Gorilla’s Guides

Dozens of civilians are still losing their lives on a daily basis in parts of Iraq. During the month of May, the ICRC continued to respond to the emergency needs of the population. 19-06-2009  Operational update

In May, the Iraqi Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Health of the Kurdistan Regional Government and the ICRC signed a memorandum of understanding which led to the launching of a programme to strengthen emergency services in Iraq. The two-year programme focuses on training around 600 doctors and nurses from all over Iraq in the management of trauma, control of infection and teamwork. It involves senior ICRC medical personnel based in Suleimaniya and Najaf governorates. "We hope that this joint initiative will help improve the quality of emergency services provided in Iraq," said Pascal Ollé, the ICRC health coordinator.
As part of its activities to promote international humanitarian law and raise awareness of the ICRC’s mandate and work in Iraq, the organization hosted several round table discussions with senior officials, religious leaders, Imams, professors and students in Erbil in late May.

Visiting detainees and helping them maintain contact with their families

The ICRC continues visiting people detained under the authority of the Iraqi central government, the US led Multi-National Forces-Iraq (US/MNF-I) and the Kurdistan regional government to monitor their conditions of detention and the manner in which they are treated.

In May, the ICRC:

• visited detainees held at Camp Cropper in Baghdad by the US/MNF-I authorities;
• for the first time visited detainees held at the First Brigade Prison in Baghdad (Ministry of the Interior);
• visited Kadhemiya Maximum Security Prison in Baghdad (Ministry of Justice);
• conducted a follow-up visit to Tobji Juveniles Prison in Baghdad (Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs);
• visited detainees in Fort Suse Prison, in Suleimaniya (Ministry of Justice) as well as four other detention facilities in Erbil, Dohuk and Suleimaniya governorates.

The ICRC and the Iraqi Red Crescent Society also help detainees to stay in touch with their families through the exchange of Red Cross messages and phone calls. In May alone, more than 12,570 Red Cross messages were exchanged between detainees and their families. The ICRC also provides financial assistance to families to visit their detained relatives. Families made more 2,800 visits to detainees in Camp Bucca.

Assisting the most vulnerable groups

The ICRC provides relief assistance to internally displaced persons (IDPs) who fled their homes because of the armed conflict.

In May:

• More than 40,000 IDPs in Ninewa, Suleimaniya, Diyala and Baghdad governorates received food and hygiene products monthly, as well as essential household items, such as kitchen sets, buckets, thermos flasks and jerrycans.
• About 100 households headed by women in Adhamiya, in Baghdad, were provided with food parcels and rice.
• Several pilot projects aimed at helping households headed by women earn an income got under way in Baghdad and Najaf governorates..
• The ICRC issued 73 travel documents to allow Palestinian refugees from Al-Waleed Camp (Anbar governorate) to be resettled in a third country with the UNHCR’s assistance.

Improving water supplies and health care

With the beginning of the hot season, the consumption of water has increased. As the current water supply is insufficient to meet existing needs, the ICRC is continuing to support the repair and improvement of infrastructure, and helping address emergency water needs.
In May, it

• supplied and installed new pumps to improve the treatment and delivery of water from Abu Tiban Water Treatment Pant in Anbar governorate, which serves around 65,000 people;
• cleaned pits and replaced submersible pumps in six sewage stations in Basra city;
• completed the installation of a new compact unit in Sergtkan, in Erbil governorate, serving about 10,000 beneficiaries.
  Water was delivered by truck to:
• Qalawa Quarter IDP camp, which shelters around 360 people in Suleimaniya governorate;
• 4,500 IDPs in Sadr city, Al-Rashad Psychiatry Teaching Hospital, Al-Imam Ali Teaching Hospital and Al-Yarmouk Teaching Hospital, in Baghdad.

The ICRC also improved water and sanitation at hospitals and primary health care centres.
In May the organization completed:

• the repair of the mechanical incinerator in Al-Yarmouk Teaching Hospital in Baghdad;
• the water and sanitation system and electromechanical repairs in Al-Suaidah health care centre;
• the rehabilitation of Qal’at Sukkar health care centre in Thi-Qar governorate;
• and connected Al-Huwair primary health care centres, in Basra governorate to the water-supply system.

Promoting international humanitarian law

In line with its mandate, the ICRC promotes international humanitarian law and works to ensure respect for it.. In May seminars and presentations on this body of law were organized for different audiences in Baghdad and Erbil.

Source: ICRC | Iraq: ICRC activities in May 2009

تمكنت شرطة ذي قار من اعتقال 13 متهما أحدهم بتهمة المساس بأمن الدولة وثلاثة بتهمة الإرهاب في حين تنوعت تهم الباقين.
وقال مصدر امني من شرطة المحافظة في تصريح صحفي اليوم الاربعاء إن قوات نجدة ذي قار القت القبض على مطلوب وفق أحكام المادة 172 الخاصة بالجرائم الماسة بأمن الدولة وثلاثة إرهابيين وفق أحكام المادة 4 من قانون الإرهاب بمدينة الشطرة.
مضيفا أن الشرطة ألقت القبض ايضا على خمسة مطلوبين بتهمة السرقة أو خطف الأشخاص وحجزهم.
ومن جانب اخر اكدت شرطة ذي قار أن مديرية السيطرات الخارجية تمكنت من إلقاء القبض على أربعة من المشتبه بهم لعدم حملهم المستمسكات الرسمية الثبوتية لهم أو لسياراتهم.

