On 10-year Anniversary, U.S. and Iraqi Groups Take Their Case to the OAS Demanding Accountability and Reparations from the U.S. for Human Rights and Health Crises Resulting from the War

March 19, 2013, Washington, D.C. – Today, on the 10-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, a group of U.S. veterans of the Iraq war and two Iraqi organizations launched the “Right to Heal” campaign, seeking concrete action by the U.S. government to address the human rights and health impacts of the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq.

The U.S.-based Iraq Veterans Against the War, the Iraq-based Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq and Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq, represented by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, joined together with a filing to the Organization of American States’ Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), an action outside of the White House with testimonials by veterans and Iraqis, and the launch of a new website, to press their case for justice and reparations for the human rights impacts on all sides of the war.

“The war is not over for veterans and their families who are dealing with its aftermath as a result of the loss of loved ones, or in the form of PTSD, traumatic brain injuries and other war wounds both visible and invisible; and it’s certainly far from over for communities in Iraq still reeling from the devastating and awful effects of this illegal war,” said Maggie Martin, Organizing Director of Iraq Veterans Against the War. “We’re joining with those in Iraq whose lives have also been changed forever to envision a new way forward that reaffirms our shared human dignity and reprioritizes the value of human life and well-being.”

The IACHR petition details the harm and trauma suffered by both U.S. veterans and Iraqis. It is the first of its kind to address the war, the harm to those sent to fight the war and the harm to those against whom the war was waged in human rights terms, The petition provides first-person testimonies and an overview of studies on the long-lasting health and environmental effects resulting from the U.S.’s use of certain munitions, the post-traumatic stress experienced by Iraqis and veterans alike, the effects of war crimes on Iraqis, gender-based violence experienced on all sides of the war, and the “moral injury” suffered by those sent to fight the war. The groups also provide a set of recommendations to the U.S. government to create a path towards reconciliation and reparations.

Yanar Mohammed, president and co-founder of the Organization for Women’s Freedom in Iraq, highlighted the harmful and lasting effects of the U.S. war and occupation on women and children in Iraq. “The U.S. administration tried to justify waging war on Iraq by claiming it would bring democracy to our country. Instead, they brought about a deepened and violent sectarian divide, more torture centers and arbitrary detentions, and turned the clock back in violent and disastrous ways on women’s human rights. A generation of children has been condemned to suffering with severe birth defects and sky-rocketing cancer rates. The U.S. has to be held to account for this.”

The groups announced that they will be seeking to bring these issues to light in additional international forums, including the United Nations, as well as continuing to push for action in Congress. The petition filed today addresses the impact of the war in terms of casualties, mounting evidence demonstrating a broader torture program, war crimes and crackdowns on whistleblowers, as well as a collective trauma of the war shared by Iraqi communities and U.S. service members.

According to Falah Alwan of the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq, “The withdrawal didn’t solve the problems that our society faces. It didn’t end the crisis that the US created. We will need many long years to forget the painful memories and suffering of being victims of occupation. We will need decades to restore what the occupation has destroyed and decades to save our future generations. The US invasion has left behind an environment polluted by radiation and soil poisoned with chemicals. Our children and our elders are dying from diseases caused by the weapons and destruction. They cry out for treatment, but there is no cure for their suffering. Many hope for death just to end their pain.”

Said President of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) Jules Lobel, “We can’t let those in power move on as though the U.S. bears no responsibility for the devastating and long-lasting impacts on all sides of this war. Beginning with the fabricated pretext for going to war and the increasing use of torture in Iraq, the violent destruction wreaked on Iraqis and Iraq’s infrastructure, and the the inhumane redeployment policies that treated U.S. service members like cannon fodder, the U.S. government must repair the damage it caused. Those whose lives have been turned upside down have a right to heal.” Mr. Lobel represented members of Congress in their effort to prevent the first Gulf War in 1990.

To learn more about the campaign and the groups involved, please visit www.righttoheal.org

Click here to read the petition to the Inter-American Commission, “Demanding the Right to Heal: Acknowledgment and Accountability for the Human Rights Impacts of the U.S.-led Decade of War.”

