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1 Proceedings of the International Seminar on US-imposed sanctions and blockades on third world countries called by THIRD WORLD SOLIDARITY Chairperson: Mushtaq Lasharie Address: 160, Katherine Rd., London E6 1ER. Tel: 081-552-7666. Fax: 081-552-0966. in association with International Commission of Inquiry on Economic Sanctions Spain: Jaime Ballesteros, Valverde 28, 28004 Madrid. Tel/fax: (010)-34-1-523-1829. Britain: Hugh Stephens, BM 2966, London WC1N 3XX. Tel/fax: 071-436-4636. and Institute for Independence Studies. BM 2966, London WC1N 3XX. Tel/fax: 071-436-4636.

2 Foreword by Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Advocate, Supreme Court of Pakistan; Senior Vice-Chairman, Pakistan People's Party; former Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan. I have had the privilege of glancing through the Proceedings of the International Seminar on US-imposed sanctions and blockades on third world countries, held under the auspices of the Third World Solidarity organisation, with Mr. Mushtaq Lasharie as its Chairman, in association with the International Commission of Inquiry on Economic Sanctions which has been called for by Mr. Jaime Ballesteros and others, and the Institute for Independence Studies, whose Secretary is Mr. Hugh Stephens. This seminar is a healthy and constructive step, however small a beginning. It will constitute a guideline for the oppressed people the world over, especially those of the third world countries. A radical feature of the function was that it was sponsored and addressed by true representatives of the working people. The speakers, while vehemently condemning the sanctions which constitute a continuing crime against humanity against the victim countries, gave various suggestions on how to force the US imperialists and the West to refrain from these criminal acts. The paper contributed by a revolutionary activist, Mr. Hugh Stephens, is thought-provoking. In his scholarly exposition of the situation, the details of the high-handedness of the US imperialists, the indifferent attitude of the West and the miseries with which the victim countries are confronted, are vividly explained. May I, however, add that the masses of the people of the non-aligned countries should persuade their respective governments to convene a special meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement to discuss this vital question, causing starvation, sickness and killings and other untold sufferings on innocent people in tens of thousands daily. The call for the formation of an International Commission of Inquiry on Economic Sanctions by Mr. Jaime Ballesteros is indeed laudable. I will, however, with respect to Mr. Jaime, suggest that if this Commission is linked with the International Commission of Inquiry led by Mr. Ramsey Clark, former Attorney General of the USA, it will elicit an extensive response, as Mr Ramsey Clark enjoys worldwide recognition as an established champion of peace and exponent of the cause of the oppressed. Sheikh Mohammad Rashid London August 1st 1994

3 Summary of Proceedings The International Seminar on US-imposed sanctions and blockades on third world countries, called by Third World Solidarity in association with the International Commission of Inquiry on Economic Sanctions and the Institute for Independence Studies, was held in London at the St. Clement and St. James Community Centre on 23rd July 1994. Among the participants were solidarity activists, journalists, politicians, lawyers, diplomats, teachers, academics, businessmen, former parliamentarians, religious people, college and school students, religious people and working and progressive people of many other walks of life. The participants included people of many nationalities living in or visiting Britain, including people from Pakistan, India, Ireland, Iraq, Egypt, Spain, Quebec, the USA, and elsewhere. In all, the participants numbered 57, and at a reception following the Seminar, this number grew to around 80. Guests of honour included H.E. Mr. Zuhair Ibrahim, Representative of the Iraqi Interests Section of the Jordanian Embassy, who attended the Seminar, and H.E. Mr Shamsul Hasan, High Commissioner of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, who attended the Reception following the Seminar. A message of greetings to the Seminar was received from Stan Newens, Labour Member of the European Parliament and President of the solidarity organisation Liberation. Messages of greetings were also received from the Delegation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the International Maritime Organisation and from H.E. Mr. Khalifa Bazelya, Representative of the Libyan Interests Section of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia. Further messages of greetings were received from Natasha Sivanandan, Coordinator of the Defend Cuba Campaign, and from Sulayman Bilal, representative of the Secretariat of Pan-Africanist Students in Britain. A condolences book for the late President Kim Il Sung of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, who had passed away two weeks earlier on July 8th, was signed by participants. The Seminar was chaired by Mushtaq Lasharie, Labour Councillor of Kensington and Chelsea, who is Chairperson of the Seminar's host organisation, Third World Solidarity. In greeting the Representative of Iraq, he remarked to loud applause from the participants that while the British government may refuse diplomatic relations with Iraq, here among friends of the Iraqi people he is fully recognised as Ambassador. He also welcomed the fact that so many young people were present, since they represent the

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.

5 Amanullah Khan, a progressive journalist and writer from Pakistan, made a powerful plea for solidarity against US-imposed sanctions and domination. While expressing fellow feeling for the sufferings of the oppressed within the US, many of whom even there sleep rough, he denounced the ruling imperialists who have made the A in America stand for aggression, its M for militarism, its E for exploitation, its R for racism, its I for imperialism, its C for capitalism, and its A for autocracy, armaments and absolutism. He said that anyone who claims to stand for democracy but who does not fight imperialism is no true democrat. Bashir Dar, President of the Pakistani Workers' Association of Britain, said: "We are totally against the economic sanctions, which are being imposed in violation of the principle of fair and equal treatment of all countries. We are opposed to the domination of any one country or nation by another. We stand against sanctions and for social justice in the world." Sheikh Jawid-ur-Rahman, a representative of the Bonded Labour Liberation Front of Pakistan, pointed out that sanctions are imposed on countries according to whether or not they act as puppets of the US. Mian Mohammad Iqbal, former Senator of Pakistan and Political Advisor to Begum Nusrat Bhutto, said that it is particularly reprehensible that sanctions should be imposed in a discriminatory way to serve one particular big power. He said that People's Korea and Pakistan have the right to pursue any policy, including the development of nuclear power, that is necessary to their economic development, and that the infringement of their sovereignty over this question is an infringement of the UN Charter. As former President of the Pakistan-Korea Friendship Association of Faisalabad, he paid tribute to the late President Kim Il Sung and expressed solidarity with the Korean people in their struggle to continue to pursue their late President's policies for the reunification of their divided country. Barrister Syed Saeed Hasan called for unity against the sanctions policy. He said that these sanctions are imposed quite simply on those countries which follow policies which the US does not want them to follow, and that their implementation is in complete contradiction with all principles of international law and justice, and is an affront to humanitarianism. He called on all those who have any means of influencing public opinion to unite together as one, so as to build a united and effective campaign that can make a real impact on those responsible for implementing the sanctions, and cause them to desist. Khalaf al-Sabaawe from Iraq said that the sanctions have been imposed on Iraq because it does not obey the West, and that this is the same with Cuba, People's Korea, and Libya. Laura O'Sullivan, of the Irish in Britain Representation Group, said: "Sanctions imposed by Western imperialist powers aim to destroy the independence of third world countries by the weapon of causing hardship to the peoples of those countries. The struggle for peace and justice in my own country, Ireland, which causes suffering to Irish people both in Ireland and in England, continues for the same reason, which is Britain's role there." Balwant Kapoor, President of Indian Overseas Congress (London), said: "Our feelings of sentiment and solidarity for Korea and other threatened countries at this time