For Immediate Release

Press Statement

Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice
5922 Second Avenue
Detroit, MI 48202
(313) 680-5508
URL: http://www.mecawi.org
E-mail: admin@mecawi.org

December 29, 2007

Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice Condemns the Trial and Death Sentence For Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein;

Decision to Execute Must Be Reversed!

The Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice (MECAWI) denounces the recent decision by the so-called "Iraqi High Tribunal" to impose the death penalty on former President Saddam Hussein.

The invasion and occupation of Iraq is an illegal imperialist act and the current governmental and legal structures in Iraq are thoroughly subservient to the American administration.  MECAWI condemns the show trial of President Hussein and his colleagues as well as the death sentence imposed on these former officials. We demand, along with other human rights and anti-war organizations around the world, that the decision to execute the former Iraqi leader be reversed.

In a statement issued by Human Rights Watch on December 27, it declares that: The Iraqi government should not implement the death sentence against Saddam Hussein, which was imposed after a deeply flawed trial....

MECAWI is calling for a protest outside of the McNamara Federal Building at 4:30 PM on the day the lynching of  Saddam Hussein is set to be carried out.  The peace and social justice movement inside the United States must take a principled stand in upholding international law and the right of self-determination for all peoples.

We continue to call for a complete, unconditional withdrawal of all American and allied military forces, private contractors and other hostile interests from the nation of Iraq. We oppose the continued funding of this illegal occupation by Congress, which has already cost the taxpayers $2 trillion, the deaths of 3,000 U.S. troops and the wounding of 30,000 others. A recent Lancet medical journal report found that over 650,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the American invasion and occupation.

In fact the execution of Saddam Hussein is designed to divert the attention of the U.S. public who are fed up with this war and want Congress to cut off funds to force Bush to end the war.

We believe that the resources utilized to carry out the occupation of Iraq should go toward re-building cities like Detroit and to provide, food, affordable housing, quality education, health care and senior services to people across the United States.
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