Author: mopress

from digital chosun

The labor unions of the nation’s two airliners, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, declared Thursday that they refuse to transport anything related to the troop dispatch to Iraq, including Korean soldiers to be stationed in Iraq along with armor and related equipment.
The Association of Airline Unions, founded by both the national airlines and the employees of Incheon International Airport and Kimpo Airport, said Thursday that in accordance with the policy of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions [see KCTU text & link below], that they are against sending more troops to Iraq and will launch an all-out struggle against the deployment.

The association said, “Both Korean Air and Asiana Airlines should not sign contracts with the government to transport troops to Iraq… If they sign such contracts, the security of our union members cannot be guaranteed as they may become a target of terror during operation… Also, in order to show our rejection to a war of invasion, we will suspend all flights.”

In response to the unions, the two airlines pointed out, “We haven’t been asked by the government to transport troops to Iraq,” and “unconditionally rejecting something before even negotiations have begun is going to far.”

(Lee Wee-jae, wjlee@chosun.com )

KCTU STATEMENT

Korean Trade Unions Oppose Iraq Deployment

Plan to deploy troops to Iraq has taken away an innocent life of Kim Seon-Il. Stop Deployment Now!

The sacrifice of Kim Sun-Il was expected, as long as the government was to push for dispatch of troops to Iraq. However, the government did not fulfill all that it could have done, and we now consequently face a tragedy. We cannot but be angered by the act of killing innocent lives. At the same time, we are adamant in our denouncement against the dispatch of troops to Iraq by the Korean government, an act that has brought about this tragedy.

There is no national interest that is greater than the lives of a country’s citizens. Whatever justification the government may use for the deployment of troops, the events that are actually taking place are drawing citizens into the war that US implemented. It is inevitable that sacrifice of young Korean soldiers and of innocent citizens continue.

This has to stop. Plans to dispatch troops to Iraq must be completely re-examined.

The KCTU demands cancellation of the plans to dispatch troops to Iraq, as one of its main demands for the first half of this year, in order to avoid sacrifice of further lives. We demand that the Korean government not play puppet to the foreign policies of the US and that it take a firm stance again it, and that it protect the rights and the lives of its citizens.

We strongly reaffirm that the KCTU and all its members will stand at the forefront of the struggle to cancel plans to deploy troops to Iraq.

23rd June, 2004

Korean Confederation of Trade Unions

Counterpunch Excerpt

Iraqi Unionist Abdullah Muhsin reports conversation with Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) [see link to FKTU page below]

As for activities of the Iraqi unionists at Geneva, the only accounts I found were written by the embattled unionists themselves. Abdullah Muhsin, the London-based voice for the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) reports a very interesting conversation between his delegation and Korean unionists.

“The meeting focused on the presence of Korean troops in Iraq and the proposal for an additional 600 soldiers to go to Iraq to help with humanitarian needs for construction, and for medical aid,” reports Muhsin.

“The meeting also discussed the 30 June transfer of power to the Iraqis, the role of the UN and the proposed draft UN resolution on Iraq.”

“Both sides agreed,” reports Mushin, “that the occupation of Iraq must now end, that the UN must take a leading role in the [future] of Iraq and that real power and sovereignty must be handed to the transitional Iraqi government established on 30 June 2004.”

Muhsin’s report evades details of any conclusions that might have been reached during that conversation regarding the 600 additional Korean soldiers. Should they stay home? Should they come to Iraq only under UN supervision? An independent reporter might have pressed those questions.

FKTU

In this country the D.H.S., specifically tasked with keeping the population safe, was created in language that specifically excluded the possibility of workers in that agency joining unions for collective bargaining.

We can join any union we want, from the Teamsters to the IBEW to the ILGWU, go to meetings, enjoy the fraternity of our union brothers and sisters….we just can’t have whatever union we may belong to bargain for us.

The Iraqis might beware of similar regulations placed upon them within the structure of the transfer of “sovereignty.”

