-----Original Message----- From: Voices in the Wilderness [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 6:21 PM To: 'Voices in the Wilderness' Subject: Voices fined by the Treasury Dept and our response
Dear friends, Voices in the Wilderness received a letter from the Treasury Department, placing fines for $20,000, which are due this Thursday December 5th, 2002. The letter, and Voices response, have been posted on the front page of www.vitw.org This, along with individual fines placed against Dan Handelman, Bert Sacks, and Rev. Randall Mullins, total $50,000. Many of you know of our recent efforts with the Iraq Peace Team, and how Bert and Randall refused to pay the fines and instead sent medicines to Iraq. Voices in the Wilderness will decline payment, and continue our delegations that deliver medicines and othere needed goods. We will not be silenced. We will not be divided. We do need your help. Please help us spread the word - there is more information in the press release below and posted at www.vitw.org. We will also be sending a declaration asking for your direct help and participation to ' Break the Sanctions' in the coming days. Thanks for all of your support and collaboration- peace danny muller FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Danny Muller office: 773-784-8965 cell: 917-217-6809 HUMANITARIAN GROUP FINED $50,000 FOR BRINGING MEDICINE TO IRAQ On November 6 the U.S. Treasury Department imposed $20,000 in fines on Chicago-based Voices in the Wilderness (VitW), a campaign to end the sanctions on Iraq. On December 5 at 10 AM members of VitW will hold a press conference on the 2nd floor of Grace Place, 637 S. Dearborn, Chicago. They will affirm that they have traveled to Iraq in nonviolent defiance of US/UN sanctions and announce that they intend to raise thousands of dollars to continue breaking the embargo. Sue Mackley, Nathan Mauger and others who have returned from Iraq in the past few weeks will be joined by delegates scheduled to travel to Iraq before the end of the year. These fines are for delivering medicine to Iraq without a permit in 1998. They are directed against VitW co-founder and double Nobel Peace Prize nominee Kathy Kelly of Chicago. Dan Handleman, of Portland, Oregon, was simultaneously fined $10,000 for alleged travel-related expenses incurred during a 1997 VitW delegation to Iraq. Earlier this year, Bert Sacks and Rev. Randall Mullins, both of Seattle, were fined $10,000 each for taking part in the same 1997 delegation. They refused to pay, and instead raised over $10,000 to buy more medicine to bring to Iraq. This medicine was delivered by Sacks last September. The fines come as VitW is sending Americans and other internationals to Iraq almost every week to take part in its Iraq Peace Team. Currently there are 16 volunteers in Baghdad with Iraq Peace Team. In the event of another US military assault on Iraq, they intend to help coordinate humanitarian efforts, offer independent reporting, and stand in solidarity with Iraqi civilians. "We will not consent to pay any fine,” said Kathy Kelly, currently in Baghdad with the Iraq Peace Team. “We simply reject the government's contention that we cannot carry medicine to the sick, and assert that it is a greater evil to let the children die." Since January, 1996, VitW has sent over fifty delegations to Iraq. In addition to medicine, they have illegally brought to Iraq toys, medical books and journals, blood bags, pens and pencils for schools. Voices in the Wilderness representatives will be available to speak publicly and with the media. VitW has sent hundreds of delegates from over forty states- for local representatives, please contact us directly at 773 784 8065.
