|
VII. THE DEAD AND WOUNDED
Like most aspects of this incident, the number of dead and injured is also open to debate. According to the director of al-Falluja's General Hospital, Dr. Ahmad Ghanim al-`Ali, a total of seventeen persons were killed from the school shooting and seventy-five persons were wounded.48 Thirteen persons were killed at the scene, he said, and their corpses were brought to the hospital for collection, where they were counted personally by Dr. al-`Ali. An additional four persons died in the hospital over the following days. Unfortunately, the names of all the victims are not known, hospital officials said, because some family members quickly took the bodies away. Some were buried outside al-Falluja. Human Rights Watch was able to locate the families of ten victims, considered "martyrs" in the town, and interviewed relatives of the deceased and witnesses to their deaths. All of the families and witnesses told Human Rights Watch that the deceased had been an unarmed protester. The ten dead identified by Human Rights Watch are: 1. `Abd al-Qadir `Abd al-Latif al-Jumaili, thirteen-year-old student49
According to Col. Bray, U.S. soldiers "engaged" seven people, five on the ground and two on the roofs. Others might have been wounded or killed from ricochets, he said. Both he and Lt. Col. Nantz suggested that other gunmen might have caused some of the deaths. It is necessary to examine the victims to see "if they were shot front or back, and what caliber bullet," Col. Bray said. The total number of injured was also difficult to obtain, but records from the town's three main hospitals suggest the number was significant. Fifteen wounded were treated at al-Falluja's main hospital, according to the medical log. An additional twelve persons were treated at the Jordanian field hospital. The private hospital run by Dr. Talib Matar al-Janabi treated twenty persons, but the hospital did not keep a record of their names. Most of the patients were transferred to the al-Falluja main hospital after receiving first aid, Dr. al-Janabi said, so some of these patients might have been counted twice.59 Human Rights Watch interviewed seven of the wounded and saw two others in the hospital. 48 Human Rights Watch interviews with Dr. Ahmad Ghanim al-`Ali, director of al-Falluja General Hospital, al-Falluja, May 3 and May 6, 2003. 49 Human Rights Watch interview with victim's uncle and father, Rushdi and `Abd al-Latif al-Jumaili, al-Falluja, May 5, 2003. 50 Human Rights Watch interview with victim's cousin, Riad al-Khatib, al-Falluja, May 4, 2003 and brother, Muthanna al-`Ani, al-Falluja, May 7, 2003. 51 Human Rights Watch interview with victim's brother, As`ad Mirhij al-`Ubaidi, al-Falluja, May 5, 2003. 52 Human Rights Watch interview with victim's cousin, Mu`taz Fahd al-Dulaimi, al-Falluja, May 5, 2003. According to Mu`taz, Samir was shot in the left chest and the back of the neck. 53 Human Rights Watch interview with victim's father, `Imad `Abbud Jasim, al-Falluja, May 4, 2003. 54 Human Rights Watch interview with victim's father, Muhammad `Abdallah `Alwani, al-Falluja, May 4, 2003. 55 Human Rights Watch interview with victim's brother, also a witness, Falah Nawwar Dhahir, al-Falluja, May 4, 2003. 56 Human Rights Watch interview with victim's two brothers, `Adnan and `Aftan Hussein `Ulaij, al-Falluja, May 5, 2003. According to the brothers, `Aifan was shot three times. He died in the operating room after being transferred to a hospital in Baghdad. 57 Human Rights Watch interview with victim's cousin, Fadil al-Tamimi, al-Falluja, May 5, 2003. 58 Human Rights Watch interview with victim's brother, also a witness, Majid Qudr `Abbas Farhan, al-Falluja May 4, 2003. 59 Human Rights Watch interview with Dr. Talib Matar al-Janabi, al-Falluja, May 6, 2003.
|