This administration seems intent upon creating Iraq in its own image and I doubt, therefore, if unions will be permitted any meaningful voice within the power structure unless they make clear somehow that they will not be ignored. I think unions will be allowed, even “encouraged” so that workers can be organized, tabulated in fact, and whatever they say will be reported and perhaps commented upon somewhere. I do not believe this administration will allow unions any meaningful voice (power) in the “democracy” of Iraq and, in fact, I think it likely that any union action to wrest power from the hands of the companies and the government will be categorized as “insurrectionist” and could be dealt with quite harshly as “defense of the homeland.”

We shall see.

John Gillmore
[via email, posted by permission]

Dear Friends

I was glad to read the article about the workers in Nasiriyan. Finally someone is willing to recognize cities in Iraq as a field of political and social struggle where the workers, peacelovers and freedom seeking people strive to become a third alternative.

As for Rassim al Awadi [official GUTU delegate at the ILO], he is a previous Baath figure as he used to be an official in the unions under Sadam’s regime, but he is not one of the 50 something deck. Many leftists in the west have recognized him before meeting others. As the Baathist were the only ones working during these decades, they have more means and skills of communicating and also skills in hiding their anti-worker history.

As for Muqtada al Sadr, he has recognized the interim government following the steps of Al Sistani (a higher ranking Shiite cleric), but people say that the true story was that after all the killing in his ranks and the destruction in his areas, most of his supporters have abandoned him and preferred to revert to more peaceful ways of political struggle.

It is a well-known fact in Baghdad, that when you see a woman covered up with black from head to toe, with only the eyes showing, when you see her wearing black gloves and stockings in the unbearable heat of June, you talk to her to find out that she has had no access to education….and she [dresses] like that because she is a follower of Muqtada Al Sader – not that she knows any of his teachings…nobody does, it is just a religious position that he’s inherited from his father. Many of the begging families in the streets (and they are a lot in this post-war Iraq) are dressed like that; i.e. the women look like black plastic bags and usually they are denied any education even if the family is well off.

Best Regards

Yanar Mohammed

Chairperson of Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq

Editor in Chief of Al Mousawat (Equality) Newspaper
http://www.equalityiniraq.com

Kurds Must Fight for Rights Peacefully Now (June 17, 2004)
http://www.kurdishmedia.com/reports.asp?id=2046

The Kurdish leadership must remember if they don’t get what they want now peacefully, they will force the Kurdish people into the role of terrorists by fighting the future Iraqi government. This is because the future elected Iraqi government – in six months time – will certainly deny the Kurd’s rights, but it will have the backing of the USA, Europe and UN. Hence the Kurds will be labeled terrorists.

Total failure for Assyrians (June 17, 2004)
http://www.assyrianchristians.com/commentary_itisuptous_june_17_04.htm

Total and complete failure! There may be excuses, explanations, but to every Assyrian living in Iraq the message was clear – our leaders have totally and completely failed. We are alone.

Minister of Displacement and Migration, Pascale Warda: Warda is president of the Assyrian Women’s Union in Iraq, applying her experience with human rights, refugees, and civil society in her work with Assyrian women. Ms. Warda co-founded the Iraqi Society for Human Rights in Damascus, Syria, and served as the representative of the Assyrian Democratic Movement Foundation (ADM) in Paris—the highest position of any woman in the ADM, which is the primary Assyrian political party in Iraq. Ms. Warda holds a degree from the Human Rights Institute at the University of Lyon in France.

Assyrian Priest’s Letter to Bush (June 14, 2004)
http://www.aina.org/news/20040616143342.htm

Therefore, Mr. President, we pray and hope that the U.S., having liberated Iraq, will not pull out its forces from the country, under the ongoing and incessant attacks and negative reporting from a liberal media, until strong democratic institutions have been established and enough safeguards have been put in place for the protection of the minorities, and in particular Assyrian Christians, from oppression and religious sectarianism.