Organizations Involved

Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI) is a national unionist organization for the defense of rights of workers in Iraq, established since 2003, and has representatives in all main cities. FWCUI is known for its continuous positions against the newly introduced neo-liberal economic policies, and the new labor code which the FWCUI describes as “protecting the rights of employers while disempowering workers.”

Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) was founded by Iraq war veterans in July 2004 at the annual convention of Veterans for Peace (VFP) in Boston to give a voice to the large number of active duty service people and veterans who are against this war, but are under various pressures to remain silent. From its inception, IVAW has called for: (1) Immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces in Iraq; (2) Reparations for the human and structural damages Iraq has suffered, and stopping the corporate pillaging of Iraq so that their people can control their own lives and future; and (3) Full benefits, adequate healthcare (including mental health), and other supports for returning servicemen and women.

Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI). The Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), founded in 2003, is a truly pioneering national women’s organization dedicated to rebuilding Iraq on the basis of secular democracy and human rights for all. OWFI has developed innovative anti-violence and political empowerment strategies for women across Iraq. OWFI advocates on behalf of women who are most marginalized, including those who are incarcerated, widowed, displaced or battered.

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.

Supporting organizations include Civilian Soldier Alliance, War Resisters League, MADRE, and the Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic.

The U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, begun on October 7, 2001, is now the longest running officially declared war in U.S. history. Followed by the invasion of Iraq less than two years later on March 19, 2003, based on false claims about Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction, the combined so-called “War on Terror” has, by conservative estimates, resulted in deaths due to direct war violence of at least 330,000 people – including civilians, humanitarian workers, journalists and combatants of different nationalities. The number of indirect deaths due to after-effects of fighting, unexploded munitions, malnutrition, damaged health infrastructure and environmental degradation resulting from these conflicts is likely four times the number of direct deaths – or more than one million. Moreover, these figures do not include the toll the U.S.’s global “war on terror” has taken on people and communities in other countries where the U.S. war-making has spilled over, as in Yemen, nor the countries where the U.S. operated or made use of black sites and torture programs. The violent consequences of these wars have resulted in additional hundreds of thousands of casualties – physical, mental and emotional injuries to individuals and communities that in some cases cannot be healed and in others will take decades, indeed generations, to overcome, even with due and adequate reparations, which have not been made. For the millions of civilians impacted by these wars, who have lost loved ones, been displaced, harmed and terrorized by the direct and indirect effects of the war-marking policies and practices of the U.S. and its few allies, the so-called war on terror has been instead a global war of terror.

On the ten-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, U.S. veterans of the war and civil society in Iraq unite in their struggle to heal and demand that the U.S. government take responsibility for the enduring harms inflicted by these misguided and illegal wars. Iraq Veterans Against the War, the Organization for Women’s Freedom in Iraq, and the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq jointly submit this request to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for a thematic hearing to identify and acknowledge the devastating and long-lasting health effects suffered by Iraqis and U.S. servicemembers and the constellation, magnitude and scope of the grave human rights violations perpetuated by the U.S.’s conduct of the war and its responsibility for these harms. This report focuses in large part on harms that Iraqis and U.S. servicemembers share – physical and psychological trauma, serious health effects of exposure to highly toxic and carcinogenic materials and effects of sexual and gender-based violence by, and within, the military.

Read the Executive Summary of the report at this link.

The U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, begun on October 7, 2001, is now the longest running officially declared war in U.S. history. Followed by the invasion of Iraq less than two years later on March 19, 2003, based on false claims about Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction, the combined so-called “War on Terror” has, by conservative estimates, resulted in the deaths due to direct war violence of at least 330,000 people – including civilians, humanitarian workers, journalists and combatants of different nationalities. The number of indirect deaths due to after-effects of fighting, unexploded munitions, malnutrition, damaged health infrastructure and environmental degradation resulting from these conflicts is likely four times the number of direct deaths – or more than one million. And these figures do not include the toll the U.S.’s global “war on terror” has taken on people and communities in other countries where the U.S. war-making has spilled over as in Yemen, nor the countries where the U.S. operated or made use of black sites and torture programs. The violent consequences of these wars have resulted in additional hundreds of thousands of casualties—physical, mental and emotional injuries to individuals and communities that in some cases cannot be healed and in others will take decades, indeed generations, to overcome, even with due and adequate reparations, which have not been made. For the millions of civilians impacted by these wars, who have lost loved ones, been displaced, harmed and terrorized by the direct and indirect effects of the war-marking policies and practices of the U.S. and its few allies, the so-called war on terror has been instead a global war of terror.

