"Substantial evidence for lawsuit against US military"

Bert De Belder 

Dr. Claire Geraets and Dr. Geert Van Moorter are using the final days of their attendance in Baghdad to collect facts and testimonies for a lawsuit against US general T. Franks, the commander of the armies that attacked and invaded Iraq, and against anonymous US soldiers who killed or injured civilians. This topic is getting a lot of attention; last night, live on BBC World, Geert was allowed to accuse the US and the UK of violating international humanitarian legislation.

"We've been working hard all day" Geert reports. “We collected 13 testimonies; some taped, some written; some in English, some only in Arabic. Five or six war casualties have signed statements to grant authority to LLM Jan Fermon to take Franks to court in their names under the Belgian 'genocide law'. They are, among others, an injured ambulance driver and an ambulance worker who were fired at in their vehicle by US soldiers, one of the wounded people they were transporting and the medical director of Al-Anour Hospital. We have also recorded the statements of several victims of clusterbombs. Then there is Hiba's testimony:  she is a 12-year-old girl who has been severely wounded at her foot and knee. She got bullets in her leg when soldiers wire firing in the direction of her house from American planes Hiba, a sweet little girl, has more or less become a symbol of our mission. Her birthday is tomorrow but we have already celebrated it. With another children's drawing and some songs, it was nice…"  

“In town we see things getting back to normal more and more, every day. American marines have been replaced by ordinary soldiers and they do not check and harrass us that much.   We also see the local police officers trying to keep order by brandishing their kalashnikovs. There is still looting, but less."  

“Saddam Center for Plastic Surgery was very busy this morning. Many victims came asking for medical care, or for having their bandages changed. Not a very cheerful sight: through the lack of painkillers the nursing was accompanied by a lot of crying and raging. For a few days there had been two female patients in the hospital who had serious burns caused by accidents that had happened at their homes.  One of the two, only 17 and already a mother, died today. The other one, a mother of two children, is a terminal case too.

Back in our hotel an American journalist of CBS showed me images of American army- ‘medics’ who were transporting a woman who was burnt all over, to a burns unit. The reporter had pointed out the gravity of her condition. Had they taken action because there were cameras present? How was the journalist going to present the images? Because there are two approaches  possible. Either 'black' or 'white'.  ‘White’ meaning: ‘the army of the US does its utmost for the civilian casualties'. ‘Black': 'they have caused the casualties themselves, the marines put on a (TV)show of friendliness'. In our hospital the American medics were running around too, but they didn't show any initiatives for our severely burnt patients. Or should we have made an appeal to them? Our aversion for US troops prevented us from even thinking about it… " 

Sorting out the facts 

"We do learn about the functioning of the mass media here. The big American TV-channel CBS wanted me live on the air. But the journalist first had to talk about it to his producer. 'Just let him first do his story' was the latter's reply. I emphasized the lawsuit we intend to start. The journalist subtly remarked that offences of the Geneva Convention were the business of lawyers, not of doctors like me. He then sent my story to a'senior producer' and that was the end of it. The story was no longer wanted...

The same journalist also told me he had been stopped at the airport by US-troops. He wanted to cover the delivery of humanitarian aid. 'If you don't quit, we 'll arrest you', he was told. 'O.K. then you can handcuff me and take me to your superior', the journalist replied. 'If we arrest and handcuff you, we 'll dump you 15 kms from here', the marine retorted... 

The journalist had filmed the entire incident. 'Are you going to broadcast this violation of the right to provide information?', I asked him. 'Er...well, no, maybe, we'll see...' There is the American free press for you...

And today we were twice unlucky with regard to the press. Usually we manage to secure a good meal from the journalists, who are well suplied in food. A few days ago I persuaded one who was recovering from diarrhoea to refrain from eating for a little longer. I shared his delicious meal with Colette. But today we had difficulty to keep body and soul together..."