Rights Watch Northern Iraq: Civilian Deaths Higher Since War Ended
BBSNews - 2003-03-27 -- Arbil, Iraq, April 27, 2003 - The number of civilians killed
or wounded since the war ended in northern Iraq is higher
than it was during the conflict, Human Rights Watch said
today.
Extensive research at five hospitals and morgues in Kirkuk
and Mosul suggests that the high civilian tolls can be
attributed to general lawlessness after the collapse of
local authorities; the ready availability of weapons and
ammunition; and the vast stores of ammunition and ammunition
components left behind by the Iraqi military, including
landmines, rocket-propelled grenades, and other explosives.
Many of the victims have been children who play with
explosives or pick up unexploded ordinance (UXO) as toys and
sustain serious injuries as a result.
"In some ways, the peace has proved more lethal than the
war," said Hania Mufti, London Director of the Middle East
and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch.
At the al-Zahrawri Hospital (formerly al-Jumhuri Hospital)
in Mosul, for example, emergency room records show that
three civilians were treated on April 22 after an
unidentified person riding a motorbike tossed a grenade in
their direction. Another ten patients were brought in that
day after a looting incident in the Hawi al-Kanisa area of
the city. Three of them later died of their gunshot wounds.
The Iraqi authorities stored up huge amounts of ammunition
and small arms in homes, schools, and other sites in
residential areas in the run-up to the war. At the al-Bayda'
Secondary School for Girls in Kirkuk, Human Rights Watch
researchers on April 13 found one classroom still stacked
with dozens of boxes of ammunition, including rocket-
propelled grenades, 82mm and 100mm mortar shells, and 12.7mm
machine gun bullets. The guard at the school told Human
Rights Watch that the Iraqi military had brought the
ammunition to the school about five or six days before the
start of the war, leaving one sentry in the classroom, and
that students had been obliged to attend their classes in
these conditions.
Storing ammunition in a functioning school is a violation of
international humanitarian law.
At the al-Razi Hospital (formerly Saddam Hospital) in Mosul,
one doctor in the emergency ward told Human Rights Watch
that during the coalition bombing raids, most civilian
casualties were the result of ammunition left behind by the
Iraqi army in and around the city.
"The [Iraqi] army placed ammunition and weapons in between
houses and among civilians in preparation for the war," the
doctor said. "But the Americans did not attack these
civilian areas. When the army withdrew, they left behind
bombs, bullets, and machine guns. People, mostly children,
picked these up and they exploded."
The doctor said that he treated about fifteen burn cases
every day in the course of an eight-hour shift, often
children who were trying to light loose gunpowder.
Another doctor at al-Razi Hospital in Mosul said on April 21
that he was often treating "tens of cases daily," mostly
wounds sustained from landmines, exploding ammunition or
bullets. He also said that Ba'ath Party loyalists were still
present in the hospital and he could not speak freely, out
of fear of reprisal attacks. "They are everywhere and they
spy on us even now," he said, "so you can imagine what it
was like before."
Injuries from sniper fire and hand grenades are still a
major problem in Mosul, where the situation remains more
volatile than in Kirkuk.
Doctors at the Azadi Hospital (formerly Saddam Hospital) in
Kirkuk said that in the first three days after the city
fell, they were treating around 70 patients every day, most
of them civilians who had sustained bullet wounds, shrapnel
wounds, and injuries caused by landmines and other
explosives. Now, however, the numbers were falling to one or
two a day, mostly children with burns on their faces and
hands.
Anti-personnel landmines and ammunition are being found in
holes dug in the ground in residential areas, while similar
explosive materials were left strewn around the grounds of
military bases on the perimeters of both Mosul and Kirkuk.
The bases include the al-Khalid Garrison south of Kirkuk, a
Republican Guard facility; and al-Ghazlani Garrison in
Mosul.
Related Material
International Humanitarian Law, Frequently Asked Questions:
http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/iraq/ihlfaq.htm
Background on War in Iraq:
http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/iraq/
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Michael Hess is the Editor of BBSNews in Charlotte, NC. Write to the editor here. Not all submissions are published. Or visit the completely new BBSNews Blog and Forum on our front page - Please Participate in BBSNews!
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