Press Release, 18-05-04, 21:00
Contact: Phone 07963 750513, or email Kristina,  kw264@cam.ac.uk
For immediate release

CAMBRIDGE RESIDENTS SCREAM 'ENOUGH' TO TORTURE, WAR, OCCUPATION IN IRAQ

An informal group of Cambridge residents, sickened by the rising tide of
torture and human rights abuses committed by British and American troops in
the illegal occupation of Iraq, are taking their anger onto the streets of
Cambridge on Thursday in an unusual protest.

They intend to form a 'primal scream' in Market Square - a minute-long
visceral, public scream to highlight our own government's silence about the
abuses and killings committed daily in Iraq. They hope to move passers-by
to join them, and to publicise the national protest organised in
London on the 22nd May.

Mike Lewis, 23, of West Chesterton, explained:

"We're protesting against the mute acceptance of an astonishing series of
crimes committed by our own governments. Britain and America have
prosecuted an illegal war; have engaged in what the International Red Cross
has described as systematic violations of international humanitarian law;
have tortured unconvicted detainees with dogs, beatings and threats of
death; have killed thousands of Iraqi civilians; and are preparing to
install a puppet, unelected regime.

"Reasonable people should be screaming their astonishment, their shame,
their rage, from every corner of every street. We want people to join us in
calling for an end to an illegal, abusive occupation rapidly degenerating
into a civil war."

Residents will be meeting at 1.15pm on Thursday 20 May, in front of the
Guildhall. Interviews and photo opportunities will be available at that
time. At 1.30pm, Market Square will be filled with the primal screams of
the participants.

A national protest against torture and occupation in Iraq will take place
on Saturday 22nd May at 11am at Embankment, London.

Notes for editors:

1. The British and American governments are guilty of war crimes. A leaked
report produced by the International Committee of the Red Cross (see
 http://www.stopwar.org.uk/Resources/icrc.pdf ) highlighted abuses
constituting "a serious violation of the Third and Fourth Geneva
Conventions".

2. In direct contradiction to the US and UK government's assertions about a
small group of perpetrators, the ICRC director of operations, Pierre
Kraehenbuehl, insisted there was "a broad pattern, not individual acts.
There was a pattern and a system."

3. Iraq's humanitarian situation remains no better than before the
invasion. The Washington Post reported that, almost one year after the
invasion began, Iraq's health care system "had been hit by a critical
shortage of basic medications and equipment. Babies die of simple
infections because they can't get the proper antibiotics. Surgeries are
delayed because there is no oxygen. And patients in critical condition are
turned away because there isn't enough equipment" (5 March 2004). US
civilian administrator Paul Bremer was "forced to admit that the coalition
ha[d] failed to provide proper funding for the country's health system,
yet lied about Iraq's pre-invasion health budget in order to make the
coalition look better" (AFP, 15 February).