The US Justice Department has sued Voices in the Wilderness to try to collect a fine of $20,000, for bringing medicines to the people of Iraq.
Since its founding in 1996, Voices in the Wilderness has campaigned to end economic and military warfare against the Iraqi people. They have done this mostly by organizing delegations to Iraq in deliberate violation of U.N. economic sanctions and U.S. law, to publicly deliver small amounts of medical supplies to children and families in need. Their primary focus has always been ordinary Iraqi civilians and the most vulnerable of Iraqi society, especially children. Over the past seven years, Voices in the Wilderness has organized more than 65 delegations to Iraq made up of teachers, veterans, social workers, artists, health care professionals, trades people and people of faith. Many of these delegates carried symbolic amounts of medicine as an act of civil disobedience against the injustice of the economic sanctions; they then returned to the United States to tell about the brutalizing effects of the sanctions, magnified by the US bombing of the Iraqi civilian infrastructure during the Gulf War.
Voices in the Wilderness Will Not Pay this Fine
All funds received by Voices in the Wilderness were given for the purposes of providing humanitarian aid to Iraqi civilians and educating the world community about the deadly effects of the US bombing and embargo of Iraq. According to the organization, “the Justice Department is choosing to spend its resources to launch an attack on Voices in the Wilderness at a time when Iraqi people and US soldiers are being killed daily and the US occupying forces have failed to provide for the security and basic humanitarian needs of Iraqi people.” Meanwhile, the US has not found any of the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction that supposedly were the reason for the economic sanctions, bombing, and recent military invasion. VitW asserts that the lawsuit; “…offers an extraordinary opportunity for people of conscience everywhere to denounce the US Administration for its role in the illegal bombing and invasion of Iraq and for imposing a thirteen-year sanctions regime campaign on Iraq, which contributed to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children and thousands of people.”
A Call for 20,000 Voices
Voices in the Wilderness is calling for 20,000 or more citizens of the world to raise their voices in outrage against what they call “the injustice and hypocrisy of this lawsuit.”
“Join your voices with ours as we call upon the Justice Department to drop their lawsuit against Voices in the Wilderness and instead direct their money towards the humanitarian efforts of NGOs working in Iraq, the clean-up of the hundreds of tons of depleted uranium now polluting Iraq from US weaponry, and the payment of reparations to the families of Iraqi victims of the US invasion and occupation.” You can download a Sample Letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft which summarizes their legal defense. http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw/pages/newPages/SBsummons_letter_to_asscroft.html
You can fax your letter to (202) 307-6777 or mail it to:
Attorney General John Ashcroft
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20530.
You can also sign our letter to Attorney General Ashcroft. See the list of possible actions for other ways to raise your voice. If the Justice Department continues with its plans to prosecute VitW, they will respond with their own indictment of the US government and an international day of nonviolent action and civil disobedience. http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw/pages/newPages/SBsummons_what_you_can_do.html
Raising Relief Aid for the People of Iraq
VitW has also pledged to raise $20,000 in donations for the humanitarian needs of Iraqis. VitW has stated that their primary focus has always been ordinary Iraqi civilians and the most vulnerable of Iraqi society, especially children. http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw/pages/newPages/SBdonate.html
“Iraqi families living on a few dollars monthly income and surviving on a meager food ration have consistently offered VitW members their very best hospitality when we have visited their country on delegations. We take the petty imposition of this fine by the US administration as a challenge for VitW to return these years of generosity with a pledge of funds for the benefit of our friends in Iraq.”
Checks made out to Voices in the Wilderness with "20,000 voices" written in the memo line will go directly to NGOs serving the humanitarian needs of Iraqis. We will never use any of your donations to pay US penalties for performing works of mercy.
Please mail checks to:
Voices in the Wilderness
5315 N. Clark,
PMB #634 Chicago, IL 60640.
