Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1998 12:13:32 -0800 (PST) Friends:
For those of you who don't know, Voices in the Wilderness received a letter Monday informing them that VitW would be fined $120,000 and myself, Randall, Bert and Joe would be fined about $10,000 each for going to Iraq with medicine and toys for children.
We are working on a group strategy; it is my belief that none of us intend to pay anything to the government who would then use our money to kill more children.
If you'd like to see the full letter please e-mail me back. I will let you know when we have a full strategy what you can do to help if you want. Please consider the fact that OFAC labelled WitW as a "conspiracy" to violate the sanctions. In the spirit of those who stepped forward in Holland and wore yellow stars to say, "I'm a Jew, too", you may want to consider if you want to identify yourself as a "co-conspirator."
There will of course be many less radical ways to support our efforts to publicize these ridiculous fines, so stay tuned.
--dan h News Item U.S. GOVERNMENT IMPOSES FINE ON LOCAL ACTIVIST FOR BRINGING MEDICINE AND TOYS TO IRAQI CHILDREN On December 3, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued prepenalty notices to Dan Handelman of Portland and other members of Voices in the Wilderness, stating they would be fined a total of $163,000 for "exportation of donated goods, including medical supplies and toys to Iraq." Handelman will hold a news conference on Thursday, December 10, at noon, at the Peace House, 2116 NE 18th (at Tillamook). Thursday is the 50th anniversary of the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights.
"It's ironic that today we celebrate the 50th anniversary of a U.N. agreement to protect the human rights of every person on earth, while the U.N. sanctions against Iraq continue to kill 250 people every day, " said Handelman. These figures are based on a U.N. agency report (UNICEF, April 1998) and were repeated by the head of the U.N. Humanitarian Program in Iraq, Denis Halliday, when he resigned in protest this fall.
Handelman travelled with three other men from the Northwest in November, 1997 to deliver 400 pounds of basic medical supplies such as aspirin and syringes, as well as the notorious children's toys mentioned in the OFAC letter. He carried a camcorder in and out of Iraq, and his videotapes were seized by customs on his return December 3, 1997. OFAC is fining Handelman $1000 for exporting the videotape and film into Iraq, and another $1000 for importing them back to the U.S. In addition, Handelman and his traveling companions were fined $10,000 apiece for traveling to Iraq, delivering medicine, and spending incidental money there for lodging and food, while the organization Voices in the Wilderness and its founder Kathy Kelly face $120,000 fine.
At the news conference, Handelman will show and make available a short clip of his video footage which he managed to get back from Iraq, depicting some of the conditions created by the U.S./U.N. policies. The images include malnourished infants dying in hospitals without medications or bedsheets and quick glances at the medicine and toys.
In the 1991 "Gulf War," the U.S. deliberately targeted electrical, water treatment, and sewage treatment plants. The oil embargo has limited Iraq's national income and has provided no means to rebuild their infrastructure. Despite the "oil-for-food" deal in place, a bottle of aspirin is a scarce commodity and would cost the average Iraqi most of a month's salary to buy.
Voices in the Wilderness (VITW) is a Chicago-based group dedicated to ending the eight-year-long sanctions regime, which, according to U.N. agencies, has taken the lives of over one million Iraqis. VITW opposes the development, storage, sale and use of any weapons, be they nuclear, chemical, biological or, in the case of sanctions, economic. Their eighteen delegations have traveled to Iraq with medicine in direct violation of U.S. and U.N. laws.
For more information on OFAC's letter, please call Ms. Betsy Sue Scott at the Office of Foreign Assets Control at (202) 622-6140. Handelman will have copies of the letter at Thursday's news conference. For other information, contact VITW/Portland at 281-4970.
[posted Saturday, December 26, 1998]
Contact Refuse
& Resist!
From: Dan Handelman
VOICES IN THE WILDERNESS/PORTLAND
c/o Huntwork 5036 NE 16th Ave Portland, OR 97211-4408
December 9, 1998
For Immediate Release
Contact: Ann or Bruce Huntwork 281-4970
NEWS CONFERENCE NOON, DECEMBER 10 2116 NE 18th
305 Madison Ave., Suite 1166, New York, NY 10165
Phone: 212-713-5657
email: info@refuseandresist.org