U.N. Ambassador
Alfonso Valdivieso, who has a rotating council seat, news agencies
reported.
The
vote was expected Monday but was delayed at the request of Syria,
which tried unsuccessfully to introduce last-minute amendments.
The only Arab member of the council, Syria was accused of engaging in
illegal cross-border trade with neighboring Iraq.
The GRL will come into force on May 30, when the current 180-day phase
of the oil-for-food program expires.
The
reform of U.N. sanctions against Iraq, adopted Tuesday by the Security
Council, was out in a 15-paragraph resolution with 18 paragraphs of
annexed procedures. The main points follow.
The resolution:
-
The
oil-for-food program, set up in December 1996 "as a temporary
measure to continue to provide for the civilian needs of the Iraqi
people" remains in place until Iraq meets the Council's
demands for lifting sanctions.
-
A
new Goods Review List (GRL) and procedures for its application are
adopted as from May 30, 2002, when the next 180-day phase of the
program begins.
-
The
embargo on arms exports to Iraq remains. Items on the GRL may be
sold or supplied to Iraq subject to approval by the Security
Council's sanctions committee. Goods that are not on the GRL may
be sold or supplied to Iraq without vetting, provided they meet
the country's humanitarian needs.
-
The
council will "conduct regularly thorough reviews of the Goods
Review List
and the procedures for its implementation." UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan is
requested to make an assessment for the first review, to take place
after 180 days.
The procedures:
5. Every application to ship goods to Iraq must be forwarded to the
Office of the Iraq
Program (OIP) with complete technical specifications, and will be
registered by
OIP within 10 working days. If additional technical information is
requested and
not provided within 180 days, the application will lapse.
-
Applications
will be reviewed by the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection
Commission (UNMOVIC) and by the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) to see whether they contain prohibited items or goods on
the GRL.
7.
"Absent action by UNMOVIC and/or IAEA within the 10-working-day
period, the
application will be considered approved."
8.
If UNMOVIC and/or IAEA determine that the application contains GRL
items, they notify the sanctions committee. The OIP will make an
"assessment of the humanitarian, economic and security
implications" of approving or rejecting the contract.
9.
If a supplier disagrees that the goods are prohibited items or items
covered by the
GRL,
he may submit new technical information within 10 days. The decision
of UNMOVIC and/or IAEA on the new information is final "and no
further reconsideration will be permitted."
10.
The sanctions committee also may request additional information, and
the
supplier
has 90 days to provide it. Once provided, the committee has 20 days to
evaluate the information.
11.
"Absent action by the committee during the 20-working-day period,
the item will
be
considered approved."
12.
If the committee rejects an application, the supplier has 30 days to
appeal with
new information. The committee has five days to decide on an appeal.
13.
Most contracts currently on hold will be processed through the new
mechanism
no
later than 120 days after the GRL has been adopted. (The eight percent
of contracts blocked because they contained "dual-use" items
must be resubmitted by the supplier).
Roughly
$5.2 billion worth of import contracts that have been blocked under
existing procedures will be reviewed again under the new rules.
Most
of the contracts were put on hold by Britain or the United States
under claims that without U.N. arms inspectors in Iraq, the risk of
goods being diverted to the military is too great.
