Part 4 - DW062 001 020 004

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4 future of our work as well as an inspiration to us to endeavour to bequeath a freer world to them so that they will not be confronted with the same bitter struggles as us. Mushtaq Lasharie then gave a brief outline of the history and objectives of Third World Solidarity. Formed in 1986 following the attack on Libya by US bombers based in Britain, the organisation, is, he explained, dedicated first of all to the cause of peace, something the people of the third world need more than any others. Secondly, the organisation is dedicated to the cause of the human rights of third world peoples, including their right to peaceful development in conditions of independence. Thirdly, it is dedicated to the cause of promoting unity among third world peoples, including the various communities of third world origin living in Britain. He explained how the issue of the US-imposed economic sanctions had come to the centre of the concerns of the organisation, particularly following the Gulf crisis and war of 1990-1991, following which sanctions and the threat of sanctions had become a major arm of the policy of the US and its allies. A paper was presented to the Seminar by Hugh Stephens, Secretary of the Institute for Independence Studies, and Coordinator of the British Commission of Inquiry of the International War Crimes Tribunal called by Ramsey Clark, former US Attorney General. He recalled that the emergence of the 'new world order' was announced by the US-led attack on Iraq, and he gave an account of the work of the British Commission of Inquiry which had aimed to give a voice to those who had not been heard in the media, those who considered that war to have been a crime. He paid tribute to the courage and determination with which communities of third world origin living in Britain had worked to expose the truth of this war, and the continuation of this war by the use of that new and terrible weapon of mass destruction, the weapon of deliberately-imposed hunger. He said that the participation of so many different nationalities in this Seminar was itself a demonstration of who the real friends of a threatened country such as Iraq or People's Korea are, to whom such a country can most confidently turn for solidarity in its hour of need. He called for cooperation and unity among all peace and solidarity organisations in the common task of ridding the world of the scourge of the US-imposed economic sanctions and other threats against Iraq, Libya, Cuba, People's Korea and any other country that dares to stand up for its independence. Jaime Ballesteros, former Member of Parliament of Spain, and President of the Spanish Organisation of Solidarity with the Peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America (OSPAAAL), called upon the meeting to endorse the call for the proposed International Commission of Inquiry on Economic Sanctions. He said that such a Commission could work to ensure that the use or threat of use of economic sanctions against third world countries should evoke the same revulsion in international public opinion as does the idea of the use of nuclear weapons. Taj Mohammad Khan Langah, Chairman of the Pakistan Saraiki Party, who is also a lawyer, condemned the US-imposed sanctions as contrary to international law and norms and against the UN Charter. He added that besides their open use in the case of countries such as Libya, Iraq, People's Korea and Cuba, there are many other countries in which, under the supervision of the IMF and World Bank, aid and the provision of capital generally are used indirectly or even directly as a means of economic domination in the interests of the rich countries. He cited the case of the state budget of Pakistan, where even such details as water rates, electricity charges, and so on, are effectively stipulated by the IMF/WB rather than in accordance with the sovereign interests of the people of Pakistan.

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