pd15au94 Remarks on Crime Legislation and an Exchange With Reporters...

	Web GovRecords.org

<DOC>
[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
 [frwais.access.gpo.gov]


[Page i-ii]
 
Monday, August 15, 1994
 
Volume 30--Number 32
Pages 1637-1670
 
Contents

[[Page i]]

Weekly Compilation of

Presidential

Documents





[[Page ii]]


Addresses and Remarks

    Crime legislation--1661, 1664
    Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraiser--1649
    Detroit, MI
        Arrival--1642
        Democratic reception--1644
    Health care legislation--1656
    National Association of Police Organizations convention in 
        Minneapolis, MN--1664
    Presidential Medals of Freedom, presentation--1646
    Radio address--1640
    White House Counsel, announcement--1659

Appointments and Nominations

    See also Addresses and Remarks
    U.S. District Court, judges--1667

Communications to Congress

    Arms embargo on Bosnia-Herzegovina, letter--1663
    Convention on Pollock Resources in the Central Bering Sea, message 
        transmitting--1655
    Iraq, letter--1637

Communications to Federal Agencies

    Assistance to nations of Central and Eastern Europe and the former 
        Soviet Union, memorandum--1653
    Military assistance to Jamaica, memorandum--1653

Interviews With the New Media

    Exchanges with reporters
        Briefing Room--1661
        Oval Office--1653
        Roosevelt Room--1656
        Rose Garden--1659

Meetings With Foreign Leaders

    Armenia, President Ter-Petrosyan--1653

Proclamations

    Minority Enterprise Development Week--1655

Statements by the President

    See also Appointments and Nominations
    China, most-favored-nation trading status--1654

Supplementary Materials

    Acts approved by the President--1670
    Checklist of White House press releases--1670
    Digest of other White House announcements--1667
    Nominations submitted to the Senate--1668


              WEEKLY COMPILATION OF
          ------------------------------
              PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS

Published every Monday by the Office of the Federal Register, National 
Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC 20408, the Weekly 
Compilation of Presidential Documents contains statements, messages, and
other Presidential materials released by the White House during the 
preceding week.

The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents is published pursuant to
the authority contained in the Federal Register Act (49 Stat. 500, as 
amended; 44 U.S.C. Ch. 15), under regulations prescribed by the 
Administrative Committee of the Federal Register, approved by the 
President (37 FR 23607; 1 CFR Part 10).

Distribution is made only by the Superintendent of Documents, Government
Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. The Weekly Compilation of 
Presidential Documents will be furnished by mail to domestic subscribers 
for $80.00 per year ($137.00 for mailing first class) and to foreign
subscribers for $93.75 per year, payable to the Superintendent of 
Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. The charge 
for a single copy is $3.00 ($3.75 for foreign mailing).

There are no restrictions on the republication of material appearing in 
the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents.


[[Page 1637]]




<DOC>
[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
 [frwais.access.gpo.gov]


[Page 1637-1640]
 
Monday, August 15, 1994
 
Volume 30--Number 32
Pages 1637-1670
 
Week Ending Friday, August 12, 1994
 
Letter to Congressional Leaders on Iraq


August 5, 1994

Dear Mr. Speaker:  (Dear Mr. President:)

