posted on August 11, 2003 09:41:01 AM new
Aug. 11, 2003, 9:09AM
'Human shield' balks at fine for trip to Iraq Associated Press
SARASOTA, Fla. - A retired schoolteacher who went to Iraq to serve as a "human shield" against the U.S. invasion is facing thousands of dollars in U.S. government fines, which she is refusing to pay.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury said in a March letter to Faith Fippinger that she broke the law by crossing the Iraqi border before the war. Her travel to Iraq violated U.S. sanctions that prohibited American citizens from engaging in "virtually all direct or indirect commercial, financial or trade transactions with Iraq."
She and others from 30 countries spread out through Iraq to prevent the war. She spent about three months there. Only about 20 of nearly 300 "human shields" were Americans, she said.
Fippinger, who returned home May 4, is being fined at least $10,000, but she has refused to pay. She could face up to 12 years in prison.
In her response to the charges, she wrote the government that "if it comes to fines or imprisonment, "please be aware that I will not contribute money to the United States government to continue the buildup of its arsenal of weapons." Since she won't pay, she said, "perhaps the alternative should be considered."
The government also has asked Fippinger, 62, to detail her travels to Iraq and any financial transactions she made. In her response, Fippinger wrote that the only money she spent was on food and emergency supplies.
If Fippinger does not pay, the fine may increase, and the money will be drawn from her retirement paycheck, her Social Security check or any of her assets, officials said.
"She was (in Iraq) in violation of U.S. sanctions," said Taylor Griffin, a Treasury Department spokesman. "That's what happens."
Shortly before the U.S. invasion in March, Fippinger was one of several dozen human shields scattered around a refinery in Baghdad.
"We are planning to stay here in the refinery if war breaks out," Fippinger said at the time. "We are staying here because we think this war is unjust."
posted on August 11, 2003 11:53:14 AM new
What happened to the other 19 American Shields? Or did they just single out this one retired lady?
I said at the time that something should have been done about those people.
I'm not sure about this. I think a more appropriate punishment is to have their citizenship revoked. Let them stay over there if they sympathize so much.
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Replay Media
Games of all kinds!
posted on August 11, 2003 12:12:04 PM new
Supposedly free people do not have lists of places they are permitted to go, things they are allowed to own, or others with whom they may not associate.
Yet so many here would love to have that sort of control over others. It's scary.
posted on August 11, 2003 12:29:48 PM new
12 years would be too long for her stupidity. A couple years on the other hand would give her time to think about what she did.
The others should pay the same price.
gravid writes "Supposedly free people do not have lists of places they are permitted to go, things they are allowed to own, or others with whom they may not associate."
If these people paid for that freedom with their lives as many of our and our allies have, they should have been exonorated for their crimes.
And now bow your heads and say a prayer with me. God (of your choice) bless us all.
"I'm not sure about this. I think a more appropriate punishment is to have their citizenship revoked. Let them stay over there if they sympathize so much."
It was a foolish and ineffective way to protest the war. Now she is charged with violation of a federal law because she crossed the border into Iraq and spent money while there for food and shelter. As far as breaking economic sanctions, she is certainly a small fish to fry and revocation of her citizenship in this case is an unreasonable penalty.
posted on August 11, 2003 12:45:11 PM new
No matter how much you disagree with her destination I do not understand how you can support an American Citizen being fined by the government for international travel. I this a blanket rule? If I am in Mexico and decide to make a side trip to Havana am I going to be fined? Or is this a special action they are taking in retribution for the embarassment?
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If it's really Common Sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on August 11, 2003 01:02:44 PM new This May 7 story illustrates the situation with sanctions that the protestors faced.
Mission will defy sanctions to take supplies to Iraq
Children being hurt the most, say those making the journey
Tuesday, May 7, 2002
EXCERPT
By DAVID EGGERT
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
One after one, they dropped their items into a sack -- aspirin, vitamins, pencils, musical strings, ophthalmology tools and children's books. Others placed checks and cash inside an envelope.
"If it's illegal to send money and aid to people," a man said, "then arrest me many times over."
The scene yesterday at Keystone United Church of Christ was one of resolve and solidarity.
Tomorrow, nine Seattle-area residents will leave for Iraq, which has been under international economic sanctions since it invaded Kuwait in 1990. The group of pastors, teachers and doctors -- sponsored by the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility -- will deliver medical supplies and textbooks to Iraqi citizens, especially children.
They will violate the sanctions by traveling to Iraq and bringing in medicine and equipment without U.S. and U.N. approval.
Each delegation member risks up to 12 years in prison and penalties up to $1 million.
"I'm going there to listen, to show that I care," the Rev. Richard Gamble of Keystone United Church of Christ said yesterday at a send-off for the delegation.
He disagrees with the economic sanctions.
"It's a policy that's geared to harm the most powerless people in the nation -- the children," Gamble said. "It's prohibited them from being able to rebuild their infrastructure. After World War II, the world helped to rebuild Germany and Japan. In Iraq, there's been 12 years of sanctions with no end in sight."
UNICEF blames the economic sanctions for the deaths of between 2,700 and 5,300 children under age 5 per month.
Gerri Haynes, a grief counselor, nurse and president of the physicians group, organized the trip -- her fourth.
Each delegate will travel with 140 pounds of supplies -- the maximum allowed as checked luggage. Once in Amman, Jordan, the group will buy equipment for a Baghdad bone-marrow transplant unit and cross into Iraq with a busload of other supplies.
posted on August 11, 2003 03:47:31 PM new
If it is a violation of gov't sanction they want, why aren't the American companies who did covert business in Iraq facing charges? Especially the cigarette companies, made millions over there.
