By Peggy Gish
Christian Peacemaker Teams

“Our organization, the Iraqi Human Rights Watch in Kerbala (IHRW) has been documenting human rights violations of the former regime. We were the first organization to find mass graves after the war,” said Jamal,* when he introduced himself and the IHRW to a representative of the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Army director of Civil Affairs at the base. Jamal and two other human rights workers from IHRW were meeting along with four CPTers at U.S. military base outside of Kerbala, on February 1, 2005. “We also have been documenting violations caused by the U.S. during and after the war, violations to personal properties, directly to people, and to their land and farms. We have been helping Iraqis to apply for compensation for these violations, and I am sorry to say, the response has been minimal, like a drop in the bucket.”

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CPTers then questioned the US Military and State Department representatives about the current process for making claims. The men explained how with the recent change of troops and staff at the base, offices and procedures here are not currently in place for that. One would need to go to the CMOC (Civil Military Operations Center) in Najaf.

After discussing how the elections went in Kerbala, the conversation took an unexpected turn. The State Department representative began to ask the Iraqi human rights workers whether they have filed claims for compensation with Muktada Al Sadr’s Mehdi Army for the damages they caused to persons and property in Najaf during the fighting between them and U.S. forces last August. The question had a logical argument that we had not previously considered.

The Iraqi human rights workers were quick to respond. “The Mehdi Army were the local people, had smaller weapons, and did little damage to the homes of the people around the Shrine in Najaf. The US military were the invading forces, had planes, bigger weaponry and machines, and demolished a lot of homes and infrastructure in the process,” said Amar. * The State Dept. worker challenged that, saying “But what about the deaths the Mehdi Army caused?” The Iraqi men again stated their belief that the violence on both sides were not equal and that the U.S. forces were more responsible for beginning and continuing the battle that caused the damage.

This led the State Dept. representative to push them. “So you support the Mehdi Army?” Once more the men from IHRW were clear that, though they see a big difference between the roles and the responsibilities of the U.S. Military and the Mehdi Army, they didn’t support the levels of violence of either side in this conflict. They hope to respond to injustice and the violence in their society nonviolently.

There was open disagreement on many matters during this meeting, but also expressions of respect as the IHRW members and the U.S. officials shook hands and agreed to meet again to continue the dialogue.

*Not their real names.

Christian Peacemaker Teams is an ecumenical violence-reduction program with roots in the historic peace churches. Teams of trained peace workers live in areas of lethal conflict around the world. CPT has been present in Iraq since October, 2002. To learn more about CPT, please visit http://www.cpt.org. Photos of CPT projects may be viewed at www.cpt.org/gallery