[antiwar-van] [Fwd: IRAK: End the massacre! Cessez le massacre !]

[noii-van at resist.ca]

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: IRAK: End the massacre! Cessez le massacre !


[We just received this call to action from our delegate Andréa Schmidt in
Bagdad. Please circulate it through your networks. The text can also be
used for flyers for emergency demonstrations at US government sites in the
next days. NOTE in Montreal: Protest TOMORROW (Saturday) at 1:00 pm at the
US Consulate (St-Alexandre at René-Lévesque).]

End the Massacre in Falluja!

470 killed.
1200 injured, of which 243 are women and 200 are children.
This is the first, underestimated body count from Falluja.

April 9 2004
Occupied Baghdad

Since fighting escalated at the beginning of the week, Iraqi people,
especially in the city of Falluja, are facing a humanitarian disaster.
Occupation Forces have laid siege to the city.  More than 470 people have
been killed, 1200 injured.  Dead bodies are lying in the streets.

Falluja is being mortared and bombed by F-16 fighter planes, helicopters
dropping cluster bombs and rocket-propelled grenades.

Ambulances are being shot at by snipers. Medical aid and supplies have
been stopped by US Occupation Forces. Aid workers delivering supplies have
had to take secondary roads into the city; once they arrived, they found
themselves under fire from US snipers.

No humanitarian corridor has been put in place.

A cease-fire was announced and people began trying flee, but US troops
resumed their attacks. Many people remain trapped inside the city, and
refugees trying to escape from Falluja to Baghdad are being prevented from
reaching their destination by US military. They form a column that extends
over 10 kilometers of highway.

The thousands of families who remain trapped in Falluja are running out of
basic necessities like food and potable water.  Hospitals and medical
staff are overwhelmed, and are asking desperately for blood, oxygen and
antiseptics.

Fighting is spreading all over the country, Al-Sadr City (neighbourhood in
Baghdad) has been attacked
and paid a high price with almost 100 casualties. The situation in
Southern cities -  Kerbala, Najaf, Kut - is unknown to us, but they are
also feared to be sites of  humanitarian emergencies.

The international community, the United Nations and the European Community
cannot remain spectators to the massacre in Falluja and the terrorization
of Iraqi people all over the country.

The international community must take a firm position and demand that
Coalition Forces stop these massacres and respect international
conventions and allow for a humanitarian corridor through which refugees
can safely escape, and medical supplies can reach Falluja.

Stop the massacre.
Stop attacking civilians.
End the siege of Falluja.

Signed:
Bridge to Baghdad/Italy (001 914 360 9080 in Baghdad)
CCIPPP/France  (079 01 427 627  in Baghdad)
Italian Consortium of Solidarity/Italy
Iraq Solidarity Project/Canada (079 01 429 115 in Baghdad)

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Iraq Solidarity Project