U.N. food envoy says coalition breaking law in Iraq (depriving food/water)

[sabra]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L14613909.htm

U.N. food envoy says coalition breaking law in Iraq

GENEVA, Oct 14 (Reuters) - A United Nations human rights investigator on Friday accused U.S. and British forces in Iraq of breaching international law by depriving civilians of food and water in besieged cities as they try to flush out militants.

But the U.S. military denied the charge and said that while supplies were sometimes disrupted by combat, food was never deliberately withheld.

Jean Ziegler, a former Swiss sociology professor who is U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food, said the Geneva Conventions banned military forces from using "starvation of civilians as a method of warfare".

But he said that in Falluja, Tal Afar and Samarra, Iraqi and U.S.-led forces had cut off or restricted food and water to encourage residents to flee before assaults on entrenched Sunni insurgents over the past year.

[jsamuel]

1. somehow i don't doubt this at all

:cry:

[Missy M]

2. If they can't bomb them to death they'll starve them to death.....

can you imagine cutting off and restricting food so residents will flee. That sounds like torture to me.

[LatinoSocialist]

3. what's another international law

to the already thousands of broken ones?

First international law broken was waging aggressive war.

[LynnTheDem]

4. Is there ANYTHING ELSE we can do to show the world what

evil MFing criminals we are???

Just wondering.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sabra]

6. it's called the Geneva Conventions

you should read up on it, and see what IT IS a big issue.

welcome to DU, btw....

[Village Idiot]

8. Maybe they should change the name to the "quaint conventions?"

A la Gonzales...

[Village Idiot]

7. I'm shocked, I tells ya - SHOCKED!!!

[callady]

9. kick

[Euphen]

10. US troops 'starve Iraqi citizens'

US troops 'starve Iraqi citizens'

A senior United Nations official has accused US-led coalition troops of depriving Iraqi civilians of food and water in breach of humanitarian law.

Human rights investigator Jean Ziegler said they had driven people out of insurgent strongholds that were about to be attacked by cutting supplies.

Mr Ziegler, a Swiss-born sociologist, said such tactics were in breach of international law.

A US military spokesman in Baghdad denied the allegations

......................................

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4344136.stm

[oblivious]

11. It's part of the new definition of freedom and democracy.

[oblivious]

12. self-delete

[sadiesworld]

13. Didn't they hold up food and water in NOLA in order to encourage

residents to evacuate (not that a means of evacuation was provided in a timely manner)? If they would do it here, doing it in Iraq would be a given.

[zann725]

14. Our own Admin. denied N.O. citizens food and water for nearly a week.

Guess they feel if it's okay here, why not 'there.'

Barbarians all.

[ECH1969]

15. US troops 'starve Iraqi citizens'

A senior United Nations official has accused US-led coalition troops of depriving Iraqi civilians of food and water in breach of humanitarian law.

Mr Ziegler, a Swiss-born sociologist, said such tactics were in breach of international law.

A US military spokesman in Baghdad denied the allegations.

"A drama is taking place in total silence in Iraq, where the coalition's occupying forces are using hunger and deprivation of water as a weapon of war against the civilian population," Mr Ziegler told a press conference in Geneva.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4344136.stm

[VegasWolf]

16. Saddam meet Georgie, you two have a lot in common. nt

[leftchick]

17. bush is worse

saddam did not promise them freedom and demcracy as he killed them.