CPTnet
May 1, 2003
IRAQ ACTION ALERT: Send Coloured Tape to U.S. Congress
"We don't have any orange tape left," said Captain
Payne to CPT- Iraq member Lisa Martens. Martens had
requested that a large quantity of unexploded
munitions in one particular residential area of
Baghdad be marked off with tape until it could be
cleaned up by Unexploded Ordnance Engineers. This
conversation was not the first time U.S. Army
personnel had told CPT members that they did not have
enough bright-coloured tape to mark the
site, enough engineers to clean it up, or enough
personnel to keep children out of the potentially
lethal area.
Sites in residential areas with dangerous unexploded
munitions are left unguarded, while the U.S. Army has
put Iraq's Oil Ministry under heavy guard. CPT has
been told more than once by military spokespeople, "We
lack the resources" when the team has asked them to
act on behalf of Iraqi civilians. On one recent day,
a driver took CPT to ten different sites in one corner
of Baghdad which contained unexploded U.S. munitions
or abandoned stocks of Iraqi munitions, including
20-foot missiles, mortar rounds, land mines, and
rocket-propelled grenades.
Christian Peacemaker Teams members have been
monitoring the particular site described earlier for
more than a week, and have reported it to U.S. Army
personnel on several occasions, often using maps and
digital photos to pin-point the location (see report
below.) Twice, CPT has led or directed military
personnel to the site. They saw for themselves the
hundreds of unexploded munitions spread out within
metres of streets, sidewalks and
houses. They also saw children walking in and around
the area. U.S. Army Capt. Payne and Sgt. Ayers told
CPT on different occasions that these munitions are
unstable and especially dangerous because they are
partially burnt and crushed.
When Christian Peacemaker Teams members asked U.S.
Staff Sgt. Pinkston to have the U.S. Army clean up the
site right away, he replied that it is just one of
many similar sites in Baghdad and that Ordnance
Personnel are striving to clean-up "as fast as they
can." Another soldier told the team that the Ordnance
Engineers are two weeks behind schedule.
NBC News reporter Dr. Bob Arnot visited this site and
referred to it in a story about Baghdad children being
maimed and killed by unexploded munitions. CPT met
with Iraqi Red Crescent Society
officials about a four-year-old boy in the
neighbourhood who lost his sight when he picked up a
cluster bomblet. They also met with the International
Committee of the Red Cross who said that they have
reminded the U.S. of its obligations as an Occupying
Power under the Geneva Conventions to remove
unexploded ordnance. This clean-up could take two to
five years.
CPT INVITES YOU to send pieces or even rolls of the
bright-coloured tape, which authorities ordinarily
use to mark off dangerous sites, to your
congresspersons, or the U.S, Ambassador to your
country. Send it with a letter and /or phone calls
urging them to make protecting civilians a higher
priority than protecting the Oil Ministry. See sample
letter below.
-----------------------
To contact your congressperson or senator write his or
her name above these addresses:
U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510
If you need the name or further information like fax
or email for your Congressperson please check the
following sites
http://www.senate.gov
http://www.house.gov
President: president@whitehouse.gov
You will find the address US Embassy and name of the
US Ambassador
at http://usembassy.state.gov
Dear [Congressperson or Ambassador]
Peace to you. Our CPT Media Team in Baghdad reports
significant and immediate danger from hundreds of
sites containing unexploded munitions. Many of these
sites are in residential areas. As a result, children
and other civilians are being maimed and killed when
the munitions are accidentally set off. Your
influence is needed immediately to put an end to this.
On several occasions, U.S. military personnel have
told our team that US Forces do not have enough
bright-coloured tape to mark off dangerous sites, or
enough personnel to guard each one, or enough
demolition specialists to clean them up quickly. At
the same time, however, there are plenty of soldiers
assigned to guarding the Ministry of Oil in Baghdad.
I urge you to use your influence to ensure that
international or locally developed demolition teams
are deployed to Baghdad and other areas in need, along
with plenty of bright-coloured tape. This will assure
Iraqis that the U.S. values their lives and the lives
of their children more highly than Iraq's oil..
Yours truly
[Your name]
------------------------------------------
Report on One Unexploded Ordnance Site in Baghdad
Christian Peacemaker Teams - Iraq
April 30, 2003
April 22, 2003
Christian Peacemaker Team members Scott Kerr, Lisa
Martens and Voices in the Wilderness member Cynthia
Banas were driving near the intersection of 14
Ramadhan Street and the Bridge to the Ramady
Expressway in Baghdad. They saw unexploded munitions
around blown-up Iraqi military vehicles on the
median between the streets and under the overpass.
They documented the scene with digital photography and
video.
The ordnance appeared to include mortar shells, small
rockets, and land-mines. From an initial inspection,
many appeared to be partly burned but probably still
active.
The same day, Kerr notified Captain Robbins of the
U.S. Army near the Palestine Hotel. Kerr gave the
approximate location and Robbins indicated he would
pass the message up his chain of command. He also
said that Kerr could find a military detachment closer
to the site and should give that detachment the same
information.
April 23
Kerr and Martens stopped at the Iraqi National Museum,
about a 10 minute drive from the underpass, and talked
with Lieutenant Colonel Joe Rice from the 308th
Civilian Affairs Brigade about the same site. He
assured CPT that the Unexploded Ordnance Units (UXO)
are actively clearing such sites.
