CPTnet
15 June 2005
IRAQ UPDATE: 1-8 June, 2005
Wednesday 1 June 2005
Tom Fox and the visiting Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) delegation traveled
to the Green Zone, the area in the center of Baghdad that holds the U.S. and
British embassies, the Iraqi Parliament, and the Iraqi Assistance Center
(IAC)--a U.S. military office designed to help Iraqis with detainee and
compensation issues. The delegation met with people from the detainee
section and the women and children's section.
The delegation also met the head of the IAC. He expressed criticism of the
Iraqi National Guard's detention techniques.
Thursday 2 June 2005.
Joe Carr, Greg Rollins and Will Van Wagenen attended a conference at Women's
Will, a women's rights and social justice group. Participants discussed a
proposed economic boycott of U.S. and Israeli products, which they believe
are being imported into Iraq. A flyer at the meeting noted that when Iraqis
buy U.S. and Israeli goods, they are buying the bullets used to kill their
Arab brothers and sisters in both Iraq and Palestine.
Sunday 5 June 2005
On a flight from Amman, CPTer Anita david met several people who work for
various international organizations in Suleimaniya. They all told her that
northern Iraq has experienced little violence and is relatively safe.
Monday 6 June 2005
In the morning, Rollins and David took a testimony from a man detained by
U.S. forces for five months. The man alleged the soldiers arrested him for
speaking out against the occupation of Iraq. David also talked with the
family of a man arrested by U.S. forces in March 2005. The family has not
been able to find his name in any prison database. After taking the second
testimony, the CPTers went to Adhamiya Palace, a U.S. and Iraqi National
Guard (ING) military base where the man was taken. The ING there told the
CPTers to go to the military intelligence office at Khadhamiya on the other
side of the river. In Khadhamiya, the CPTers talked to an ING lieutenant
who took the forms about the missing Iraqi and left for about two hours.
When he returned he said the Iraqi man might have been there in March but
wasn't there now. He said he had made inquiries with the Multinational
Forces (MNF), Iraqi police and other ING stations. He said he would call
the family when he heard anything.
Tuesday 7 June 2005
David talked to a CPT neighbor who said she is very depressed about how
limited her life is in Iraq. There is little water and electricity; she does
not feel safe when she goes out, and many of her friends have left the
country.
Wednesday 8 June 2005 David went to the Ministry of Residency where, after
a long process of ascending and descending stairs and receiving many stamps
and signatures, she was given a two-month visa. Since she plans to stay
three months, the officials at the office told her she would have to return
after the two months to apply for a visa for one additional month.
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