CPTnet
7 February 2005
IRAQ: Update 27-31 January 2005
Thursday 27 January
CPT members Peggy Gish and Cliff Kindy bought extra
food and supplies for the team since they expected
shops to be closed for the next three days due to elections.
CPT members Maxine Nash and Allan Slater went with the
team's translator from Kerbala to complete his
registration as an unofficial elections observer. They
also went to the police station with a member of the
Iraqi Human Rights Watch of Kerbala (IHRW) to request
approval to drive IHRW vehicles around the city on Election Day.
In the afternoon, Nash and Slater spent time at the
home of an IHRW member. He was distributing materials
to the heads of election observers for the cities and
surrounding areas of Najaf, Hilla and Diwaniya.
Because of the change of the evening curfew time from
9:00pm to 8:00pm, Nash and Slater were unable to
return to the hotel and stayed the night at the IHRW member's home.
Friday 28 January
At the IHRW Center team members talked to Iraqis who
were preparing to be election observers. In the
morning, and at about 5:00pm, the team heard explosions.
Saturday 29 January At 7:38am, CPT members heard a gunshot outside the
hotel.
U.S. military personnel were not allowed into Kerbala
for elections, but CPT members watched a U.S.
helicopter fly south to north toward the Abbas Shrine at about 7:55.
While the team was walking to the IHRW Center, an
Iraqi man, Ali, invited them to eat since it was the
festival day commemorating the Prophet Mohammed's
choosing Imam Ali to succeed him. Ali took the CPT
members across the street to a food stand where a
family brought them rice, lamb stew and Pepsis.
None of the thirteen IHRW cars were granted approval
to drive in Kerbala on Election Day.
Sunday 30 January (Election Day in Iraq)
At about 7:20am team members heard another gun shot
outside the hotel.
During the day the team walked around Kerbala, visited
three polling sites, and talked to Iraqis they met on
the street about the elections. They talked to Iraqis
who said they were proud to vote, as well as some who
boycotted the election for political or personal
reasons. At two polling stations, CPT members went
inside and watched people vote. They heard complaints
about the inadequate shuttle service, causing some
families to walk up to 10km to vote. (See: 05-01-30
CPT Iraq release, "Observing the Elections in Kerbala.")
In between polling sites, CPT members visited and ate
a meal at the home of an Iraqi who was coordinating
election observers for four governate areas.
At 4:25pm the team heard a loud explosion. Iraqis told
team members it was Iraqi police blowing up unexploded
weapons in order to eliminate them.
On the walk back to the IHRW Center at dusk, a convoy
of U.S. and Iraqi National Guard (ING) personnel
stopped team members. The soldiers said they did not
want CPT members to walk past the ING base because ING
guards might think they were Iranians and shoot at
them. CPT members refused the soldiers' offer to
escort them, and soon reached the IHRW Center.
Monday 31 January
At the Center, IHRW workers reported to CPT members
the statistics they had heard on the news about the
numbers of voters. They also said that there were 13
suicide bombings in Baghdad the day before.
CPT members set up a meeting for Wednesday with Iraqis
from the Muslim Peacemaker Team to plan next steps for
the organization.
With the team's translator, Gish visited a 16-year-old
boy she knew who had been transferred to Kerbala from
the Sisters of Charity Orphanage in Baghdad.
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