CPTnet
July 31, 2004

IRAQ UPDATE: July 17-23, 2004

Saturday, July 17, 2004
At 8:45 am, the team heard an explosion.

On their way out of the office of an Iraqi human rights group, Greg Rollins
and Anne Montgomery heard four mortars explode. They asked one Iraqi who
lived in the neighborhood if he heard a lot of
explosions and gunfire. The man rolled his eyes and said, "Always."

Sunday, July 18, 2004
Maxine Nash and Provencher were supposed to meet with a Lieutenant Colonel
(LTC) from the U.S. army to discuss issues about Iraqi detainees, but the
LTC sent an e-mail canceling the meeting. The e-
mail said that the Multinational Forces-Iraq (MNF-I) "can only work with
official organizations" and that CPT did not qualify as such. Any future
dealings would have to come through "official" organizations like the
International Committee of the Red Cross, or
the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights.

Nash and Provencher talked to a Master Sergeant in the Green Zone, the area
used by the Iraqi government and MNF-I as headquarters. The
master Sergeant (a long-time army reservist and a mother of a three-year-old
child and five year-old child) expressed frustration with the frequent and
extended deployments she has had in the past few years. She was hoping to be
done deploying after she finished her current rotation.

On their way out of the Green Zone, Nash and Provencher heard an explosion.
Soldiers at the entrance to the Green Zone said that it could have been a
missile.

Monday, July 19, 2004
Nash and Rollins visited the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights to drop off a
letter requesting a visit at the Ministry's office in Abu Ghraib prison.
While at the office, the CPTers learned from Ministry officials that at the
present, there was only one woman prisoner in Abu Ghraib, but twenty-one
children between the ages of twelve and eighteen.

Nash and Provencher visited the Green Zone to meet a MNF-I officer who had
asked CPT to meet with her regarding non-governmental (NGO) conference for
Iraqis that the MNF-I was organizing. The officer
wanted CPT to speak at the conference. The officer also promised that on
Wednesday, she would take the CPTers to the new U.S. embassy in the Green
Zone.

Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Accompanied by the MNF-I officer, Nash and Proverncher visited the U.S.
embassy in the Green Zone.

Friday, July 23, 2004
CPTer Doug Pritchard arrived in Baghdad. While Nash waited for him at the
U.S. checkpoint into the airport, Nash saw two mortars explode in close
proximity to the airport terminal.