CIVIC Releases Devastating Report on U.S. Military Claims System for Civilians

EPIC holds a standing partnership with the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC), which aids small, community-based projects assisting families directly affected by U.S. and coalition actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Specifically, we have teamed with them in promoting the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act (S.594). This act would prohibit the use of U.S.-made cluster bombs in civilian areas, where they cause untold devastation.

Today, CIVIC released a white paper on U.S. military successes and failures regarding Iraqi and Afghan civilians, based on the more than 2,000 pages of documents released to the ACLU in April 2007 under the Freedom of Information Act. CIVIC found the U.S. military system "inconsistent and arbitrary," and points out "major problems with the way the US compensates civilians harmed by its military forces."
CIVIC’s findings include:

1. Ad hoc application of the two programs used for compensating (one for in-combat and one for outside of combat);
2. Low and seemingly arbitrary valuations of life;
3. The exclusion of important documentation backing up civilian cases (such as witness reports)
4. Denial under one program of compensation without referral to the other more appropriate program.

EPIC agrees with and supports these findings, and joins with CIVIC in calling on the US military to "keep as transparent and accurate account of civilian casualties as possible, release all documentation referring to civilian casualties in times of war, fairly valuate lives lost, install a consistent system of claims adjudication for civilians harmed as a result of US actions, and provide better training to military lawyers who deal with civilians in wartime."

Injury and Insult: How the U.S. is Failing Iraqi Civilians

Back in April, we told you about EPIC's partnership with the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC) and the legacy of CIVIC's founder, Marla Ruzicka. Marla was a great champion for innocent civilian victims of U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, advocating proper compensation for their families. Tragically, she was killed by a suicide bomber in 2005, at the age of 29.

Following her death, Congress established the Marla Ruzicka Iraqi War Victims Fund, giving money to small, community-based projects assisting families directly affected by U.S. and coalition actions. Meanwhile, CIVIC continues Marla's work, and we have teamed with them in promoting the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act (S.594). This act would prohibit the use of U.S.-made cluster bombs in civilian areas, where they cause untold devastation.

However, even with these steps forward, an article in today's New York Times entitled "Sometimes in War, You Can Put a Price on Life," by Jon Tracy, proves we still have a long way to go in protecting and compensating civilian victims of U.S. aggression.

Tracy, a military lawyer who spent 14 months working with Iraqis claiming various combat- and non-combat-related injuries, points to the shocking Pentagon failure to adequately compensate Iraqis for deaths and injuries clearly resulting from the wrongdoing of U.S. forces.

In 2005, 24 civilians were massacred in Haditha at the hands of U.S. troops, and their families received only about $1,500 each. Just last year, a teenage girl in Mahmudiya was raped and then murdered along with her family. Their relatives received nothing, despite two U.S. soldiers confessing to the crimes. (read EPIC's statement on this tragedy here.)

In contrast, consider that the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund awarded an average of $1.8 million per family of each victim. Do we really believe Iraqi lives are worth that much less than those of Americans?

What disturbs Tracy more than the meager amounts being offered is the fact that it is in the form of condolence payments rather than official compensation under the Foreign Claims Act. The latter acknowledges wrongdoing, while the former considers the incident an accident of war. "Imagine the feelings of the families...devastated because a foreign soldier has brutalized a loved one, and then the military grossly insults them by offering a token sum with no acknowledgment of the egregious wrongs committed."

Adding insult to injury in this way breeds even more resentment in the Middle East and further damages U.S. credibility abroad. We can and must do more to fulfill the legacy of Marla Ruzicka, and properly compensate and protect innocent Iraqi civilians.

Feingold Sponsors Cluster Munitions Act

I am pleased to report Senator Russ Feingold (WI) is now a co-sponsor of the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act (S.594), joining fellow Senators Dianne Feinstein (CA), Patrick Leahy (VT), Bernie Sanders (VT) and Barbara Mikulski (MD).

EPIC has teamed with the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC) in support of this bill, which would prohibit the use of U.S.-made cluster bombs in civilian areas. The United Nations reported at least 100,000 unexploded cluster bombs in south Lebanon last September, and these deadly weapons litter the landscape in highly populated towns and villages of Iraq as well. Too frequently, the victims of these bombs are innocent children such as Saleh Khalaf.

We applaud Sen. Feingold for stepping up as a peacebuilder in the Senate, and encourage you to take action as well. Learn more about cluster bombs and ask your Senators to co-sponsor the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act (S.594) limiting the use, sale and transfer of these weapons to protect civilian lives.

2 Years After Her Death, Marla Ruzicka Remains an Inspiration

I mentioned in a post last Thursday that today is the anniversary of Marla Ruzicka's death. Marla dedicated her life to ensuring compensation for the families of innocent victims of U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than once, she risked everything to gain a firsthand perspective on the impact of U.S. military operations abroad, traveling to the frontlines of active combat. But for Marla, the information she would bring back and the legislation it inspired were worth the risk. These risks that she so bravely faced eventually took her life, as she and her colleague Faiz Ali Salim were killed by a suicide bomber in 2005. Marla was 29 years old.

Though her life was cut tragically short, her legacy lives on through the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC), an organization founded by Marla herself. According to CIVIC Associate Marla Bertagnolli, "CIVIC started in 2001 when Marla Ruzicka traveled to Afghanistan and realized that the families of innocent victims of U.S. and coalition actions were not being helped financially by the U.S. She collected information and began working with Senator Leahy to get the funding to provide these victims with compensation. In 2003, she went to Iraq and brought back information to Leahy. Following her death in Iraq on April 16, 2005, Congress established the Marla Ruzicka Iraqi War Victims Fund. This fund gives money to small, community-based projects that help families who have been directly affected by U.S. and coalition actions."

CIVIC continues actively working toward smart and compassionate policies for war victims. "CIVIC is pushing for the military to create an effective compensation system that provides a larger condolence payment than the current $2,500 compensation," says Bertagnolli. "CIVIC is currently working with Senator Leahy on legislation to standardize payments to families harmed or caught in the cross-fire of U.S. military operations. A standardized system would ensure that the families of victims receive payments immediately after the death of their family member."

To honor Marla’s legacy, EPIC has partnered with CIVIC to build public support for the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act (S.594). Introduced by Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA), S.594 seeks to limit one of the world's most indiscriminate and deadly weapons: cluster bombs. In addition to Sen. Feinstein, the bill has found support among the following 6 co-sponsors: Senators Patrick Leahy (VT), Bernie Sanders (VT), Edward Kennedy (MA), Sherrod Brown (OH), Maria Cantwell (WA), and Barbara Mikulski (MD). If your Senators are not among these cosponsors, please take action today to ask them to cosponsor the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act.