Pls pass this message onto all email lists you are on and get lots of
people to turn up to the protest action on Sat (details below)
* STOP PRESS* STOP PRESS* STOP PRESS* STOP PRESS*
200 IRAQI WOMEN BEHEADED. PROTEST ORGANISED!
In the previous three weeks over 200 women have been beheaded by the Ba'ath
regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Special military forces, led By U'day
Hussein, the older son of Saddam, accused these women of sex crimes and
subsequently beheaded them in front of their families. All the women were
decapitated with swords and their heads were publicly displayed on the door
at the entrance of their homes for several days.
Since Saddam's regime seized power, it has engaged in war with neighbouring
countries, attempted genocide and ruthlessly repressed the Iraqi people.
While 6000 children have died as a result of the UN Economic Sanctions, the
Hussein regime has spent billions on building mosques and palaces. The
inhumane economic sanctions against Iraq by the United Nations have only
stabilised Hussein's power and created extreme poverty for its citizens.
The economic crisis has forced many women to sell their bodies to feed
their families. For the Hussein regime to now murder them is deliberate
scapegoating of the victims of its own repressive reign.
Why are these women being executed now? The Hussein regime is initiating a
new wave of terror. Prior to the murders Saddam spoke on national TV
stating that all of Iraq's problems can be traced back to women as they
take men's jobs, wear short dresses and lipstick. He ordered these women to
be kept in the home to raise families. The murder of the sex-workers is a
populist act to try and deflect blame of the regime onto its most
vulnerable citizens. At the same time these murders are enacted to
intimidate the Iraqi citizens.
Many of the women who were beheaded were falsely accused of sex-crimes,
such as one progressive doctor who opposed the regime. By nailing her head
over her doorway a warning is sent to other progressive and democracy
activists. At the same time that 200 women were murdered, 100 political
prisoners were also murdered.
The two actions are a political purge of the progressive anti-Hussein
movement in Iraq.
We call on all Melburnians to participate in a rally outside the United
Nations Association, 179 St. Georges Rd. North Fitzroy, at noon next
Saturday, 25th November.
We Demand:
1. That the UN Condemn the Killings of the Iraqi Regime!
2. The Australian Government Protest and Condemn the Killings!
3. That the UN Lift the Devastating Economic Sanctions On Iraq.
4. That the Australian Government Open It's Borders and Free the Refugees
in Detention Camps!
Call Surma Hamid on 0402 323 199 or Rachel/ Margarita on 9639 8622 for more
information.
Organised by the International Women's Day Collective 2001 and Committee in
Defense of Iraqi Women's Rights.
--
Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/
Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL.VK
