| WASHINGTON
- April 21 - The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has nominated Denis
Halliday and Kathy Kelly for a joint 2000 Nobel Peace Prize. The
commitment and courage of these nominees illustrate the far-reaching
impact of the actions of individuals in the cause of peace.
In the nomination letter to the Nobel Committee Don Reeves, AFSC
General Secretary (Interim), stated:
"Taken together, the work of Kathleen Kelly and Denis Halliday
represents a comprehensive approach to the problem of economic
sanctions against Iraq and the devastation wrought on the population
of that country, particularly the children."
On the cusp of ten years of the most comprehensive sanctions in
modern time, the humanitarian crisis in Iraq, sadly neglected
for many years has already taken the lives of more than one million
Iraqis. During those ten years the AFSC has expressed repeatedly
its deep concerns over the increase in infant and child mortality,
decline in health and education standards, and overall rise in
death rates from preventable and treatable illnesses-all resulting
from the effects of the economic sanctions on the people of Iraq.
Kathy Kelly is a cofounder of Voices in the Wilderness, the first
U.S. grassroots organization to bring activists into Iraq to witness
the effect of sanctions, to bring food and medicine to the people
of Iraq, and to educate the public upon their return.
Denis Halliday, an Irish Quaker, is a former UN Assistant Secretary-General
and Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq, who resigned his position
in 1998 after some 34 years of UN service to protest the humanitarian
impact of the economic sanctions on the civilian population of
Iraq. He continues to call for reform within the UN Security Council,
and questions the legality of imposing economic sanctions over
long periods of time. He has spoken widely since his resignation,
and has been a powerful advocate for lifting the economic sanctions
against Iraq.
The unique combination of grassroots activism in the work of Kathy
Kelly, and the authority of the former UN Humanitarian Coordinator
in Iraq, Denis Halliday, has helped to push the crisis in Iraq
to the forefront of concerns in the world . We are now engaged
in a new dialogue, with growing international support for the
concept of de-linking economic and military sanctions.
"We nominate them as an expression of the importance of the
individuals who transform a personal commitment to peace into
visible and effective action," stated Reeves in the nomination
letter.
The resignations in February 2000 of Hans von Sponeck, the United
Nations Humanitarian Coordinator who replaced Denis Halliday,
and Jutta Burghardt, head of the World Food Program in Iraq served
to further highlight the humanitarian crisis.
AFSC is proud to nominate these two extremely capable and dedicated
people, and feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to be challenged
by their commitments.
The American Friends Service Committee and Quaker Peace and Service
in England were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947 on behalf
of the work of Friends (Quakers) worldwide.
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