PRESS RELEASE
April 25, 2003

IS THE DESTRUCTION OF HOSPITALS AND PUBLIC HEALTH
RECORDS A COVER UP OF "DEPLETED" URANIUM HEALTH
IMPACTS IN IRAQ? A CALL FOR INDEPENDENT OBSERVERS TO DOCUMENT POSSIBLE LOW LEVEL RADIATION SICKNESSES IN IRAQ RELATED TO THE USE OF ILLEGAL DEPLETED URANIUM WEAPONS

Press Release issued by the Association of Humanitarian Lawyers, Inc, a Nongovernmental Organization accredited to the United Nations. (see below for contact details)

The unchecked looting of hospitals and the destruction
of nearly all the Ministries and other centers storing public health records, has dismantled the public health system in Iraq beyond recognition, and has puzzled the world public. Was this an operational failure? Or a deliberately staged event?
To activists working on a campaign to permanently ban
the use of "depleted" uranium weapons, the destruction
of hospitals and baseline health data serves an obvious
legal purpose. The looting has made it impossible for
hospitals to function at the present time, and obstructs the
ability to document or report symptoms linked to the use of
"depleted" uranium or other more experimental weapons used by the USUK military.

Furthering suspicions, the US Agency for International
Development (USAID) has hired the World Health
Organization (WHO) to identify the population's
immediate health needs, at a cost of $10 million. This
raises concerns about a conflict of interest. Any data-gathering of immediate health impacts of "depleted" uranium is being paid for by the US, which is the major entity potentially liable for costs relating to those impacts. This conflict of interest could compromise the goals of H.R. 1483, a bill introduced by U.S Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) requiring studies on the health effects of DU munitions.

The sites targeted for looting and burning (Ministry
of Planning, Information, Health etc) support speculation that a concerted attempt has been made to destroy crucial data. Heavy guarding of the Oil and Interior Ministries by US tanks and soldiers to prevent looting, and the glaring absence of military guards at other public sites which were looted and destroyed by fires, suggests further deliberate destruction of the Iraqi infrastructure.

The data from pre-Gulf War II health records is critical to establish a baseline showing increases in post-Gulf War II levels of cancers and birth defects in Iraq. Predictably, the direct bombing of cities in Gulf War II with "depleted" uranium weapons will cause greater increases than in Gulf War I where "depleted" uranium weapons were used on battlefields south of Basra. The increases in the amounts used and the targeting of cities will accelerate the onset and intensify the numbers of illnesses and deaths related to DU exposures.

"Depleted" uranium weaponry, cluster bombs, and fuel air bombs have been declared to be in violation of
international law by the United Nations experts sitting on the UN Sub-Commission on the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights. Reports and studies from the UN Secretary General and the Sub-Commission followed reports of high levels of cancers and birth defects after the introduction in 1991 of "depleted" uranium weapons by the US and UK during the first Gulf War.

Attorney Karen Parker, who since 1996 has argued the
illegality of DU at the United Nations, states: "Since
the United Nations Sub-Commission first found that DU
weaponry violated existing law, the evidence against
DU is even stronger. I have always thought that the
U.S fought so hard to maintain the sanctions regime
against Iraq in part due to the need to cover-up as
much as possible the effects of DU in Iraq. Now the
destruction of hospitals and the records compiled by
Iraqi scientists on DU further supports a conclusion
that the goal of the US is to cover up the truth
about DU. And as the International Committee of the
Red Cross has stated, it is the duty of the United
States forces to protect hospitals. The absolute
failure to do so is a major violation of the Geneva Conventions."

Leuren Moret, independent depleted uranium expert and
former scientist at the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab,
comments that the use of "depleted" uranium weaponry
in the first Gulf War broke a 46 year taboo against the
military use of radiological weapons on the battlefield.
The use of depleted uranium in Gulf War I "established a
military precedent to introduce the use of 4th generation nuclear
weapons."

With H.R. 1483, a bill introduced by U.S. Congressman
Jim McDermott (D-WA) requiring studies on the health
effects of DU munitions, it becomes imperative for
physicians to work immediately to document any
initial symptoms that humans will display after being
exposed to contamination from these radioactive weapons.
Sources indicate that in this recent conflict five
times the amount of "depleted" uranium was used by the
US/UK than in the previous Gulf War. The "depleted"
uranium in cruise missiles and other weapons
aerosolizes on impact, causing inhalation of large
amounts of superfine radioactive particles and sending
tiny shards of uranium through the body like a knife
slicing through butter. Initial symptoms will be
mostly neurological, showing up as headaches,
weakness, dizzyness, muscle fatigue etc. Long term
effects are cancers, birth defects, and other
radiation related illnesses such as Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome, joint and muscle pain, rashes,neurological
and/or nerve damage, mood disturbances, infections,
lung and kidney damage, vision problems, auto-immune
deficiencies, loss of feeling, etc.

