Tehran Times & IRIB Radio & PressTV – 2010-11-07 21:55:25
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=230005
Ahmadinejad Asks UN to Declare Ecological Destruction during Wars as Crime
Tehran Times
TEHRAN (November 8, 2010) — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued a statement on Sunday, calling on the United Nations to formulate mechanisms to fight environmental pollution by categorizing the act as “crimes.” The statement came on the UN-sponsored International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in Wars and Armed Conflict.
On Nov. 13, 2001 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring Nov. 6 as day for marking environment as the unpublicized victim of wars and armed conflicts.
Despite entering the 21st century, the propagation of global village idea, and ratification of various environmental conventions and protocols, unfortunately protecting natural resources is being ignored, the statement read.
“Civil and tribal clashes in different parts of the world and their extraterritorial impacts” have negatively affected the environment on the earth and such acts must not be overlooked, it added.
It also added that Iran’s environment has been the victim of wars in the region over the past three decades.
The Islamic Republic of Iran calls on the global community to draft, ratify, and implement an “international convention on preventing the exploitation of the environment during wars and armed conflicts,” and suggests that the UN recognize destruction and pollution of the environment under such circumstances as crimes, the statement said.
Ahmadinejad Emphasizes Ways to Identify Environmental Crimes
IRIB Iran Radio
TEHRAN(November 7, 2010) — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today that: “Grounds should be prepared so that the United Nations can identify the main violators and destructors of the environment.”
In a message released on the occasion of the International Day banning Environmental Destruction during Wars, he announced that: “despite the dawn of the 21st century and the development of the global village thinking, protection of natural resources which are part civil peace and security have been ignored.”
Dr. Ahmadinejad further added that: “tribal and ethnic conflicts and disputes have caught up all regions of the world and one cannot ignore this issue very simply.”
The statement also adds that: “after passage of several decades, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima by the United States is still victimizing human beings and the nature and has distorted the natural growth of plants and the revival of ecosystems.”
Ahmadinejad further pointed to the damages inflicted on Iran from the use of western-supplied internationally banned chemical weapons by Saddam of the Ba’th minority regime of Baghdad during the 8 year US-imposed war on Iran in the 1980s, said: “undoubtedly, the presence of foreigners in the strategic Persian Gulf region has fueled the flames of this crisis.”
Iran Urges UN to Redefine Enviro-Crimes
PressTV
TEHRAN (November 7, 2010) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called on the UN to adopt a treaty to include environment destruction and pollution in “environmental crimes.”
“Unfortunately despite entering the twenty-first century and the expansion of global village mentality, and despite the environmental conventions and protocols, protecting natural resources, which are one of the orders of establishing peace and security in civil societies, are ignored,” Ahmadinejad said in an statement on the occasion of the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict.
Ahmadinejad said national and ethnic conflicts in different parts of the world and their trans-border impacts have affected all countries, the Iranian president’s official website quoted him as saying.
“Despite the passage of a few decades, the nuclear bombardment of Hiroshima by the US is still claiming human and nature [-related] victims and it has disrupted the growth of plants, animals and the revival of the ecosystem.”
Iran is one of the countries, which has suffered the direct and indirect consequences of wars in the region over the past three decades, Ahmadinejad said.
“We still witness the damages resulting from using chemical weapons by Saddam [Hussein]’s Baath regime during the [eight-year Iraq-] imposed war [on Iran], which led to the pollution of ecosystems especially water and soil resources in some parts of Iran.”
The Iranian president added that the crisis has been intensified due to the presence of foreign forces in the strategic Persian Gulf region, the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, the establishment of foreign military bases and consequently the increase of water pollution as a result of using weaponry.
“Using different technologies to generate and consume energy and drive out rivals in different economic fields has resulted in phenomena such as global warming and the increased emission of greenhouse gases,” Ahmadinejad said.
Iran presents the proposal to the United Nations to devise a mechanism or adopt a treaty to include the destruction and pollution environment in environmental crimes, Ahmadinejad added.
Iran also invites the international community to formulate, adopt and implement the “International Convention for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict,” the Iranian president concluded.
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