Iraq: Shooting of Italian Civilians by U.S. Forces
The killing of an Italian secret service agent and the wounding
of an Italian journalist in Baghdad highlights how civilian casualties by
U.S.
forces, at checkpoints and elsewhere, are disturbingly common in Iraq.
On March 4, U.S. forces at a checkpoint on the road to the Baghdad airport opened fire on a car carrying Il Manifesto journalist Giuliana Sgrena, who had just been released from one month in captivity by an unknown armed group. Nicola Calipari, one of the Italian secret service agents accompanying her, was killed in the incident. “The Italian incident is generating attention, as it should, but Iraqi civilians are also frequently subjected to this type of deadly violence,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. In an October 2003 report on civilian casualties in Iraq, Human Rights Watch documented in detail 18 cases of civilian deaths by U.S. soldiers between May and September 2003. Eleven of the victims were killed at checkpoints. In total, Human Rights Watch collected credible reports of 94 civilian deaths in Baghdad alone during that time, involving questionable legal circumstances that warrant investigation. Iraq is clearly a hostile environment for U.S. troops, with daily attacks by insurgent groups. But that does not absolve the military from its legal obligations to use force in a restrained, discriminate and proportionate manner and only when necessary, Human Rights Watch said. Improper uses of force must be investigated in a prompt and thorough way.
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