Please also visit the wbsite of Voices in the Wilderness: http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw
Voices in the Wilderness
Published in conjunction with The Palestine Chronicle:
http://www.palestinechronicle.com
Since its founding in 1996, Voices in the Wilderness has campaigned to end economic and military warfare against the Iraqi people. They have done this mostly by organizing delegations to Iraq in deliberate violation of U.N. economic sanctions and U.S. law, to publicly deliver small amounts of medical supplies to children and families in need. Their primary focus has always been ordinary Iraqi civilians and the most vulnerable of Iraqi society, especially children. Over the past seven years, Voices in the Wilderness has organized more than 65 delegations to Iraq made up of teachers, veterans, social workers, artists, health care professionals, trades people and people of faith. Many of these delegates carried symbolic amounts of medicine as an act of civil disobedience against the injustice of the economic sanctions; they then returned to the United States to tell about the brutalizing effects of the sanctions, magnified by the US bombing of the Iraqi civilian infrastructure during the Gulf War.
Voices in the Wilderness Will Not Pay this Fine
All funds received by Voices in the Wilderness were given for the purposes of providing humanitarian aid to Iraqi civilians and educating the world community about the deadly effects of the US bombing and embargo of Iraq. According to the organization, “the Justice Department is choosing to spend its resources to launch an attack on Voices in the Wilderness at a time when Iraqi people and US soldiers are being killed daily and the US occupying forces have failed to provide for the security and basic humanitarian needs of Iraqi people.” Meanwhile, the US has not found any of the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction that supposedly were the reason for the economic sanctions, bombing, and recent military invasion. VitW asserts that the lawsuit; “…offers an extraordinary opportunity for people of conscience everywhere to denounce the US Administration for its role in the illegal bombing and invasion of Iraq and for imposing a thirteen-year sanctions regime campaign on Iraq, which contributed to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children and thousands of people.”
A Call for 20,000 Voices
Voices in the Wilderness is calling for 20,000 or more citizens of the world to raise their voices in outrage against what they call “the injustice and hypocrisy of this lawsuit.”
“Join your voices with ours as we call upon the Justice Department to drop their lawsuit against Voices in the Wilderness and instead direct their money towards the humanitarian efforts of NGOs working in Iraq, the clean-up of the hundreds of tons of depleted uranium now polluting Iraq from US weaponry, and the payment of reparations to the families of Iraqi victims of the US invasion and occupation.” You can download a Sample Letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft which summarizes their legal defense. http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw/pages/newPages/SBsummons_letter_to_asscroft.html
You can fax your letter to (202) 307-6777 or mail it to:
Attorney General John Ashcroft
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20530.
You can also sign our letter to Attorney General Ashcroft. See the list of possible actions for other ways to raise your voice. If the Justice Department continues with its plans to prosecute VitW, they will respond with their own indictment of the US government and an international day of nonviolent action and civil disobedience. http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw/pages/newPages/SBsummons_what_you_can_do.html
Raising Relief Aid for the People of Iraq
VitW has also pledged to raise $20,000 in donations for the humanitarian needs of Iraqis. VitW has stated that their primary focus has always been ordinary Iraqi civilians and the most vulnerable of Iraqi society, especially children. http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw/pages/newPages/SBdonate.html
“Iraqi families living on a few dollars monthly income and surviving on a meager food ration have consistently offered VitW members their very best hospitality when we have visited their country on delegations. We take the petty imposition of this fine by the US administration as a challenge for VitW to return these years of generosity with a pledge of funds for the benefit of our friends in Iraq.”
Checks made out to Voices in the Wilderness with "20,000 voices" written in the memo line will go directly to NGOs serving the humanitarian needs of Iraqis. We will never use any of your donations to pay US penalties for performing works of mercy.
Please mail checks to:
Voices in the Wilderness
5315 N. Clark,
PMB #634 Chicago, IL 60640.
Please also visit the wbsite of Voices in the Wilderness: http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw
Voices in the Wilderness
Published in conjunction with The Palestine Chronicle:
http://www.palestinechronicle.com