In November of 2004, Amnesty International issued three separate calls for protection of Iraqi civilians in the escalating violence in Falluja. A month later, reports keep pouring in describing the indiscriminate killing and mistreatment of countless civilians, including children. In stark contrast to the Bush administration's more optimistic accounts of the situation in Iraq, a recent CIA report painted a grim picture of Iraq's politics, economics, and security, with no prospect of improvement in sight.
U.S. military spokespersons have provided estimates of the number of deaths among insurgents (said to be in the hundreds), but not of civilian deaths or injuries. Some pundits have speculated that civilian casualties may have been deliberately downplayed in the U.S. media to keep those details from influencing the recent elections. But, conspiracy theories aside, the fact remains that combatants on both sides of the Iraq war are not taking adequate precautions to ensure the safety of civilians and civilian property, and the public has a right to know the facts.
Among the most recent incidents cited by Amnesty International are the following:
• On October 8, an air raid on Falluja reportedly killed 11 people and wounded 17 others in what the U.S. military said was "a precision strike" against a hideout of Abu Musab al- Zarqawi, while doctors and residents reportedly said that the strike had hit a house during a wedding party.
• On October 20, four children and their parents were said to have been killed in another air strike against the city.
• On November 9, 20 Iraqi medical staff and dozens of other civilians were reportedly killed when a missile hit a clinic. It is not known whether the missile was fired by the U.S.-led forces or by insurgents.
• Also on November 9, a nine-year-old boy reportedly died after being hit in the stomach by shrapnel. His parents were unable to take him to hospital because of the ongoing fighting. He died a few hours later as a result of blood loss and was buried by his parents in their garden because it was too dangerous to leave their home.
These tragedies, and the countless others like them, fly in the face of claims by the Bush administration that its purpose in Iraq is to liberate the Iraqi people.
The Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, which was adopted in 1949 and which entered into force in 1950, dictates that "persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely," and that they "shall be protected especially against all acts of violence or threats thereof and against insults and public curiosity."
Special effort is to be made to protect hospitals and other medical facilities, as well as wounded, sick, and aged persons, children under 15, expectant mothers, and mothers of children under seven. These standards apply not only to parties in armed conflict, but also to an occupying power, even if the said occupation meets with no armed resistance.
The Bush administration owes it to the citizens of the U.S., the citizens of Iraq, and the citizens of the world to put an immediate stop to these war crimes and to do everything possible to ensure that no such incidents occur in the future.
Furthermore, the following precautions proposed by Amnesty International should be undertaken immediately by both sides in the conflict:
• Non-combatants, including the civilian population and prisoners, must not be used in military operations (e.g., as human shields).
• Civilians who do not want to take part in the conflict must not be persecuted for refusing to do so.
• Combatants and weaponry must not be deliberately placed among the civilian population.
• Combatants must refrain from indiscriminate attacks and from the use of indiscriminate weapons which might inadvertently put civilians and civilian objects at risk. These weapons include, but are not limited to, cluster bombs, landmines, thermobaric weapons (e.g., "daisy cutters"), napalm, and munitions using depleted uranium.
• There must be no taking of hostages. Any existing hostages must be released immediately and without condition.
• The wounded and sick must be collected and cared for.
• Humanitarian organizations must be allowed to safely provide for the humanitarian needs of the civilian population.
• All violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law must be investigated, and those responsible for unlawful attacks, including deliberate targeting of civilians, indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks, and the killing of injured persons, must be brought to justice.
Until these measures are untaken fully and completely by all parties in the Iraq conflict, there can be no real prospect for true liberation.
