Killings of Civilians

[Other News - Roberto Savio / IPS <soros@topica.email-publisher.com>]

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U.S. Ignores Soldiers' Killings of Civilians - Report
By Jim Lobe

Washington, Oct 21 (IPS) - The U.S. military should be investigating the
deaths of dozens of Iraqi civilians killed by its troops; instead, it is
not even keeping track of their numbers, says a report released here
Tuesday.

In an investigation undertaken in late September, Human Rights Watch
collected what it called credible reports of 94 civilian deaths at the
hands of U.S. forces from May 1 to Oct. 1, all of which appear to have
taken place in circumstances that warrant an official investigation.

In its publication, 'Hearts and Minds: Post-War Civilian Casualties in
Baghdad by U.S. Forces', the New York-based group deplores the fact that
the U.S. military has not kept any statistics on civilians deaths. "Such an
attitude suggests that civilians casualties are not a paramount concern,"
HRW said.

The military has investigated five incidents to date, and four of them
resulted in findings that soldiers acted "within the rules of engagement",
hence were not liable for any of the deaths. A sixth probe -- into the
deaths of eight Iraqi policemen and one Jordanian guard in an incident in
al-Falluja last month -- is still underway.

"It's a tragedy that U.S. soldiers have killed so many civilians in
Baghdad," said Joe Stork, HRW's acting Middle East and North Africa
director.

"But it's really incredible that the U.S. military does not even count
these deaths. Any time U.S. forces kill an Iraqi civilian in questionable
circumstances, they should investigate the incident," he said.

The 56-page report, based on more than 60 interviews of witnesses and
family members of victims in specific incidents, local and international
human rights observers, the U.S. military, police records and media
accounts, comes amid growing public concern over U.S. military casualties
since U.S. President George W. Bush declared an end to major hostilities in
Iraq on May 1.

Six U.S. servicemen have reportedly been killed in just the past several
days, bringing the death toll among U.S. troops in Iraq since May 1 to 103.
U.S. military officers in the country have said that attacks on U.S. forces
are becoming both more sophisticated and widespread.

They are particularly concerned about the spread of resistance from the
so-called "Sunni Triangle" in central Iraq around Baghdad to Shia areas in
the southern part of the country and also because the opposition is made up
increasingly of people angry about the U.S. occupation because of abuses
committed by U.S. soldiers, rather than because of alleged loyalties to the
regime of ousted President Saddam Hussein.

On Saturday, a spokesman at Camp Pendleton in California disclosed that
eight Marine reservists are facing charges ranging from negligent homicide
to making false statements in connection with the mistreatment of prisoners
of war in Iraq, including the death of one prisoner at a camp near
Nasiriyah.

On Friday, a Spanish court permitted the indictment of three U.S. troops
sued by the family of journalist Jose Couso, who was killed after a U.S.
tank fired at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad Apr. 8.

But the HRW report deals only with the deaths of civilians in Baghdad
itself. The group stressed that it has no precise idea how many civilians
have been killed in all of Iraq by the U.S. military since May 1; nor does
the report address incidents in which civilians were wounded by U.S. troops.

It found that the U.S. military, which is responsible for security in
Baghdad, is not deliberately targeting civilians but neither is it "doing
enough to minimise harm to civilians as required by international law".

"Iraq is clearly a hostile environment for U.S. troops with daily attacks
by Iraqis or others opposed to the U.S. and coalition occupation," the
report said. "But such an environment does not absolve the military from
its obligations to use force in a restrained, proportionate and
discriminate manner, and only when strictly necessary."

HRW's investigation found a "pattern by U.S. forces of over-aggressive
tactics, indiscriminate shooting in residential areas and a quick reliance
on lethal force".

HRW found that civilian deaths took place in one of three basic kinds of
incidents.

First, deaths occurred during U.S. military raids on homes in search of
arms or resistance fighters. Particularly if they encountered resistance
from residents, who sometimes fired on soldiers thinking they were being
robbed, U.S. troops sometimes resorted to overwhelming force, killing
family members, neighbours or passers-by.

Civilians have sometimes been killed at checkpoints or roadblocks set up
after an attack or the detonation of improvised bombs along the roadway.
The report cites several cases in which soldiers fired high-calibre weapons
in multiple directions after such an incident, injuring and killing
civilians nearby.

Killings have also occurred at checkpoints when Iraqi civilians failed to
stop or heed directions. These checkpoints move constantly throughout the
capital and are sometimes not well marked.

"A dearth of Arabic interpreters and poor understanding of Iraqi hand
gestures cause confusion, with results that are sometimes fatal to
civilians," noted the report, adding that in some cases soldiers shout
conflicting commands in English with their guns raised.

HRW found that in all three situations, U.S. soldiers sometimes behave in
an arrogant and abusive manner, often in ways that are considered highly
insulting or even taboo to Iraqis. The report pointed in particular to the
touching or even searching by soldiers of women and girls and soldiers
putting their feet on the heads of detained Iraqis.

The report stressed that HRW researchers also met many U.S. military
personnel who dealt respectfully with Iraqis and were working hard to train
Iraqi police, guard facilities, and pursue criminals. Some of these
expressed frustration at the more-arrogant behaviour of their comrades.
''It takes a while to get the Rambo stuff out,'' one officer told HRW.

The probe also found that U.S. military police (MPs) were far better suited
to policing than combat units like the 82nd Airborne and the 1st Armoured
Division, which have not received adequate training for the job. A major
problem is that soldiers have been asked to switch from warriors to police
without proper preparation.

"Soldiers must know they will be held accountable for the improper use of
force," said Stork. "Right now, soldiers feel they can pull the trigger
without coming under review."
*****
+HRW Report (http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/10/iraq102103.htm)

(END/IPS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Other News" is a personal initiative seeking to provide information that
should be in the media but is not, because of commercial criteria. It
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"Other News" motto is a phrase which appeared on the wall of Barcelona’s
old Customs Office, at the beginning of 2003:”What walls utter, media keeps
silent”. Roberto Savio

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