Falluja, 14 October 2004 His Excellency Mr Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations Your Excellency, It is very obvious that the American forces are committing crimes of genocide every day in Iraq. Now, while we are writing to Your Excellency, the American forces are committing these crimes in the city of Falluja. The American warplanes are dropping their most powerful bombs on the civilians in the city, killing and injuring hundreds of innocent people. At the same time their tanks are attacking the city with heavy artillery. As you know, there is no military presence in the city. There had been no action taken by the Falluja resistance in recent weeks because of the negotiations between representatives of the city and the government which were going well. In this atmosphere, the new bombardment by America has happened while the people of Falluja have been preparing themselves for the fast of Ramadan. Now many of them are trapped under the wreckage of their demolished houses, and nobody can help them while the attack continues. On the night of 13 October alone American bombardment demolished 50 houses. Is this genocide or a lesson about American democracy? It is obvious that the Americans are committing acts of terror against the people of Falluja for one reason only: their refusal to accept the occupation. Your Excellency and the whole world know that the Americans and their allies devastated our country under the pretext of the threat of WMD. Now, after all the destruction and the killing of thousands of civilians, they have admitted that no weapons were found. But they have said nothing about all the crimes they committed. Unfortunately everybody is now silent, and will not even honour the murdered Iraqi civilians with words of condemnation. Are the Americans going to pay compensation as Iraq has been forced to do so after the Gulf war? We know that we are living in a world of double standards. In Falluja, they have created a new vague target: Al-Zarqawi. This is the new pretext to justify their crimes, killing and the daily bombardment of civilians. Almost a year has elapsed since they created this new pretext, and whenever they destroy houses, mosques and restaurants, and kill children and women they say: "We have launched a successful operation against Al-Zarqawi." They will never say that they have killed him, because there is no such person. And that means the killing of civilians and the daily genocide will continue. The people of Falluja assure you that this person, if he exists, is not in Falluja and is probably not anywhere in Iraq. The people of Falluja have announced many times that any person who sees Al-Zarqawi should kill him. Now everybody realises that this man is just an imaginary figure created by the Americans. At the same time the representative of Falluja, our tribal leaders, have denounced on many occasions the kidnapping and killing of civilians, and we have no links to any groups committing such inhuman behaviour. Excellency, we appeal to you, and to all world leaders to exert the greatest pressure on the American administration to stop their crimes in Falluja and withdraw their army from the city. The city was very quiet and peaceful when its people ran its affairs. We didn't witness any disorder in the city. The civil administration was going well, given its limited resources. We simply didn't welcome occupation forces. This is our right according to the UN Charter, international law and the norms of humanity. If the Americans believe in the opposite, they should first resign from the UN and all its agencies before acting in a way contrary to the Charter they signed. It is very urgent that your Excellency, along with world leaders, intervene in a speedy manner to prevent a new massacre. We have tried to reach your representatives in Iraq, to ask for a more active UN role, but as you know they are living in the Green Zone, an area we cannot reach. We want the UN to be involved in Falluja so as to avoid a new massacre. We have tried to reach you through different channels and by asking our friends to convey this letter to your office in New York or Geneva with the hope that it will reach you. Meanwhile we appeal to you to urge UN agencies in Iraq to play an active role in protecting civilians and preventing the new massacre which the Americans and the puppet government are planning to start soon in Falluja, as well as in other parts of our country. Best regards. Kassim Abdullsattar Al-Jumaily, President, The Research Centre of Human Rights and Democracy, on behalf of the people of Falluja and for: Al-Falluja Shura Council; The Bar Association; The Teachers Union; Council of Tribal Leaders; The House of Fatwa and Religious Education
