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CPT IRAQ: Apologies, But No Compensation

The brothers think their families should be compensated. We have learned that U.S. authorities will pay for cars they have destroyed but not for people...
CPTnet
April 10, 2004

IRAQ: Apology, but no compensation

On the first of August 2003, a U.S. military convey made its way along the highway through Al Radwaniya, on the outskirts of Baghdad. One or two days earlier, there had been an attack on U.S. soldiers in the area.The gunners in the convoy were on the alert. They saw two people walking along the highway toward them about a kilometer away. The 10 a.m. morning sun was hot. A farmwoman was sweeping a pathway in view of the highway. The convoy rolled along the bumpy road and the two kept walking.

The soldiers aimed their weapons, and opened fire. The woman looked up to see her son and nephew killed. Ali Jasim was 12 years old, and his cousin Manaf Najim, 19.

The boys' relatives ran out of the house to see what had happened. The convoy approached and stopped to examine the bodies of those they had shot. Ali was a schoolboy. Manaf was visiting from his home in Sadir Al Rousfiya. The soldiers appeared dismayed,  apologized to the people who had gathered, then moved on.

Lo'ay and Sami hold tiny black and white pictures of their brothers, Ali and Manaf. They are cousins and each has had a brother shot by U.S. soldiers. They lean forward with pleasant toothy smiles. They appear curious about the foreigners, Americans they have been told, who have come to the office of the Iraqi National Society for Human Rights in Baghdad to hear their story. Their uncle told them about this place, and they came in January to see if something could be done about their brothers. The organization sent many letters, they explain, letters to the Governing Council, and to the Iraqi Assistance Center run by the US occupation. There has been no reply.

Two of us from Christian Peacemaker Teams look at the tiny pictures. One of them is a little boy. We are puzzled. Why did U.S. soldiers kill him? A translator relays the story Lo'ay and Sami have come to present. The brothers think their families should be compensated. We have learned that U.S. authorities will pay for cars they have destroyed but not for people.


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Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative of the historic peace churches (Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, and Quakers) with support and membership from a range of Catholic and Protestant denominations. Supporting violence-reduction efforts around the world is its mandate.


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