CPTnet
September 18, 2003
IRAQ UPDATE: September 2-8, 2004
Thursday, September 2
Mabel Brunk and David Milne got their visas extended for a month.
Milne, with the team translator, walked along Karrada Street and talked
with shop keepers. They observed the damage to the shops from the
explosion of an improvised explosive device the day before. Most expressed
fear and anger. The nurse administrator at the nearby St. Raphael's
hospital confirmed that one person had died, three were severely wounded
and twelve had less severe injuries.
Maxine Nash and Brunk went to the Baghdad Convention Center to talk with
Elio Tamburi, a human rights officer with the U.N. Assistance Ministry
Iraq, who just returned to Baghdad. He asked CPT to assist him in talking
to Iraqis about the current situation in Iraq.
Greg Rollins and Peggy Gish gave a workshop on the vision and work of CPT
for the steering committee of a group planning to form a peace education
center in Baghdad. Participants expressed a lot of criticism of U.S.
globalization policies. The meeting was at an art gallery where an exhibit
focused on abuse of prisoners.
Friday, September 3
Gish, Brunk and Milne visited the home of Ibrahim Al Ethawi in Al Daura.
His brother, elderly and frail, remains detained in camp Bucca,the
primary detention facility for the Multinational Force (MNF.) The wife of
the detainee showed the team where U.S. military had broken doors and
furniture in a night raid. A nephew told of soldiers beating him and
breaking his nose. MNF soldiers detained other family members and later
released them. Children of one of Ibrahim's nephews are fearful every
time he leaves the house, thinking he may be imprisoned again. Ibrahim
said conditions are getting worse, with imprisoned farmers' families
unable to plant and harvest crops. Date farmers' trees are damaged by
fires the military set along the roadways. Farmers cannot fly
helicopters to spray their diseased trees.
Ibrahim described his family as "all Iraqis," pointing to the Shia, Sunni
and Kurds in the room. Western media exaggerate divisions, he said.
Saturday, September 4
At 11:30 a.m. the team heard a loud explosion. Gish and Milne walked along
Karrada to the site. The explosion damaged a car, blew out shop windows
and battered the cement median. An unconfirmed report attributed four
deaths to the explosion. Milne took pictures and U.S. military objected
but later allowed him to keep them. An unconfirmed report attributed four
deaths to the explosion.
Nash and Brunk with a translator accompanied a young Iraqi woman to the
Red Crescent office where she composed a letter to send to her husband,
detained in camp Bucca. A picture of her baby daughter will accompany the
letter, sent via the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Sunday, September 5
Gish went with a translator to meet the director of the Palestinian Study
Center at Baghdad University.
Monday, September 6
Milne and Gish talked with the director of the Human Rights Organization
of Iraq. He said the state of human rights in Iraq is worse now than a year
ago.
Tuesday, September 7
Chandler and Brunk went with a translator to complete the registration as
NGO with the Ministry of Planning. They initiated steps to get a visa for
Tom Fox at the Ministry of the Interior and then inquired about the
process of applying for a six-month residency.
Thorn Anderson, a photo-journalist who had been with Iraq Peace Team
before the war, phoned to tell of two Italian women with A Bridge to
Baghdad whom militants abducted from their apartment today.
Wednesday, September 8, 2004
Brunk and Milne, with a translator, visited a sheikh at Abu Hanifeh
mosque. He said CPTers are "always welcome" and invited the team to visit
sometime when he could discuss "spiritual matters."
At 2:30 p.m. the team met with journalists from the London Times and an
Italian news agency to discuss CPT's response to the kidnapping on the
previous day. The Times journalist took pictures.
The NGO Coordinating Committee in Iraq sent emails announcing that the
security level was now red; they recommended that all NGOs pull out their
international staff. The team decided to contact CPT co-director, Doug
Pritchard, and ask him to consult with other Iraq team members on home
leave and to consult trusted Iraqi partners, friends and neighbors.
Several friends called to ask about the team's safety.
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