AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

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AAAS Human Rights Action Network

FACTS OF THE CASE:

In May 2003, Dr. Huda Ammash, at the time, number 53 on the administration's list of 55 most wanted Iraqi officials, turned herself in to U.S. authorities. Although she has neither been charged with a crime nor brought to trial, the Iraqi scientist remains in prison today, accused by the U.S. government of being the head of Saddam Hussein's biowarfare program - a program of which no evidence has been found. Dr. Ammash has also, reportedly, had a relapse of breast cancer. Prison authorities say she is being treated.

Huda Ammash is one of many detainees held in Camp Cropper, near Baghdad Airport, along with former Iraqi officials. With the exception of Saddam Hussein and 5 other officials, they have all been held without charge or trial for more than 2 years. Amnesty International has raised these cases and the cases of thousands of other detainees with the US Department of Defense and the Iraqi authorities, but as yet has received no replies.

The Jury of Conscience of the World Tribunal on Iraq met in Istanbul 24-27 June 2005, and heard testimony on depleted uranium weapons in Iraq and information on the status and safety of Iraqi scientists, the latter of which they were not able to document. The Panel of Advocates and Witnesses claimed that 55 scientists had so far been summarily killed, sometimes by gunmen walking into their offices, other times, their car being pushed off the road, etc. They also informed the committee that Dr. Huda Ammash, who was detained by American forces after the occupation of Iraq, was wrongly accused of being "responsible for manufacturing anthrax weapons" for the Iraqi government's chemical weapons program (which was later found not to exist), and had been under arrest for more than 2 years without charges or trial.

Dr. Ammash's research has focused on investigating the after-effects of depleted uranium contamination left by American bombing in the first Gulf War in 1991. She has written extensively on environmental health in Iraq and its relations to war and sanctions, notably detailed in her paper, "Toxic Pollution, the Gulf War, and Sanctions" (Iraq Under Siege: The Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War; South End Press, 2002). She was deeply critical of American sanctions against Iraq, as well as the manner in which the UNSCOM, under the direction of Richard Butler, conducted weapons inspections and published other papers on this subject, such as "Impact of Gulf War Pollution in the Spread of Infectious Diseases in Iraq," (Soli Al-Mondo, Rome, 1999), and "Electromagnetic, Chemical, and Microbial Pollution Resulting from War and Embargo, and Its Impact on the Environment and Health," (Journal of the [Iraqi] Academy of Science, 1997).

Dr. Ammash is a former dean of the Women's College at Baghdad University and Dean of College of Science and is the only female member of the Iraq Academy of Sciences. American experts searching Iraq for weapons of mass destruction, led by Charles A. Duelfer, have urged the U.S. government to release Dr. Ammash and 8-12 other accused Iraqi weapons scientists, as the pretext for their arrests has dried up: ex-weapons inspector Rod Barton is reported to have said, "Huda is there accused of restarting the bioweapons program in the mid-1990s. And there was no such program."

(Sources of information for this case include: Washington Post, The Guardian, Associated Press, Counterpunch, Personal correspondences with Amnesty International and Ayşe Erzan, physicist and member of the World Tribunal on Iraq)

RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

• Article 14(1): All persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals. In the determination of any criminal charge against him [or her], or of his [or her] rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law.
• Article 9(1): Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law.
• Article 9(2): Anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his [or her] arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him [or her].
• Article 9(3): Anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge shall be brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorized by law to exercise judicial power and shall be entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release. It shall not be the general rule that persons awaiting trial shall be detained in custody, but release may be subject to guarantees to appear for trial, at any other stage of the judicial proceedings, and, should occasion arise, for execution of the judgement.
• Article 9(4): Anyone who is deprived of his [or her] liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings before a court, in order that court may decide without delay on the lawfulness of his [or her] detention and order his [or her] release if the detention is not lawful.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Article 09: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
• Article 10: Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his [or her] rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him [or her].

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send faxes, letters, or emails:

• Expressing concern for the health and wellbeing of Dr. Ammash; and
• Urging U.S. forces to either file charges against Dr. Ammash or release her on the grounds that no evidence has been produced to support the claim of an Iraqi biowarfare program.

APPEAL AND INQUIRY MESSAGES SHOULD BE SENT TO:

President George W. Bush
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Fax: 202-456-2461 (FAX) 202-456-1111 (TEL)
president@whitehouse.gov
Salutation: Dear Mr. President

Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
Department of State
2201 C Street , NW
Washington DC 20520
email via webform:
http://contact-us.state.gov/cgi-bin/state.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php?p_sid=uMxC5h3i&p_lva=&p_sp=&p_li=
Fax: (202) 647-4000 (TEL)
secretary@state.gov
Salutation: Dear Madame Secretary

Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld
Secretary of Defense
Department of Defense
1000 Defense
The Pentagon
Washington DC 20301
Fax: (703) 545-6700
Salutation: Dear Mr. Secretary

General John Abizaid
U.S. Lt. General
Central Command, Qatar,
In care of the Department of Defense
1000 Defense
The Pentagon
Washington DC 20301
Fax: (703) 545 6700
cjtfhoapublicaffairs@hoa.centcom.mil
Salutation: Dear General

Please send copies of your appeals, and any responses you may receive, or direct any questions you may have to Victoria Baxter, AAAS Science and Human Rights Program, 1200 New York Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20005; tel. 202-326-6797; email vbaxter@aaas.org; or fax 202-289-4950.

The keys to effective appeals are to be courteous and respectful, accurate and precise, impartial in approach, and as specific as possible regarding the alleged violation and the international human rights standards and instruments that apply to the situation. Reference to your scientific organization and professional affiliation is always helpful.

To ensure that appeals are current and credible, please do not continue to write appeals on this case after 90 days from the date of the posting unless an update has been issued.

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