We, the Assyrians, were there in Mesopotamia, now called Iraq, for thousands of years B.C., and history is a witness to the fact that we had build empires and civilizations in that part of the world long before Islam, as a religion or a political entity, appeared on the face of the earth. We are the indigenous people of Mesopotamia. Our people should not be driven out of their ancestral homeland by radical Islamic movements, by religious intolerance or by persecution. We have survived all those forces for millennia by the blood of our martyrs. Now that we are facing a new challenge, we hope that the United States and Britain will not sit as neutral spectators should the situation in Iraq deteriorate and our people are victimized again. For more than a decade, the United States and Britain have protected the Kurds and the Shi?ites from the savagery and tyranny of Saddam Hussein?s regime through the no-fly-zones in the north and south of Iraq. We hope that the same protection will be extended to all the minorities when sovereignty is finally turned over to the Iraqi government. That way, we hope, our Christian Assyrian people will be able to live in peace, like all the other ethnic and religious groups, in a sovereign and independent Iraq redeemed as a member of the civilized world. –Rev. Awiqam Pithyou, Chicago

CPA Official History–Protest Works (May 25, 2004)
http://www.cpa-iraq.org/pressreleases/20040525_iraqi_women.html

In November 2003, the CPA and the Iraqi Governing Council agreed to a process to restore Iraq’s sovereignty, and to adopt a fundamental law leading to a permanent constitution ensuring equal rights for all Iraqis. The process of framing this law generated weeks of democratic debate within the Council. Late in the deliberations, some members attempted to impose Shari’a family law, in the form of “Resolution 137,” to restrict women’s equal rights. In response, hundreds of Iraqi women took to the streets in peaceful protest, while women leaders argued forcefully behind closed doors for repeal. The women of Iraq are proud of their role in persuading the Iraqi Governing Council to overturn Resolution 137 on March 1, 2004.

Al Kut Sewing Coop (April 1, 2004)
http://www.mercycorps.org/items/1806/

With assistance from Mercy Corps, the cooperative is taking bold steps to increase productivity, streamline business processes and improve facilities. With a grant of $55,000 from Mercy Corps’ USAID Iraq Community Action Program, the co-op building is being rehabilitated and new sewing machines are being purchased. Um Noor will also start using computer technology for the creation of new designs, a process that has all been done manually to date.

Interim Constitution: Hailed by Women, Opposed by Ayatollah (March 8, 2004)
http://www.iraq.net/displayarticle2234.html

The interim constitution, coincidentally signed on International Women’s Day, guarantees women 25 per cent of the seats in Iraq’s proposed parliament.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called the legal text “an obstacle”, stunning the council and US officials.
The 75-year-old Iranian-born Ayatollah is concerned that the document would allow minority Kurds and Sunnis to veto majority decisions in which the Shia, who make up 60 per cent of the population, would hold sway.

Halabja Women’s Center Opened (March, 2004)
http://www.wadinet.de/projekte/newiraq/women/intensifying.htm

Now after the area is liberated from the Islamist rule it is possible to start with a variety of projects and programs.

Iraqi Women’s League Re-Emerges (Feb. 20, 2004)
http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=3221

“We had a war before with a tyrant. Now we have a war with those religious men who think women are just instruments to bear children and create the next generation,” she said.

“Reconstruction of Iraq” is now a euphemism for the daylight robbery of our resources. IWL Appeal

Najaf Human Rights and Democracy Center opens (Feb. 18, 2004)
http://www.iraqcoalition.org/pressreleases/20040218_najaf_HRC.html

The people of Najaf will now use the building to promote democracy and human rights. During the Center’s opening, Sheikh Khalid Nuamani said: “God created human beings with dignity. We are here to return to the people of Najaf their human dignity.”

Karbala Women’s Rights Center [CPA & USAID] (Feb. 16, 2004)
http://www.iraqcoalition.org/pressreleases/20040216_woman_karbala.html

Located in a former Ba’athist building, the women named their new Center after the revered Zainab Al-Hawra’a, the granddaughter of the Prophet Mohammad.

Diwaniyah Women’s Rights Center opens (Jan. 9, 2004)
http://www.iraqcoalition.org/pressreleases/20040127a_women-diwan.htm

The purpose of the Center is to assist widowed, impoverished, and vulnerable women as they improve their lives and those of their children. The Center will help enable the women to participate in a free, democratic Iraq.

Condoleezza Rice opened a center for women’s human rights in Diwanya. In her opening speech – delivered via satellite – she assured Iraqi women that “we are with you in spirit”. It was attended by commanders and soldiers of the occupying forces, but by very few Iraqi women. Meanwhile in Diwanya itself, local farmers (many of them women) were unable to start the winter season because of unexploded cluster bombs on their land.

