[Peace-discuss] Fwd: In Afghanistan: "Millions Still Face Starvation"

[Jim Buell]

The Taliban's departure from most Afghan cities hasn't made the famine 
situation any better.

jb


>Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2001 13:01:37 -0600
>To: Institute for Public Accuracy <institute at igc.org>
>From: Institute for Public Accuracy <ipamedia at nationalpress.com>
>Subject: In Afghanistan: "Millions Still Face Starvation"
>
>Institute for Public Accuracy
>915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
>(202) 347-0020 * http://www.accuracy.org * ipa at accuracy.org
>___________________________________________________
>
>Wednesday, November 21, 2001
>
>Interviews Available: "Millions Still Face Starvation"
>
>JIM JENNINGS, conscience at usa.com
>President of Conscience International, a humanitarian aid organization, 
>Jennings was in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan this May and will soon 
>return to resume humanitarian work. He said today: "The humanitarian 
>crisis in Afghanistan is far from over -- millions still face starvation 
>and disease. The sudden expansion of Northern Alliance territories, 
>although opening the possibility of deliveries from the north, actually 
>stopped the food convoys from Pakistan and Iran for several days because 
>truck drivers are reluctant to travel into a militarily volatile 
>situation.... Meanwhile, the humanitarian effort is losing precious days, 
>a critical factor because of the onset of winter. For every day lost now, 
>some people will die down the line."
>
>SARAH ZAIDI, szaidi at cesr.org
>ROGER NORMAND, rnormand at cesr.org, http://www.cesr.org
>Currently in Pakistan, Zaidi is research director of the Center for 
>Economic and Social Rights. She said today: "The biggest obstacle to the 
>relief effort is now posed by U.S. partners. Northern Alliance warlords 
>have sabotaged supply routes inside Afghanistan, while Pakistan and other 
>neighboring countries continue to seal their borders and prevent desperate 
>people from reaching food and safety. Rather than seeking to score PR 
>points, the U.S. military should pressure its allies to allow free 
>movement to Afghans and to UN and private relief agencies. Ensuring that 
>thousands of Afghans do not starve to death this winter is both a moral 
>imperative and a human rights obligation for all parties who have 
>contributed to the crisis -- including the United States." CESR's 
>executive director Normand said today: "The Geneva Conventions and Red 
>Cross regulations mandate that relief aid be neutral, impartial and 
>motivated solely by humanitarian concerns. But so far the U.S. military 
>has viewed the food crisis in Afghanistan -- which our bombing helped 
>create -- as a domestic PR opportunity. Independent relief agencies have 
>condemned our military policy of dropping food into heavily-mined areas as 
>not only ineffective and dangerous, but also a distraction from the 
>unglamorous but crucial work of distributing the huge amounts of staple 
>goods necessary to feed millions of hungry people."
>
>ERWIN VAN'T LAND, msfh_isl_rep at yahoo.com, http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org
>Spokesperson for Doctors Without Borders (which has 30 international aid 
>workers inside Afghanistan), Erwin van't Land is in Islamabad. He said 
>today: "Humanitarian work should be carried out by civilian agencies and 
>should be completely independent of military considerations.... The 
>situation deteriorated during the past two months of bombing, as large 
>parts of the Afghan population dependent on international aid for survival 
>did not receive it."
>
>JOHN DAVISON, jdaviso at christian-aid.org, http://www.christian-aid.org
>Spokesperson for Christian Aid, Davison recently arrived in London from 
>Afghanistan. He said today: "The main routes we had managed to establish 
>were coming in through Pakistan and lately virtually nothing is getting in 
>-- I believe only a single convoy got in yesterday.... Soon it will get to 
>the point that the trucks won't go out at all because of fears of getting 
>stuck in the snow.... Everyone is glad that the Taliban have mostly lost 
>power but the recent developments have demonstrated the lifesaving 
>importance of the pause in the bombing that we and six other major 
>international aid agencies had called for -- our call went unheeded and 
>now we face this crisis. In the Western and Central Highlands where we 
>carry out most of our work, about 80 percent of the population is very 
>vulnerable.... Food is very short and people are trying desperately to get 
>out and they have no means of transportation. That's hundreds of thousands 
>of people facing starvation."
>
>For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
>Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167