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Thanks to USLAW for alerting Charleston Peace to this issue.

n spite of all tragic situations and internal crises, the current Iraqi authorities
persist to support and defend this law which mainly serves US corporate interests and
delivers long-awaited results to the occupying forces of Iraq. This position corresponds
to and comes in response to the official policies of the US government which passed
legislation on May 26, 2007 requiring that the Iraq government pass a new national oil
law as a condition to the continued receipt of U.S. reconstruction dollars.

The occupation of Iraq has devastated the lives of millions of Iraqis and drowned them in
endless bloodshed. All of this resulted from reactionary and divisive political changes
which were established by the U.S. occupation. Throughout chapters of daily massacres,
sectarian killings, torture and rape inside Iraq’s prisons, the U.S. government was busy
drafting the oil law and pushing Iraqi authorities to pass it without informing the
masses of the grave contents and consequences of the law.

The law allows for contracts best known as “production-sharing agreements” that are only
used in approximately 12 percent of the world’s oil and by countries in the weakest
possible negotiating positions. It offers the legal cover-up for hijacking the economic
rights of people of Iraq and holds their political will hostage during the current
war-torn situation.

The Iraqi and American people are told that the oil law is a guarantee of an equal per
capita distribution of Iraq’s oil revenue. However, they are not told that the Iraqi
people will only get what small percentage of revenue is left after the foreign oil
companies take their share. Moreover, the equal distribution of resources does not need
such a law or the presence of foreign oil companies.

The working class men and women of Iraq are the generators and producers of the oil
industry. Decades of oil production and development were the result of their life-time
toil and struggles; nevertheless they were mostly deprived from the revenues which used
to finance wars and dictatorship previously, but now will only multiply the profits of US
corporate world and interests of the ethno-sectarian militia and corrupt authorities in
Iraq.

The time has come for the people of Iraq to be decision makers on their revenues and the
fruits of their life-time work. They should not allow the passing of such a critical law
which forces American interests against the will of the society. The law is a mere
deception and legal cover for the robbery of Iraq's most lucrative resource: oil.

We, the undersigned, call out to human rights defenders, workers' unions and women's
groups, the global peace movement, civil society, and all concerned people of the world
to join our campaign to prevent and stop the “Iraq Oil Law.”

We believe that only when Iraq is free from occupation and when there is true and direct
representation of women, workers, and all in Iraq in the decision making process, should
changes to the laws that will control their resources for generations to come be
considered.

Yanar Mohammed (Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq-president)
Falah Alwan (Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions in Iraq-president)
Muayad Ahmad (Leftist political activist – Iraq)
Houzan Mahmoud (Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq-Abroad representative)
Ara Khachador (Founder of Oil Unions in Iraq, veteran political activist)
Suad Khairy (Prominent political Iraqi figure)
Kamil Al Delfi (Director of Now Center for Democratic Culture)
Raheem abou-Jarri' Al Saedi – Secretary General of Gathering for Democracy
Dr. Zuhair Lazem Al Sarraj – Iraqi environmentalist
Saad Muhamad Hasan (Communists Union in Iraq)
Dr. Abdul Hadi Mushtaq (President of the National Assembly for Human Rights)
Basil Mahdi (Editor in-chief of Ila Amam newspaper)
Ahmad Abdul-Sattar (Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions in Iraq-Nasiriyah branch)
Nawal Al Saadawi (Egyptian Feminist and author, Founder of Arab Women Solidarity
Association)
Denis Halliday (former UN Assistant Secretary –General)
John McDonnell (MP, UK Parliament)
Media Benjamin (US leftist-Founding member of Global Exchange)
Vivian Stromberg (Madre Organization-executive director)
Yifat Susskind (Madre Organization-executive director, progressive political researcher)
Eve Ensler (Prominent American feminist, V-day executive director)
Kavita Ramdas (political/woman activist)
Dr. Zeina Zaatari (political/woman activist)
Dr. Nadje Al-Ali (senior Lecturer in social anthropology at Exeter University, author and
woman activist)

The Nobel Women Laureates have sponsored the same demand after hearing and participating
in a panel by Antonia Juhasz from US and Yanar Mohammed from Iraq. They signed a letter
of support which is posted over the following web page of the Nobel Women Initiative:
http://www.nobelwomensinitiative.org/news.php?WEBYEP_DI=113

Betty Williams- Ireland - Recipient 1976, Mairead Corrigan Maguire – Ireland – 1976,
Prof. Jody Williams- USA - Recipient 1997, Dr. Shirin Ebadi- Iran - Recipient 2003, Prof.
Wangari Maathai- Kenya - Recipient 2004.