Press Release No. 199-03
25 April 2003
UN
CALL HIGHLIGHTS URGENT NEED FOR HUMANITARIAN ACTION FOR IRAQI PEOPLE – OPLE
Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople today said that the call of the United
Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) for the international community
to address the humanitarian needs of the people of Iraq and for the nations
of the world to assist in the development of free and democratic institutions
in the Iraq, highlights the urgent need for humanitarian action on Iraq and
gives added impetus to the decision of the Philippine Government to send
a humanitarian mission to Iraq.
Secretary Ople made this statement after the UN Commission on Human Rights,
the main United Nations human rights forum, adopted a resolution calling
for humanitarian action for Iraq. The resolution was issued by the
Geneva-based UN body on 25 April 2003.
“The call to address the humanitarian needs of the people of Iraq has come
from all sectors of the international community, from Secretary-General Kofi
Annan, from the immediate neighbors of Iraq, from various world leaders,
and from the Iraqi people themselves,” the Secretary said. “Yesterday,
this call came from the UNCHR itself. The future of the people of Iraq
and the stability of the entire region, will depend on how well individual
nations work together to ensure a viable, democratic and pluralistic Iraq,”
he added. He also said that the Philippines welcomes this action by
the UNCHR.
“As I have stated before, we have very clear and strategic interests in the
future of Iraq and in the stability of the Middle East. It is patently
in our national interest to make our own contribution, within our means as
a developing country, to see to it that the diverse peoples of Iraq are able
to have a future together. I hope that those who intend to block this
policy will broaden their horizons and realize that in today’s world our
interests go beyond their narrow, partisan and parochial concerns,” the Secretary
said.
Saying that he was aware that there were early attempts in the UNCHR to politicize
the issue of Iraq, that is, for the UNCHR to address the issue of the legitimacy
of the use of force on Iraq, the Secretary said that all the members of the
UN have ceased all attempts to politicize this issue in the UNCHR and have
decided instead to focus on the immediate imperative of addressing the humanitarian
needs of the people of Iraq.