New Report: Water Under Siege in Iraq

Human Rights Group Warns US/UK Military Forces Risk Committing War Crimes by Depriving Civilians of Safe Water

If Iraqis “take innocent life, if they destroy infrastructure, they will be held accountable as war criminals.”
— George W. Bush (Feb. 25, 2003)

New York, April 5, 2003--A new report by the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR), Water under Siege in Iraq, charges that the United States and United Kingdom risk committing war crimes by depriving Iraqi civilians of safe water. In urban centers throughout southern and central Iraq, millions of civilians face disease and possible death due to inadequate access to water as a result of the US-British invasion.

100,000 children in Basra are already threatened with severe illness due to a crippled water treatment plant, according to UNICEF. As American troops advance on Baghdad, the city of five million has lost electric power and the population there also faces a pubic health crisis from water-borne disease.

"International law on this matter is unambiguous--depriving people of life-sustaining resources is a war crime," said Roger Normand, Executive Director of CESR. "While President Bush has warned Iraqis not to commit war crimes, Anglo-American forces at the gates of Baghdad risk committing war crimes themselves against a population that is half children."

The Center for Economic and Social Rights is a New York-based international human rights organization dedicated to promoting social justice through human rights. Since 1991, CESR has produced a series of groundbreaking legal and humanitarian reports on the Iraq crisis. CESR currently has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

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