Appeal to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council for an investigation into war crimes and human rights vio

We, as students, veterans, and working people living in the United States of America, humbly request an investigation into human rights violations and war crimes committed in the Iraqi city of Fallujah between March 2003 and the present by the United States Military. Our pleas to our government that they withdraw completely from Iraq and address the crimes that they have committed against the Iraqi people have fallen on deaf ears, so for justice we now turn to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. We request that these crimes be recognized, that those responsible be held accountable, and that justice be done to the victims and their families. We ask specifically that investigations be conducted into the period from April 4th to May 5th of 2004, when hundreds of civilians were killed by US bombing and gunfire, and also from September 2004 until the end of November 2004, when hundreds of thousands of civilians were forced to leave their homes and hundreds more were killed by the US bombing campaign and the brutal siege, codenamed Operation Phantom Fury, which left Fallujah in ruins. We also ask that an investigation be done into the bombing of the Central Health Center in Fallujah that killed 35 patients and 24 medical staff, the night-time-shoot-to-kill curfew that Fallujah was placed under just before Operation Phantom Fury, the prevention of male refugees from leaving Fallujah prior to Operation Phantom Fury, and the use of white phosphorous and depleted uranium weapons during this period. A recent report published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health titled Cancer, Infant Mortality and Birth Sex-Ratio in Fallujah, Iraq 2005-2009 shows that a major health crisis emerged in Fallujah since the sieges in 2004. The authors write that (t)his study was intended to investigate the accuracy of the various reports which have been emerging from Fallujah regarding perceived increases in birth defects, infant deaths and cancer in the population and to examine samples from the area for the presence of mutagenic substances that may explain any results. We conclude that the results confirm the reported increases in cancer and infant mortality which are alarmingly high. The remarkable reduction in the sex ratio in the cohort born one year after the fighting in 2004 identifies that year as the time of the environmental contamination. The authors also note that the results reported here do not throw any light upon the identity of the agent(s) causing the increased levels of illness and although we have drawn attention to the use of depleted uranium as one potential relevant exposure, there may be other possibilities. An investigation into the use of depleted uranium and white phosphorous weapons will be crucial in determining the cause of this health crisis.

We believe that peace and security cannot be obtained through military power, and that the only hope for a safe and secure world is an international law based on human rights. To recognize the crimes of the Unites States of America in the city of Fallujah, Iraq would reaffirm the centrality of international law and human rights, and would be a momentous achievement for justice. We hope for a future when no nation can act with impunity, and the weak do not have to fear the powerful.