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April 14, 2005
In Iraq, famine kills too
The French daily L'Humanite published an article on the 12th of April about Jean Ziegler's report on the right to food. Ziegler is the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. He wrote his report for the 61st session of the Commission on Human Rights, which takes place during this month in New York.
"In a world overflowing with riches, it is a outrageous scandal that more than 826 million people suffer hunger and malnutrition and that every year over 36 million die of starvation and related causes . We must take urgent action now."writes Jean Ziegler, and
"It is an outrage that more than 6 million small children are killed by hunger related diseases every year, in a world that is wealthier than ever before and that already produces enough food to feed the world’s population."
In his report, Ziegler underline the worrying situation in Iraq.
"The situation of the right to food in Iraq is also of serious concern, writes Ziegler. According to a study by John Hopkins University, 100,000 more Iraqis died than would have been expected had the invasion not occurred. Most died as a result of the violence, but many others died as a result of the increasingly difficult living conditions, reflected in increasing child mortality levels. More than a quarter of Iraqi children are suffering from chronic undernourishment, and acute malnutrition amongst Iraqi children under the age of 5 has almost doubled from 4 per cent to 7.7 per cent."The USA said that this assessment is wrong and asked for the resignation of Jean Ziegler, writes Ramine Abadie in L'Humanite. The USA accused the Special Rapporteur to "take his opinions for facts".
"it is the third time that they [the USA] ask for my departure", said Ziegler. "They asked for it after my reports on the situation in Palestinian occupied territories and on the GMO."
The Rapporteur also wanted to prepare a report on the food situation in Cuba during the US embargo... "But the US authorities categorically refused to receive me" said Ziegler.
Posted April 14, 2005 03:08 PM
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