تمكنت مفارز شرطة ذي قار من القاء القبض على أكثر من 40 مطلوبا بقضايا جنائية مختلفة في عموم المحافظة خلال اليومين الماضيين.
وذكرت مصادر امنية في المحافظة في تصريح صحفي أن شرطة ذي قار تسعى الى إتمام عمليات إلقاء القبض على عدد كبير من المتهمين الذين صدرت بحقهم أوامر القاء القبض في فترات سابقة.
ومن جانب اخر تمكن مكتب مكافحة المخدرات في المحافظة من إلقاء القبض على اثنين من المتاجرين وضبط 830 قرصا مخدرا في احد الأسواق الشعبية في مركز مدينة الناصرية،مشيرا الى إحالة المتهمين للقضاء لينالوا جزائهم العادل.

“Many Americans who voted for Barack Obama last November continue to believe he will do the right thing in Iraq. The reality is that, unless forced to do so from below, there will be none of the promised "change" in US foreign policy. Those on the receiving end of US policy in the Middle East, Iraq in particular, know this better than most Americans.”

The US occupation of Iraq, which has become the full responsibility of President Barack Obama, is once again a bloodbath. Not that it had ceased to be violent, brutal and chaotic, for not one day has passed since the US invasion of Iraq was launched that hasn’t found several Iraqis being senselessly slaughtered. But rather than talking about three Iraqis being killed today, or two dozen, we are again talking about several dozen, and over 100 wounded, as we are seeing recently. Each of these Iraqis have been killed as a direct result of the US occupation of Iraq – their blood splattered on the hands of President Obama, who, during a visit to Baghdad’s airport on April 7, praised the US military for their "extraordinary achievement" in Iraq.

On April 23, over 73 Iraqis were killed in two separate suicide attacks. One bomber detonated his explosives in central Baghdad as a group of policemen were distributing relief supplies to Iraqis who had been driven from their homes during the US-fomented sectarian bloodshed of 2006 to mid-2007. Police said that at least 50 people were wounded; at least five children and one woman were among the dead.

A second major suicide bombing occurred that day as well, near Muqdadiya, about 50 miles north of Baghdad. The bomber targeted Iranian pilgrims who were in a restaurant, killing at least 45 and wounding over 60. The Shiite pilgrims were visiting Shia religious sites in Iraq.

The bombings reek of al-Qaeda in Iraq – whose operations were brought to a standstill thanks to both the Iraqi resistance and the al-Sahwa (US-created Sunni militia comprised mostly of former resistance fighters, who were largely abandoned by the US military and are now being attacked by the Iraqi government). The Sahwa have been abandoning their security posts in protest at having not been paid by the Iraqi government for their work, as well as in protest of the ongoing targeting of their leaders by the government. Prime Minister Maliki perceives the Sahwa as a political threat to the existence of his government, so has taken it upon himself to undermine their existence at every turn, as he has from the beginning.

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Low water levels in Iraq’s two main rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, are threatening efforts to revive marshlands near the southern city of Nassiriyah, two local officials warned on 9 March.

“Since last year we have been facing a problem in reviving the Nassiriyah marshlands due to lack of rain,” Abdul-Kadhum Malik, the mayor of Chibaiesh town, said. He blamed Turkey and Iran for diverting water from the two rivers and exacerbating the situation.

“A few years ago, the marshlands were green and full of reeds and papyrus but now they are almost dry and if the situation continues like this all life in the marshlands will quickly die out,” Malik told IRIN.

Dozens of Nassiriyah marshland families have had to move out of the area because they cannot find enough water and fodder for their buffalos and cattle, he said, adding that accurate figures on the number of displaced would be available “in a few days”.

“We call upon the Iraqi prime minister, the water resources minister and the UN to send fact-finding missions to Nassiryah marshlands to come up with solutions,” he said.

Osama Witwit, head of the Reviving Marshlands Centre in Nassiriyah, said despite millions of dollars having been spent on reviving the marshlands since 2003, the reduced water levels had taken their toll on livelihoods.

“The marshlands are getting about 42 cubic metres of water a second, down from March 2007 when they were getting about 250 cubic metres a second,” Witwit said.

Nassiriyah is the capital of Dhi Qar Province, about 400km south of Baghdad. The province has over half the country’s marshlands.

After the 1991 Gulf War, Saddam Hussein devastated Iraq’s marshlands by diverting the flow of the Tigris and Euphrates away from the marshes in retaliation for a failed Shia uprising.

The wetlands turned into desert, forcing some 300,000 inhabitants out. Since 2003, efforts to restore the marshes had gradually revived the area, but these efforts are now in jeopardy.

IRIN Middle East | Middle East | Iraq | IRAQ: Marshland livelihoods again under threat | Early Warning Environment Water & Sanitation | News Item

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