    Consistent with the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against 
Iraq Resolution (Public Law 102-1), and as part of my effort to keep the 
Congress fully informed, I am reporting on the status of efforts to 
obtain Iraq's compliance with the resolutions adopted by the U.N. 
Security Council.
    The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has effectively 
disbanded the Iraqi nuclear weapons program at least for the near term. 
The United Nations has destroyed Iraqi missile launchers, support 
facilities, and a good deal of Iraq's indigenous capability to 
manufacture prohibited missiles. U.N. Special Commission on Iraq 
(UNSCOM) teams have reduced Iraq's ability to produce chemical weapons.
    Notably, UNSCOM's Chemical Destruction Group (CDG) concluded its 
activities on June 14 after establishing an excellent record of 
destroying Iraq's stocks of chemical munitions, agents, precursor 
chemicals, and equipment procured for chemical weapons production. With 
as many as 12 nations participating at any one time, the CDG destroyed 
over 480,000 liters of chemical warfare agents, over 28,000 chemical 
munitions, and over 1,040,000 kilograms and 648 barrels of some 45 
different precursor chemicals for the production of chemical warfare 
agents.
    Significant gaps in accounting for Iraq's weapons of mass 
destruction (WMD) programs remain, however. This is particularly true in 
the biological weapons area. Due to Iraq's insistence that the relevant 
documentation on its past programs has been destroyed, UNSCOM has had to 
resort to other, more time-consuming procedures to fill in the gaps.
    The United Nations is now preparing a long-term monitoring regime 
for Iraq as required by U.N. Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 715. 
This program must be carefully designed if it is to be so thorough that 
Iraq cannot rebuild a covert program, as it did before the Gulf War, 
when it claimed to be in compliance with the Nonproliferation Treaty. 
Continued vigilance is necessary because we believe that Saddam Hussein 
is committed to rebuilding his WMD capability once sanctions are lifted.
    It is, therefore, extremely important that this monitoring regime be 
effective, comprehensive, and sustainable. A program of this magnitude 
is unprecedented and will require continued, substantial assistance for 
UNSCOM from supporting nations. Rigorous and extensive trial and field 
testing will be required before UNSCOM can judge the program's 
effectiveness. The Secretary General's report of June 24 has detailed 
those areas where work remains to be done.
    Rolf Ekeus, the Chairman of UNSCOM, has told Iraq that it must 
establish a clear track record of compliance before he can report 
favorably to the Security Council. Chairman Ekeus has said he expects to 
be able to report by September on the start-up of the long-term 
monitoring program. We strongly endorse Chairman Ekeus' approach and 
reject any attempt to limit UNSCOM's flexibility by the establishment of 
a timetable for determining whether Iraq has complied with UNSCR 715. We 
insist on a sustained period of complete and unquestionable compliance 
with the monitoring and verification plans.
    The ``no-fly zones'' over northern and southern Iraq permit the 
monitoring of Iraq's compliance with UNSCRs 687 and 688. Over the last 3 
years, the northern no-fly zone has deterred Iraq from a major military 
offensive in the region. Tragically, on April 14, 1994, two American 
helicopters in the no-fly zone were shot down by U.S. fighter aircraft 
causing 26 casualties. The Department of Defense has completed and made 
public the un- 

[[Page 1638]]