On the ten-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, U.S. veterans of the war and civil society in Iraq unite in their struggle to heal and demand that the U.S. government take responsibility for the enduring harms inflicted by this misguided and illegal war. Iraq Veterans Against the War, the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, and the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq jointly submit this request to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the Commission) for a thematic hearing to identify and acknowledge the devastating and long-lasting health effects suffered by Iraqis and servicemembers and the constellation, magnitude and scope of the grave human rights violations perpetuated by the U.S.’s conduct of this unlawful and unjust war and its responsibility for these harms.

Transcript

NERMEEN SHAIKH: On this 10th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, we turn now to look at how U.S. military veterans and Iraqi civilians are joining together to focus on the “Right to Heal.” That’s the title of their new campaign, which was launched Tuesday in front of the White House. This is Iraq Veterans Against the War member Joyce Wagner.

JOYCE WAGNER: In the U.S. military, it is estimated that one in three women will be raped during their time in service. I am one of three. Many servicewomen who report rape to their commands face disbelief, retaliation and various forms of humiliation that some have described as being as bad, if not worse, than the initial assault.

Although most occupying troops have exited Iraq, the occupation has resulted in lasting struggles for Iraqi women. While I am unable to escape my own nightmares, I am able to live in relative physical comfort, unlikely to experience many of the things that are inescapable to those still living in Iraq. And while the Department of Defense and the VA have done an insufficient job at compensating and caring for U.S. servicemembers victimized by their fellow servicemembers in acts of sexual violence, they have done absolutely nothing to make reparation to victims of sexual violence in Iraq. How can I ask for justice for myself without first demanding justice for the many women in Iraq who were raped and otherwise abused in an occupation in which I participated?

Today, as a part of the Right to Heal campaign, we demand acknowledgment, accountability and reparation, and we will keep demanding these things until women on all sides of this conflict have had their justice and the world at large understands that sexual violence in the military and by the military is not an occupational hazard, it’s a violation of human rights.

AMY GOODMAN: That was Iraq War veteran, against the war, Joyce Wagner, speaking in front of the White House Tuesday. The group has just launched the Right to Heal campaign for Iraqi civilians and U.S. veterans who continue to struggle with the war’s aftermath.

For more, we’re joined by two women helping to lead this effort. Yanar Mohammed is president of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, and Maggie Martin is director of organizing with Iraq Veterans Against the War. She deployed to Kuwait before the war and twice to Iraq in 2003 and ’05, left the military with an honorable discharge in 2006.

We welcome you both to Democracy Now! I want to start by asking where you each were on that day when the U.S. invaded—March 19th in the United States, March 20th in Iraq. Maggie, where were you?

MAGGIE MARTIN: I was in Kuwait waiting to cross the border into Iraq.

AMY GOODMAN: And Yanar?

YANAR MOHAMMED: I had left Iraq after the first Gulf War and saw the attack on CNN and decided to go back, because the wars on Iraq will never end by the U.S.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: And how much time have you spent in Iraq since then? You live between Baghdad and Toronto, is that right?

YANAR MOHAMMED: Since 2003, I’m continuously in Iraq, but because many of us Iraqis have our families abroad, I go back and forth all the time.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: And what do you see has happened in Iraq in these last 10 years?

YANAR MOHAMMED: It’s just getting worse. We are again in a police state. We have armies, police and all kinds of intelligence institutions around us. We have SWAT. We have anti-riot. It’s all kinds of security institutions around us.

