CPTnet
June 18, 2003
IRAQ UPDATE: June 28-July 8, 2003
June 28
The team (Peggy Gish and Anne Montgomery) conducted a long and frustrating
search for information on a student arrested by the military police, who
referred them to the former Police Academy, where they were referred to the
Ministry of Justice, where they found no officers. Finally at the Iraqi
Assistance Center (IAC), team members learned that he had been charged,
apparently without evidence, with weapons possession.
Walking home, team members heard shooting on three occasions close to Sadoun
Street.
June 30
Team members visited the Language College of the university where they
talked to students and the English Department head who is looking for a
partnership with a university abroad. Looting damaged the already
deteriorating classrooms, and libraries contain few books.
July 1
Driving 60 kilometers west to Faluja, team members passed a military convoy
halted by an earlier attack. After a brief meeting with the governor, who
welcomed a possible CPT presence, team members interviewed the crowd around
a mosque that had been bombed the previous night. Team members then crossed
the Euphrates to a more rural part of the town to meet a sheik who also
welcomed them but expressed anger at the behavior of soldiers who, as part
of "Operation Desert Scorpion," conduct intrusive searches for militants or
weapons.
July 2
Team members visited the headquarters of the Assyrian Democratic Party. Its
goals are equality and a government representing all, including Assyrian
Christians. The previous regime destroyed their villages, churches, and
monasteries in the North, driving people into the cities where the party,
then an underground organization, provided aid.
July 3
Team members joined a well-organized, nonviolent demonstration of the Union
of Unemployed, who represent the majority of Iraqis, and walked with the
Organization of Women's freedom in Iraq (OWFI), co leaders of the
demonstration. The soldiers maintained a fairly low profile as team members
crossed the Tigris to stand opposite the Occupation headquarters in the
National Palace. From there, team members returned to the Iraqi Assistance
Center where they were directed to a new human rights center, chiefly
focused on past violations. Team members asked about Iraqis currently
having a difficult time crossing the checkpoints to present their
complaints.
July 4
The team heard shooting during the night.
July 5
At a meeting with a new contact at the IAC, team members discovered that he
had none of the information left with the previous contact about the student
who had been arrested.
The team returned to the OWFI where the director explained that political
Islamists, especially in the South, are trying to force women into old roles
and that rapes and that the resulting "honor killings" are increasing.
Later, team members attended a discussion organized by the new International
Occupation Watch In Iraq to share feedback about their goals and suggested
actions, which include monitoring the military and corporations, gathering
and sharing information, supporting local efforts, and hosting delegations.
See www occupationwatch.org.
July 6
At the end of their first quiet Sunday, team members attended Mass at St.
Raphael's, only to discover Paul Bremer inside the church, protected outside
by armored vehicles, armed soldiers, and armed, muscular security guards,
all shielding him from the mildly curious people of this neighborhood.
July 7
At a meeting between women from the Occupation Watch, members of OWFI and
the Union of the Unemployed, the Iraqis articulated their immediate goal:
the replacement of the Occupation forces by U.N. peacekeepers for six months
to give Iraqis a secure space to organize themselves without tribal leaders,
politically motivated religious leaders, and money interests taking control.
Later two professors spoke for many others whom the U.S. Occupying Authority
had expelled without hearings from Baghdad University for membership in the
Baath Party. Many public service employees joined for the sake of their jobs
without participating in party activities. The professors are petitioning
for individual hearings and for pay in the meantime, since the expulsion
order in June was backdated to May l5, and they want international support.
Their long-term goal is reconciliation and the sharing of knowledge and
technology between the U.S. and Iraq.
On their first evening out after dark, team members joined others at the
home of Amal, an artist and craft shop owner whose collection was looted.
She said Iraqis could control and rebuild their own country, while the
Occupying Authority, responsible under the Geneva Conventions to pay for
this reconstruction, seems to lack the ability to repair old equipment the
Iraqis rebuilt on their own after the first war.
July 8
Team members visited a girls' school in Thaura City and boys' school in a
less impoverished district to compare teacher pay and general conditions.
In both cases, the Occupying Authority had paid teachers 10, 000 Iraqi Dinar
(ID) in April, but not in May or June. The U.S. authorities told the
teachers that there was an insufficient supply of ID to pay them, but the
teachers would have been happy to receive dollars, currently a more usable
currency. The conditions in the schools included broken doors and equipment
in the girls' school, where soldiers searched for weapons, and, in both
places, days of exams in close to 120 degree heat without electricity for
fans. Attendance, however, has been good, since either neighbors or
soldiers provide security during school hours.
_______________
To stop receiving messages from CPTNET on MennoLink, send a message with
only the word, "suspend," in the body to server@MennoLink.org.
Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative among
Mennonite and Church of the Brethren congregations and
Friends Meetings that supports violence reduction
efforts around the world. Contact CPT, POB 6508
Chicago, IL 60680; Telephone: 773-277-0253
Fax: 773-277-0291.
To receive news or discussion of CPT issues by e-mail, fill out the form
found on our WEB page at http://www.cpt.org/subscribe.php
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Aug 02 2003 - 22:28:35 EDT