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Key Statistics Since Iraq Handover By The Associated Press
2 hours, 50 minutes ago
Some key economic statistics since the June 2004 handover of sovereignty in Iraq.
OIL:
Actual crude oil production in June 2004: 2.295 million barrels a day.
Actual crude oil production in June 2005: 2.20 million barrels a day.
(Stated goal: 2.5 million barrels a day).
Actual crude oil export in June 2004: 1.148 million barrels a day.
Actual crude oil export in June 2005: 1.362 million barrels a day.
Oil revenue from exports in June 2004: $1.28 billion.
Oil revenue from exports in June 2005: $0.61 billion.
ELECTRICITY:
Average amount of electricity generated in June 2004: 4,293 megawatts.
Average amount of electricity generated in June 2005: 4,035 megawatts.
(Stated goal: 6,000 megawatts by July 1, 2004).
ECONOMY:
Unemployment rate in June 2004: 30-40 percent.
Unemployment rate in June 2005: 27-40 percent.
Inflation rate in July 2004: 0.6 percent.
Inflation rate in February 2005: 11.4 percent.
AID:
U.S. aid for relief and reconstruction in June 2004: $0.3 billion.
U.S. aid for relief and reconstruction in June 2005: $8.2 billion.
Source:
The Brookings Institution.
News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International
AI Index: ACT 40/006/2005 24 June 2005
Amnesty International launches campaign against torture in the 'war on terror'
On International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, 26 June, Amnesty International announces that it is intensifying its work against torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by launching a campaign against torture and ill-treatment in the 'war on terror'.
In recent days, Amnesty International has campaigned on behalf of a 19-year-old Uzbekistani facing execution despite strong indications that he was brutally beaten into making a murder confession; a detained bride, groom, and wedding party of 200 guests belonging to a banned Christian minority church in Eritrea, all of whom are at grave risk of being tortured in order to make them renounce their faith; and a prominent Kurdish imam in Syria who was apparently tortured to death.
"Torture is the ultimate corruption of humanity," said Denise Searle, Senior Director of Campaigns at Amnesty International. "Attempts at justification and the use of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in the 'war on terror' threaten the global ban on torture and ill-treatment, with traditional 'torture states' taking comfort from the actions and rhetoric of their former critics. We need to tackle torture and ill-treatment in the 'war on terror' if we are to reassert the global ban on these practices."
Amnesty International urges governments and groups around the world to use this day to end torture and ill-treatment for once and for all. The organization is calling on the USA to lead the way, by setting up a full independent investigation into US detention and interrogation policies and practices around the world.
Amnesty International members will be marking 26 June in a number of ways, including through writing letters to President Bush and to US embassies, recording statements against torture, holding vigils and collecting signatures at a variety of events.
For more information on the campaign, please click on the bold headline at top of page.
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ISTANBUL - The World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI), a grouping of NGOs, intellectuals and writers opposed to the war in Iraq, accused the United States of causing more deaths in Iraq than the ousted president Saddam Hussein.
"With two wars and 13 years of criminal sanctions, the United States have been responsible for more deaths in Iraq than Saddam Hussein," Larry Everest, a journalist, told hundreds of anti-war activists gathered in Istanbul.
Founded in 2003, the WTI is modelled on the 1960s Russell Tribunal, created by the British philosopher Bertrand Russell to denounce the war in Vietnam. It has held about 20 sessions so far in different locations around the globe.
A symbolic verdict was to be handed down on Monday by the 14 "jurors of conscience" -including the militant Indian novelish Arundhati Roy, winner of the 1997 Booker Prize for "The God of Small Things."
The tribunal has for the past two years been gathering what it says is evidence that the war launched in March 2003 to oust Saddam was illegal, and it has also been gathering evidence of axactions allegedly committed by the coalition troops.
Its verdict on Monday after its final session is expected to condemn both the United States and Britain.
Roy told the gathering here: "The evidence collated in this tribunal should.....be used by the International Criminal Court - whose jurisdiction the U.S. does not recognize - to try as war criminals George Bush, Tony Blair, John Howard, Silvio Berlusconi, and all those government officials, army generals and corporate CEOs who participated in this war and now benefit from it."
She added that the tribunal was "an act of resistance, a denfense mounted against one of the most cowardly wars ever fought in history."
Some 200 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) - including the environmental group Greenpeace, the anti-globalization ATTAC and Vietnam Veterans Against the War - as well as a number of prominent intellectuals such as US linguist Noam Chomsky and Egyptian sociologist Samir Amin are involved in the WTI.
Please mark this important date on your calendar! Click on the link for full details, then help spread the word! See you there in September!
