[Media-watch] Amnesty International. IRAQ fears of serious violations of rules of war - 13 Nov 2004

[Sigi D]

From : 	Amnesty International <ai-news at amnesty.org>
Reply-To : 	<ai-news at amnesty.org>
Sent : 	13 November 2004 10:34:27
Subject : 	Iraq: Fears of serious violations of the
rules of war in Falluja

News Release Issued by the International Secretariat
of Amnesty International

AI Index: MDE 14/056/2004††††††† 12 November 2004 

Iraq: Fears of serious violations of the rules of war
in Falluja


Amnesty International is deeply concerned that the
rules of war protecting
civilians and combatants have been violated in the
current fighting in Falluja.
Dozens of civilians have reportedly been killed during
the fighting between US
and Iraqi forces and insurgents. Amnesty International
fears that civilians have
been killed, in contravention of international
humanitarian law, as a result of
failure by parties to the fighting to take necessary
precautions to protect
non-combatants. The humanitarian situation in the city
is said to be precarious. 

Twenty Iraqi medical staff and dozens of other
civilians were killed when a
missile hit a clinic on 9 November, according to
reports from a doctor who
survived the strike. It is not known whether the
missile was fired by the US-led
forces or by insurgents. Also on 9 November, according
to press reports,a
9-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 go
out. One woman and her three
daughters were reportedly killed when their house was
bombed. 

On 11 November a British television programme, Channel
Four News, broadcast
footage in which a US soldier appeared to have fired
one shot in the direction
of a wounded insurgent who was off screen. The soldier
then walked away and said
"he's gone". Under International humanitarian law the
US forces have an
obligation to protect fighters hors de combat. Amnesty
International calls on
the US authorities to investigate this incident
immediately.

Amnesty International is concerned that US military
spokespersons have provided
estimates of the number of deaths among insurgents --
said to be in the hundreds
-- but not of civilian fatalities or injuries. The
organization urges all sides
involved in the military confrontation to take every
possible precaution to
spare civilians. 

Insurgents are also reported to have violated rules of
internaitonal
humanitarian law. In one incident, some Iraqis are
reported to have come out of
a building waving a white flag. When a Marine
approached this group, insurgents
opened fire on the Marines from different directions.
A US military official in
Iraq also accused insurgents of storing weapons in
mosques and schools.
Insurgents were reported as firing from a mosque on 10
November. 

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.


More than 10,000 US marines and 2,000 Iraqi security
forces launched, on Monday
night, an attack on Falluja which has been under
insurgentsí control since April
2004. At least half of Fallujaís residents reportedly
left the city before the
attack. However, according to press reports tens of
thousands of civilians are
still inside. There are concerns that a humanitarian
crisis is looming with
acute shortages in food, water, medicine and with no
electricity. There are also
many wounded people who could not receive medical care
because of the fighting.
The Iraqi Red Crescent Society stated that it had
asked the Iraqi interim
government and US forces for permission to deliver
relief goods to civilians in
Falluja and to send a medical team to the main
hospital but had received no
response. 

In a statement published on 4 November (
http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maacRmrabbG0Qbew2yLb/
), Amnesty International
reminded the United States of America (USA) and the
interim Government of Iraq
that they are legally bound to observe at all times
the rules of all applicable
human rights and humanitarian law treaties to which
they are states parties, as
well as rules of customary international law binding
on all states. The
organization also urged armed groups in Falluja to
respect the legally binding
rules of international law. 


For more information please see:
http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maacRmrabbG0Rbew2yLb/


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