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We urge Australians to
lobby the Australian government seeking: |
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1. |
Medical assessment, treatment and
long term monitoring of all those who have been exposed to DU in Iraq,
Kosovo and any other location where DU has been used. This includes the
local people in each place, Australian troops and those of other
nations, and any other persons who have may have been exposed.
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2. |
Clean up of all DU debris from all situations
where it has been used, to prevent further adverse health and
environmental effects. This includes removing and disposing of
penetrator fragments, contaminated equipment, and oxide contamination.
Leaving radioactive debris around is environmental vandalism as it
contributes to the overall contamination and toxification of the
environment. |
3. |
A ban on DU weapons. Australia should ban
using its troops in any alliance that uses DU weapons and should work
for an international ban on DU weapons.
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Action sheet here |
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Background briefing: |
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Scientists
call for clean up:
The Royal Society in Britain (a
scientific body) has called for the Coalition to reveal where DU weapons
were used, and to clean up the debris - ABC interview; April 2003 media release.
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear
War
New Scientist provides a summary
of the issues raised by scientific reports, going back to 1999.
Scientists
for Global Responsibility |
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Are the weapons legal?
A number of organisations are arguing that use of DU in
munitions contravenes Article
3 of The UN convention on prohibitions or restrictions
on the use of certain conventional weapons which may be deemed to be
excessively injurious or to have indiscriminate effects and protocols
(1980) |
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Outlining the
issues |
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Discounted casualities: Tthe human costs of depleted
uranium |
| Low Level
Radiation Campaign |
| Campaign
against depleted uranium |
| Children
of the Gulf War |
| Traprock Peace
Organisation |
The European Committee on Radiation
Risk argues that one cannot determine the health effects of internal
radiation on the basis of studies of external radiation. View executive
summary here.
The development of this report was supported by some members of the
European Parliament and two charitable organisations.
The media release says:
“As an example, the risk model presented in the new
report is employed to calculate the overall human death toll of all
nuclear pollution exposures showing that over 50 million people will die
or have died as a result of the radioactive releases up to 1989. Dr
Busby commented, ' The model shows clearly that the human race cannot
afford to allow contamination of the environment with these radioactive
materials. The politicians must realise that if the military are allowed
to use Depleted Uranium or tactical nuclear weapons in any future war,
there will be terrible consequences for soldiers and civilians both in
the area of use and, as Chernobyl has taught, much further away.”
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| US Gulf War Veterans
website. |
| BBC website. |
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The
Hidden Crime of the Iraq War |
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DU contaminates land
and air, causes severe health effects, including death among the
soldiers using the weapons, the armies they target and civilians.
American and British forces have used depleted uranium (DU) shells in
Iraq in 1991 and in the current invasion. They have deliberately flouted
a United Nations resolution which classifies the munitions as illegal
weapons of mass destruction. |
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Facts about depleted
uranium - manufacture, storage and risks can be found
at the
US Department of energy website |
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The United Nations Evidence |
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The
UN Environmental Program has a post-conflict assessment team. There is a
clear shift in their view of DU as their work has progressed, and they
now take it much more seriously. |
1. |
Report on DU in Iraq Desk study on the Environment
in Iraq
See especially pages 80-86 |
2. |
Report
on DU in Bosnia Hertzegovnia. Depleted Uranium in Bosnia and
Hertzegovnia May 2003. See especially pages 48-52, 59-61 and 71. The
report points to the problem of water contamination as a result of
corrosion of DU weapon debris. |
3. |
See World
Health Organisation fact sheet |
4. |
The
WHO website also includes a detailed scientific
monograph reviewing the literature available about DU Depleted Uranium:
Sources, Exposure and Health Effects - Full Report |
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The precautionary approach: |
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When reading reports
that claim that there is little evidence of health effects, remember
that the US Department of Defence, and its UK equivalent have refused to
collect the necessary data that would allow an informed judgement to be
made. The Royal Society, for example, relies on scientific “modeling”
in its reports, and points to the lack of experimental data. Its
conclusions are therefore tenuous. It adopts a precautionary approach,
calling for a clean up of all sites where DU weapons have been used. }
The Royal Society Media Release calling for
information and clean up in Iraq. April 2003
Media Release on DU weapons in Iraq April 2003
Information about DU and DU weapons
Summary of the reports The health hazards of depleted
uranium: a combined summary of parts I and II
Full reports.
Part II March 2002 and Part I May 2001
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A spiritual and ethical response |
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The Religious Society
of Friends (Quakers) have a long history of opposing war. The Friends
Committee on National Legislation in the USA has a program monitoring
and lobbying on US weapons policy. Congress resolution 1483, introduced
by Rep Jim McDermott, would require certain studies regarding the health
effects of exposure to depleted uranium munitions (DU), as well as
clean up of U.S. sites that have been contaminated with DU. DU was an
ingredient in many U.S. munitions that were used during the first
Persian Gulf War and that are currently being used in the U.S.-led war
on Iraq. |
