Occupation Watch Center Update

[Tinoire]

Dear friend of the Occupation Watch Center,

It’s been more than 100 days since President George W. Bush declared the war on Iraq officially “over.” And while media reports often cover the fact that U.S. troops are still being killed in Iraq on an almost daily basis, there’s hardly any attention being paid to the hidden victims of the occupation: innocent Iraqi civilians.

Just a few examples:

•When our delegation traveled to Iraq in July to establish the Occupation Watch Center, we met the family of Mazen Nouradin, a 32-year-old Iraqi veterenarian who was shot dead by U.S. soldiers on June 28 while he was trying to hail a taxi in Baghdad. The soldiers claimed that Mazen was holding a pistol, but according to his family, he does not even own a pistol; the object he was holding was his daybook.

•Amnesty International’s July 23 memo on “concerns relating to law and order” in Iraq describes the case of 12-year-old Mohammad al-Kubaisi, who was killed by U.S. troops in the Hay al-Jihad area of Baghdad on June 26. He was carrying his family’s bedding up to the roof of their house when he was spotted and then shot by U.S. soldiers who were carrying out search operations in nearby houses.

•According to the LA times, at least two civilians were shot dead at a
checkpoint during a raid in the hunt for Saddam Hussein in Baghdad’s Mansour neighborhood. “Many witnesses angrily criticized the U.S. soldiers who were responsible, saying the checkpoint was badly organized and the area was not properly sealed. They also questioned why soldiers shot to kill in a populated area.” (U.S. Limits Payments to Kin of Slain Iraqi Civilians, LA Times, 8/4/03)

Although U.S. statute authorizes compensation for victims harmed by U.S. non-combat activity, the U.S. military has just announced that compensation will only be paid to victims who PROVE the wrongdoing or negligence of U.S. troops, thus placing the burden on the victims to provide the evidence of U.S. troop negligence when it is the U.S. Army which is in the best position to investigate the actions of its own forces.

Shifting burdens of proof and limiting the amount of compensation to $15,000 shows that the U.S. military doesn't seem to value Iraqi lives, especially given the following comment by a U.S. official discussing compensation of victims' families on Sunday, August 3: "How much is an injury worth? How much is a life worth? It all depends on the value of a life in Iraq. The value of a life in Iraq is probably a lot less than it would be in the U.S. or Britain."


TAKE ACTION – Contact Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the Coalition Provisional Authority (Occupying Forces)

DEFENSE SECRETARY DONALD RUMSFELD:
PHONE: [phone]
FAX: [phone]

CPA MINISTRY OF NATIONAL SECURITY:
EMAIL: [e-mail]

Please call or fax the Department of Defense and email the Coalition Provisional Authority (occupying forces) to condemn the use of lethal force against innocent Iraqi civilians. Insist that the United States protect, not kill civilians, as is required of occupying powers under the Geneva Conventions.

Also call on the Defense Department and CPA to follow U.S. law and compensate families whose members have been killed in error by U.S. troops. These deaths are just as tragic for the families concerned as are deaths caused by wrongdoing – and they are just as much the fault of the U.S. military.

MORE INFORMATION

LA Times Article on Compensation policy of U.S. military in Iraq:
U.S. Limits Payments to Kin of Slain Iraqi Civilians, August 4, 2003
http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=368

OccupationWatch’s article on the tragic death of Mazen Nouradin:
The Occupation’s Hidden Victims - Innocent Iraqis
Occupation Watch Center, August 4, 2003
http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=346

San Francisco Chronicle article on the tragic death of 12-year-old Mohammed Al-Kubaisa: Civilian deaths stoke Iraqis' resentment, Bitterness may widen resistance San Francisco Chronicle, August 4, 2003 http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=369

Amnesty International July 23 Memorandum on Concerns Relating to Law and Order in Iraq:
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE141572003