Rice advised the CPT members to do the following:
Give the information to him and several other military
officials to assure that the problem would be
addressed, asking that the military
1) mark the place with tape or other markings.
2) tell the local civilians about the dangers of such
a site.
Rice also reported that two U.S. Marines had been
killed the previous day while cleaning up another site
of unexploded ordnance.
Kerr and Martens visited the site again and documented
it precisely with digital photos and a map.
On the way home from the site, which is in the Al
Monsour district of Baghdad, Kerr and Martens met with
U.S. Army Sargent Ayers. The team presented the map
and photos. Ayers assured the team members that he
and his team had been to that site and removed
unexploded ordnance that was stable enough to
transport. When asked about the status of the
ordnance
left behind, Ayers said that it was very unstable and
could explode at any time.
Kerr and Martens expressed their concern about this
and asked when this site will be cleaned up
completely. Ayers suggested that CPT visit the Saddam
Palace in two days (April 25) if the site is not
cleaned up by then, and ask to speak with Lieutenant
Moore
April 25
Kerr, Martens, Jerry Levin and Stewart Vriesinga
returned to the site and found that no progress had
been made in cleaning the site, and that there was no
US military personnel present. Kerr, Levin, Martens
and Vriesinga proceeded to the Republican Palace to
meet with Lieutenant Moore.
Lieutenant Moore was not present at the Palace, and so
CPT members shared their concerns with Staff Sargent
Pinkston and Lieutenant. England. With the help of a
local driver, they were able to pinpoint where the
ordnance is on a military map. Staff Sargent Pinkston
assured the group that the ordnance would be cleaned
up "that afternoon."
Kerr and Martens returned to the site that afternoon
with MS-NBC journalist Dr. Bob Arnot. The journalist
reported from the site explaining to an audience back
in the US about the dangers of unexploded ordnance,
and reported that he had visited children in hospitals
recently maimed by such munitions. Dr. Arnot obtained
GPS coordinates. The North coordinates are
3319811, the East coordinates are 4419868.
April 26
Kerr and Martens again visited the site. Finding it in
the same condition and still unmarked by tape or
danger signs. They drove three kilometres to the
nearest U.S. military checkpoint. On the way to the
checkpoint, the team noted a rocket about 20
centimetres in diameter, stuck into the ground with
more than half a metre of it sticking out of the
ground.
Soon after, at the checkpoint, Lieutenant Hoskins and
Staff Sargent Connell heard the team's concern. They
sent two tanks to follow the team to the site of the
rocket, and the dump site which was the team's first
concern. At the dump site, Staff Sargent Connell got
off the tank but would not go closer than 10 metres
from the ordnance. He said it was not his job to
clean up the site, but that he would "call it in." He
said that the Unexploded Ordnance Units would have to
take care of it. We requested that he at least tape
it off and write "Danger" signs in Arabic. He said
that he and his unit "did not have the resources" to
do that. He said that the UXO units have a
"priorities" list that is seven pages long, and that
the single rocket the team had shown him first would
take priority over the site of CPT's initial concern.
Kerr asked why a rocket in a non-civilian area would
get higher priority than hundreds of munitions in an
area where
children play. Sgt. Connell gave no clear answer.
April 28
Martens and Vriesinga again visited the site and found
it in the same condition as the days before. They went
to the Air Force building and spoke about the site
with Captain Payne, 3rd Division, Charlie Battery,
First Battalion, 9th Field Artillery. Immediately, he
sent out personnel in tanks, humvees, and jeeps to
look at the site. When Captain Payne saw the site he
said the ordnance could be very dangerous and
unstable, and that his unit could do nothing about it
until a specialized team had examined it. He said the
ordnance could be particularly unstable because it
looked
like it had been burned. Martens asked Captain Payne
if he could at least tape the area off because
children were walking through it. The Captain said
that he "did not have any orange tape left," but that
he would see if he could get his translator to write
some danger signs for the site.
April 29
The team visited the munitions dump again. They noted
that another box of weaponry had disappeared from the
site. There were still no soldiers or signs or tape
marking off the area. When Martens went to inform
Capt. Payne, she was referred to Lt. Wheeler. Wheeler
said, "We don't have enough resources. It is not
really our job. Talk to the Red Cross or find a
private contractor. But we have cleaned up 10 such
sites. Iraq is now in
the top 5 countries in the world with unexploded
ordnance, right up there with Bosnia and Afghanistan.
It will take 5 years to clean up all the sites here."
Vriensinga raised the issue of this site at the daily
coordination meeting between the U.S. military and
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) doing relief
work. The Major hosting the meeting said he could do
nothing until he received a written report of the
problem.
April 30
CPT delivered the present report to the Major at the
daily U.S, military / NGO meeting. He gave no
response.
Lisa Martens met with the International Committeee of
the Red Cross and gave them this report on the Mansour
munitions dump. They said that they do surveys and
public education on unexploded ordnance but they do
not do any clearance work. They have reminded the U.S.
of its responsibilities under
the Geneva Conventions as the Occupying Power to
secure, clear, and make safe such sites. The Red Cross
will start its own public education work in Baghdad
next week.. They agreed it will take two to five years
to clear Baghdad.
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