Cross-border pencil smuggler

>> Voices of Conscience co-founder Raymond Legault tries to restore some dignity to the people of Iraq

By CRAIG SEGAL

Every car is a cab in Iraq.

"When you want a taxi you just raise your arm and a car stops. And it may not be a taxi, just someone willing to give you a lift," says local computer professor Raymond Legault.

The cars are in bad shape. "Half the windshields are cracked. Even government workers drive around in wrecks." The UN-imposed sanctions against Iraq, now nearly 10 years old, make it impossible to import stuff like cars, computers and even medical equipment.

Legault is half soft-spoken-teacher and half humanitarian-hero, leader of a Montreal-based movement to stop the sanctions that are strangling Iraq. His Ph.D. in computer science got him a gig at Ahunstsic College. But instead of spending his salary on a little cottage up north, Legault pours it into photocopies, auditorium rentals and, last January, an airplane ticket to Iraq.

As a member of the Montreal-based Voices of Conscience, Legault is working to stop Canada from supporting the "genocide" of the people of Iraq. Created by Legault and four others in 1998 for the sole purpose of lobbying against the sanctions, Voices now boasts over 60 active members.

In addition to Legault and other Voices of Conscience members, the group's delegation to Iraq included New Democrat MP Svend Robinson and Francoise David, president of the Quebec Federation of Women. Two journalists also tagged along, including La Presse columnist Pierre Foglia.

At a public forum last Friday, the group revealed that they smuggled in $3,000 worth of school supplies as part of their trip. The UN-imposed sanctions are so strict, they even banned pencils out of fear the graphite in lead pencils could be used for weapons.

Worse than the war

The sanctions that have been in place since the war have killed more Iraqis than the 1991 Gulf War itself. According to Denis Halliday, who quit his job as head of the United Nations Humanitarian Aid Program in 1998, over one million Iraqis have died since 1991. Over 5,000 children die every month.

Worse still, says Legault, "Canadians are part of the genocide. We are part of the enforcing group of the embargo. I think Canada selectively highlights its international activities," he says in reference to Canada's crusade against land mines, "but that's only a small part of the picture."

Organizations like UNICEF and the World Health Organization want the sanctions to end. In addition to Halliday, two other senior UN envoys to Iraq have quit their jobs because the sanctions disgust them. Said Halliday: "We're destroying an entire society. It's as simple and as terrifying as that."

The mess is made worse by the use of a depleted uranium coating on some of the weapons used by the Allies during the Gulf War. Uranium is the same stuff that goes into nuclear bombs. It has a high density, allowing it to pierce tank armour. But many doctors say it's a radioactive killer, responsible for skyrocketing cancer rates in southern Iraq--not to mention the deaths of 400 Gulf War vets. Last month a Canadian vet died with high levels of uranium in his bones. At least 350 tons of uranium was left in Iraq.

The bombing continues

Meanwhile, every month, if not more frequently, the U.S. and Britain continue to bomb Iraq. "We shouldn't rely on government speeches if they don't fit what we see, what we witness," says Legault. "When we write to [Foreign Affairs Minister] Lloyd Axworthy, he tells us it's all Saddam's fault and the UN is taking care of the Iraqi population's needs."

Though he's been back from Iraq for more than two months, Legault can't slow down: his mission keeps him awake when the rest of us are asleep. "I slept 75 minutes the night before Friday's conference," says a modest Legault. "But we don't need to talk about that." :

For more information, you can reach Voices at 858-7584, or voices@colba.net.

IRAQ FACTS
Due to the sanctions against Iraq:

* Malaria cases increased 53%; tuberculosis cases doubled.

* In children under 5, premature births increased 430%.

* There has been a 500% increase in infant mortality.

* 1 in 4 children suffers from severe and chronic malnutrition.

* Over 1 million children are not attending school for economic reasons.

* 250 people die every day. :

Sources: UNESCO and World Health Organization

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