In this current Gulf War, any troops with symptoms of
low level radiation sickness will report to their
units. Their symptoms will be denied by the military
to be linked to depleted uranium exposure, because the
US policy is and has been to deny that the DU weapons
can cause sickness. Military and civilian doctors
were trained in Gulf War I to define neurological
type sicknesses as post traumatic stress disorder, and
to leave radioactive schrapnel in the bodies of the
veterans. It can be expected that the military will repeat this
policy.

Douk Rokke, former head of the US Army DU Project, who
has been campaigning against the use of DU, reports
that US troops are falling sick already with a series of Gulf War
symptoms.

Philippa Winkler, a political analyst and longtime
anti-DU activist, calls for immediate independent
studies: "It is imperative that independent health
scientists observe, test and interview Gulf War II
soldiers, Iraqi citizens, Medical Doctors in Iraq,
journalists, human shield and other volunteer personel
for symptoms linked to depleted uranium exposure and
the possible use of exotic weapons."

CONTACTS
FOR THE ASSOCIATION OF HUMANITARIAN LAWYERS INC:
Karen Parker: International Legal Expert on DU,  ied@igc.org
Philippa Winkler: Political Analyst, Editor, "Hidden
Casualties,the Environmental, Health and Political
Consequences of the Persian Gulf War" (1994, see
amazon.com), and co-producer of the video documentary
"From Radioactive Mines to Radioactive Weapons":
 pjw82001@yahoo.com

FOR SCIENTISTS FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE:
Leuren Moret: Independent scientist and depleted
uranium expert, President, Scientists for Indigenous
People:  leurendu@yahoo.com

URLs
E/CN.4/Sub.2/2002/38, 27 June 2002, Human Rights and
Weapons of Mass Destruction with indiscriminate
effect, or of a nature to cause superfluous injury or
unecessary suffering. Working paper submitted to the
UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of
Human Rights, by Yeung Sik Yuen, in accordance with
SCRes 2001/36 http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nst/TestFrame/2248114157de"
 http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nst/TestFrame/2248114157de
274c1256c00004c2966?Open document

Letter to Congressman McDermott w Declassified memo to
Gen. L.R. Groves 1943 - a blueprint for DU
 http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/2003/Leuren-Moret-Gen-
Groves21feb03.htm

PEOPLE ARE SICK OVER THERE ALREADY (interview with Doug
Rokke)
 http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/7570.

GULF WAR SYMPTOMS AND ILLNESSES
 http://www.ushostnet.com/gulfwar/articles.htm

"Death By Slow Burn - How America Nukes Its Own Troops
- What 'Support Our Troops' Really Means"
by Amy Worthington The Idaho Observer April 16, 2003
 http://www.strike-the-root.com/cgi-local/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=news;actio
n=display;num=1050631363;start=0

LOOTING ENCOURAGED BY US FORCES
"US Forces Encourage Looting" by Ole Rothenburg in
DAGENS NYHETER Swedish Newspaper
 http://www.rense.com/general37/eyewitnesscharges.htm

"US Threatens Iraqi Scientists" by ISLAMONLINE.NET
 http://www.islamonline.net/english/news/2003-04/12/article02.shtml

"US government implicated in planned theft of Iraqi
artistic treasures" by Ann Talbot of wsws.org
 http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/apr2003/loot-a19.shtml

"Americans defend two untouchable ministries from the
hordes of looters", by Robert Fisk, the Independent,
April 14, 2003
 http://www.ccmep.org/2003_articles/Iraq/041403_americans_defend_two
_un
touchable.htm

"WHO Gets $10 Million U.S. Grant for Health Program in
Iraq -Will identify population's immediate health needs, USA Aid says"
 http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/global/refugees/archive/03032804.htm

"US rejects Iraq DU clean-up", March 14, 2003, by Alex
Kirby, BBC News Online environment correspondence,
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2946715.stm


----- "After Capitalism - PROUT's vision for a new world" (2003) by
Dada Maheshvarananda $29.95 from Proutist Universal Box 984,
Nelson, NZ.

"Alternative visions are crucial at this moment in history. Prout's
co-operative model of economic democracy, based on cardinal human
values and sharing the resources of the planet for the welfare of
everyone, deserves our serious consideration."
Noam Chomsky - Professor of
Linguistics, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.

For further information: www.prout.org & www.proutworld.org