classified portions of the investigation into the circumstances 
surrounding this incident.
    In southern Iraq, the no-fly zone has stopped Iraq's use of aircraft 
against its population. However, Iraqi forces still wage a land-based 
campaign in the marshes, and the shelling of marsh villages continues.
    In the spring of 1994, the Iraqi military intensified its campaign 
to destroy the southern marshes, launching a large search-and-destroy 
operation. The operation has included the razing of villages 
concentrated in the triangle bounded by An Nasiriya, Al Qurnah, and 
Basrah. Iraqi government engineers are draining the marshes of the 
region while the Iraqi Army is systematically burning thousands of 
dwellings to ensure that the marsh inhabitants are unable to return to 
their ancestral homes. The population of the region, whose marsh culture 
has remained essentially unchanged since 3500 B.C., has in the last few 
years been reduced by an estimated three-quarters.
    As a result of the ``browning'' of the marshes, civilian inhabitants 
continue to flee toward Iran, as well as deeper into the remaining 
marshes. This campaign is a clear violation of UNSCR 688. In northern 
Iraq, in the vicinity of Mosul, we continue to watch Iraqi troop 
movements carefully. Iraq's intentions remain unclear.
    Iraq still refuses to recognize Kuwait's sovereignty and the 
inviolability of the U.N. demarcated border, which was reaffirmed by the 
Security Council in UNSCRs 773 and 833. Iraq has not met its obligations 
concerning Kuwaitis and third-country nationals it detained during the 
war and has taken no substantive steps to cooperate fully with the 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as required by UNSCR 
687. Indeed, Iraq refused even to attend the ICRC meetings held in July 
and November 1993 to discuss these issues. While Iraq did attend such a 
meeting in July 1994, it provided no substantive information on missing 
individuals. Iraq also has not responded to more than 600 files on 
missing individuals. We continue to press for Iraqi compliance and 
regard Iraq's actions on these issues as essential to the resolution of 
conflict in the region.
    The Special Rapporteur of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights 
(UNHRC), Max van der Stoel, continues to report on the human rights 
situation in Iraq, particularly the Iraqi military's repression against 
its civilian populations in the marshes. The Special Rapporteur asserted 
in this February 1994 report that the Government of Iraq has engaged in 
war crimes and crimes against humanity, and may have committed 
violations of the 1948 Genocide Convention. Regarding the Kurds, the 
Special Rapporteur has judged that the extent and gravity of reported 
violations place the survival of the Kurds in jeopardy.
    The Special Rapporteur has noted that there are essentially no 
freedoms of opinion, expression, or association in Iraq. Torture is 
widespread in Iraq and results from a system of state-terror 
successfully directed at subduing the population. The Special Rapporteur 
repeated his recommendation for the establishment of human rights 
monitors strategically located to improve the flow of information and to 
provide independent verification of reports.
    We are pressing for the deployment of human rights monitors and we 
strongly support their placement. We are gratified that the United 
Nations recently hired a part-time staffer for the Special Rapporteur. 
This is an important step, though not the full program of monitors we 
seek. Van der Stoel's mandate has been extended through February 1995. 
We will file additional reports to the U.N. General Assembly in the fall 
and to the UNHRC in early 1995. We are also pursuing efforts to 
investigate and publicize Iraqi crimes against humanity, war crimes, and 
other violations of international humanitarian law.
    Examples of Iraqi noncooperation and noncompliance continue in other 
areas. For instance, reliable reports have indicated that the Government 
of Iraq is offering reward money for terrorist acts against U.N. and 
humanitarian relief workers in Iraq. And for 3 years there has been a 
clear pattern of criminal acts linking the Government of Iraq to a 
series of assassinations and attacks in northern Iraq on relief workers, 
U.N. guards, and foreign journalists. Ten persons have been injured and 
two have been killed in such attacks this year. The offering of bounty 
for such acts, as well as the commission of such

[[Page 1639]]

acts, in our view constitute violations of UNSCRs 687 and 688.
    The Security Council maintained sanctions at its July 18th regular 
60-day review of Iraq's compliance with its obligations under relevant 
resolutions. Despite ongoing efforts by the Iraqi government to convince 
Security Council members to lift sanctions, member countries were in 
agreement that Iraq is not in compliance with resolutions of the 
Council, and that existing sanctions should remain in force unchanged.
    The sanctions regime exempts medicine and, in the case of 
foodstuffs, requires only that the U.N. Sanctions Committee be notified 
of food shipments. The Sanctions Committee also continues to consider 
and, when appropriate, approve requests to send to Iraq materials and 
supplies for essential civilian needs. The Iraqi government, in 
contrast, has continued to maintain a full embargo against its northern 
provinces and has acted to distribute humanitarian supplies throughout 
the country only to its supporters and to the military.
    The Iraqi government has refused to sell $1.6 billion in oil, as 
previously authorized by the Security Council in UNSCRs 706 and 712, to 
pay for humanitarian goods. Talks between Iraq and the United Nations on 
implementing these resolutions ended unsuccessfully in October 1993. 
Iraq could use proceeds from such sales to purchase foodstuffs, 
medicines, and materials and supplies for essential civilian needs of 
its population, subject to U.N. monitoring of sales and the equitable 
distribution of humanitarian supplies (including to its northern 
provinces). Iraq's refusal to implement UNSCRs 706 and 712 continues to 
cause needless suffering.
    Proceeds from oil sales also would be used to compensate persons 
injured by Iraq's unlawful invasion and occupation of Kuwait. Of note 
regarding oil sales, discussions are underway with Turkish officials 

Other Popular 1994 Presidential Documents Documents:

Other Documents:

1994 Presidential Documents Records and Documents