SUPPORT FOR THE STRUGGLE FOR KURDISH DEMOCRACY

The present Government of Iraq, contrary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination¾to which Iraq is a signatory¾is embarking on a policy of systematically destroying the political, economic, cultural and linguistic identity of the Kurdish people in Iraq.

Terrorization of the Kurdish people¾through mass executions, mass trials by special tribunals in closed sessions, mass deportation from their ancestral homeland to the Southern barren desert, mass detentions without trials, torture and cultural suppression¾is bordering on genocide and threatening their very survival.

Such a gross violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of three million Kurdish people by a member state of the United Nations deserves universal condemnation.

The present plight of the Kurdish people in Iraq is the outcome of the collapse of their revolt against the Government of Iraq in 1974. The Pike Committee Report clearly shows that the Kurds relied on the pledge of American support in their decision to revolt against Iraq. The report reads:

"Documents made available to the Committee indicate that the U.S. acted in effect as a guarantor that the insurgent group (Kurds) would not be summarily dropped by the foreign head of state (the Shah of Iran). Notwithstanding these implicit assurances, the insurgents were abruptly cut off by our ally (lran) three years, thousands of deaths and 16 million U.S. dollars later.

"lt appears that, had the U.S. not reinforced our ally's prodding, the insurgents may have reached an accommodation with the Central Government (lraq), thus gaining at lead a measure of autonomy while avoiding further bloodshed."

The United States has already admitted more than 700 Kurdish refugees, who have come to this nation in the hope of starting a new and decent life. For the most part, these refugees are unskilled and do not possess a working knowledge of the English language, and are thus forced to accept the lowest paying jobs in order not to become a public charge. However, as soon as they become employed, they are obliged to repay the cost of their transatlantic passage to the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration and the cost for fi­nal settlement to the various U.S. Voluntary Agencies. In numerous cases, this economic hardship is causing them physical and emotional duress, leading many to desperation.

Given the responsibility of our country in encouraging and then abandoning the Kurdish Cause, the AFT Executive Council calls upon the present administration¾which considers the promotion of human rights throughout the world as a major objective of its foreign policy¾to seek ways and means for undoing the injuries inflicted upon the Kurdish people in Iraq as a result of our foreign policy and thus redressing an issue which mars the reputation of our country.

The AFT Executive Council fully recognizes that similar resettlement costs for refugees from Czechoslovakia, Cuba, Cambodia, and Vietnam are covered by U.S. Government funds.

We specifically call upon the present administration for the following actions:

• To seek directly, or through a third party, means for persuading Iraq to implement the 1970 Agreement between the present Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which granted autonomy to the Kurdish People.

• To voice its concern publicly for the plight of the Kurds in Iraq.

• To take proper steps in persuading the U.N. Human Rights Commission to investigate the persistent pattern of gross violations of the human rights of the Kurdish people by the Government of Iraq.

• To allow more Kurds to be admitted to this country as refugees and to provide them with necessary financial support on par with non-Kurdish refugees admitted to the country. (Executive Council)