Over countless coffees, the women explain. They are educated, resilient and survivors of atrocities of Saddam’s regime. They replaced male workers during the eight years of the Iran-Iraq war, and set up cottage industries to support their families during 13 years of brutal sanctions. They are not about to forgive the US or British governments for strengthening Saddam’s regime, imposing sanctions, and destroying their cities in two wars. Iraqi women know that the occupation forces are in the country to guard their own interests, not those of the Iraqis.

In refusing to take part in any initiative by the US-led occupation, or its Iraqi allies, women are practicing passive resistance. They adopted the same technique against Saddam’s despised General Union of Iraqi women. Then, they managed to cause the collapse of one of the richest, most powerful institutions for women in the Middle East. Perhaps they will do so again. Haifa Zangana

Iraqi Women’s Letter to Paul Bremer (Dec. 18, 2003)
http://www.womensorganizations.org/pages.cfm?ID=62

From 12 Women’s & Human Rights Groups regarding sex discrimination under CPA rule:

“under the November 15th Agreement, the CPA has given control over the creation of the transitional government to the existing CPA appointed councils, which are male-dominated by your making and practice an anti-womens rights agenda.”

“The bottom line is that the CPA has the responsibility to fix the imbalance of power created by CPA appointments. This can be done in accordance with the November 15th Agreement by adding a requirement that an equal proportion of men and women be selected to the provincial caucuses, and by requiring that the caucuses select an equal number of men and women to serve as delegates for the national assembly; and, further, by requiring that the national assembly ensure equal representation in the executive branch, high-level ministry appointments, and the judiciary.”

“There is ample authority under International Law for the use of a temporary quota in this situation, especially given U.N. Security Resolution 1325 and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, to which Iraq is a signatory. However, given that the power imbalance was caused by the CPA, we do not view this as a quota issue, but rather a serious mistake that must be corrected by whatever means necessary.”

“In addition, we call upon the CPA to immediately disband the all-male Fundamental Law committee and ensure women make up 50% of any such committees created in the future.”

In December 2003, a coalition of Iraqi women’s groups, most of whom had supported the US invasion, delivered a scathing letter to the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) denouncing a litany of discriminatory political appointments. Medea Benjamin

Iraq: Increasing Domestic Violence Reported (Oct. 14, 2003)
http://www.peacewomen.org/news/Iraq/October03/domesticviolence.html

WADI also recently carried out an assessment in the south of the country. Having visited Al-Hillah, Amara and Al-Kut, its staff found that domestic violence was also widespread there. “The situation is much worse in the south; it has been completely neglected, and the fact that there is no data on this issue shows that there is no assistance for women suffering there,” the project coordinator for WADI, Thomas Osten Sacken, told IRIN from Frankfurt, Germany, after ending a visit to southern Iraq.

Heartland of Iraq Women’s Conference (Oct. 4-7, 2003)
http://www.womenforiraq.org/heartland.php

Another member of the Women for a Free Iraq, Zainab al-Suwaij, took a courageous step by speaking in favor of separation of religion and state. As a devout Muslim who is the granddaughter of a prominent religious scholar in Basra, her statement put in motion a debate that energized a silent majority of the women.

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE WOMEN OF SOUTH CENTRAL IRAQ [pdf]
Delivered to Ambassador Paul L. Bremer on October 7, 2003
• At least one third of the members of the Constitutional Committee should be women.
• All laws that violate women’s rights should be abolished, and new laws must be enacted that protect the rights of women.
• The future Iraqi Constitution should assign a quota of no less than 30% participation of women in all political institutions, including but not restricted to the national parliament, and
regional and local councils.
• Monitoring committees should be established in all government institutions to ensure that women’s rights are respected, and to provide women with educational, economic and employment
support according to strategies identified by the women themselves.

Al Hillah Human Rights Lawyer Referral (July 26, 2003)
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/…

Now if a citizen of Al Hillah contests a government action that is viewed as violation of their rights, the Human Rights Association will provide them an attorney free of charge.