And on top of that, I see the women in my country getting much weaker. I see an epidemic rise in certain kinds of birth defects. And when we try to organize women—we sent women from my organization to a town in Haweeja. We were surprised to see hundreds of children that had birth disabilities. We see things in Iraq that we’ve never seen in our lives.

I also see young women, orphans of war, female orphans of war, that are being trafficked. And the state absolutely has no obligation towards them. The young women who are being trafficked come to our organization and to our shelters. They don’t even have the right to citizenship in Iraq. We are speaking here about tens of thousands of orphans of war who are absolutely not being taken care of. Neither the Iraqi government nor the U.S. experts in Iraq do anything about it.

AMY GOODMAN: Maggie, talk about the Right to Heal campaign.

MAGGIE MARTIN: It’s really U.S. soldiers coming together with people from Iraq, civil society from Iraq, to say the struggle is connected. It’s really a natural relationship for us to join together because we’re dealing with the aftermath of the same invasion and long occupation. And I think that it’s only right for U.S. servicemembers to acknowledge the people of Iraq and Afghanistan as we’re demanding our right to heal.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, how did your perception of the war change from the time that you first deployed to when you became involved in this campaign?

MAGGIE MARTIN: It really shifted dramatically just based on my interactions with the people in Iraq. Going there initially, I guess I believed the hype in the draw-up to the war and felt like we were doing something that was necessary for the safety of our country. And then, hearing the story shift from weapons of mass destruction to liberation of the Iraqi people, that wasn’t what I was seeing there. That’s not what I was experiencing. And it really made me question the war.

AMY GOODMAN: Were other soldiers questioning the war?

MAGGIE MARTIN: Absolutely. And I think soldiers just don’t necessarily feel like they have an outlet for that frustration, so spend a lot of time talking to each other about the situation, wondering why are we here, why are we making these sacrifices. The people in Iraq don’t want us here. But I don’t think they necessarily feel empowered to speak out publicly.

AMY GOODMAN: Maggie, we just saw one of the other women in Iraq Veterans Against the War speaking about rape and sexual abuse. Can you talk more about that personally?

MAGGIE MARTIN: Yeah, I mean, I experienced sexual assault from my now ex-husband about two days after coming home from my last deployment to Iraq. And I didn’t report it. I didn’t do anything about it, because I didn’t have any community outside of the military. And my community in the military, the people I worked for and I worked with, I didn’t trust them. I didn’t—I didn’t believe that I could get help. And I had also heard stories and rumors about other women who were raped, and the talk was always that it was their fault, that they were somehow in the wrong. And I just didn’t feel like I fit into that category, so I was really in denial about the sexual assault.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Can you talk a little bit more about some of the issues that women, in particular, face, both serving in the military and then as veterans?

MAGGIE MARTIN: Yeah, I mean, I think the—not being seen as veterans. For instance, last night I went to a different show with one of my male counterparts, Alex, and we were both talking about the work that we do. And the man in the green room asked Alex, “Oh, are you actually a veteran?” But he didn’t ask me. And I said, “Oh, well, just so you know, I am, too.” And so, I think not acknowledging that, I think that not acknowledging the PTSD that comes from military sexual trauma, and then everyday, you know, sexism and misogyny in the military is very strong.

AMY GOODMAN: Yanar Mohammed, what does Right to Heal mean to you as an Iraqi woman, as you work together with U.S. soldiers like Maggie?

YANAR MOHAMMED: When Maggie is sent to Iraq or Kuwait and told to kill Iraqi people, or the original mission is about that, and we are there to receive the killings, we understand that the orders came from somewhere and that she is as much as a victim as us Iraqis. And as—in the same situation, in the same token that we were put together and set as enemies against each other, we decide now that both of us are victims, and we’re going to both put hand in hand and try to heal from the sufferings that we had in the last decades. It’s not only just one decade. But the Iraqi people, our lives, our futures have been devastated, and there is no compensation nor reparation in the Iraqi government or in the U.S. government. So our alternative now is to work together.

We came back to—they brought me back to the U.S., and we’re trying to work together as to holding the U.S. government responsible, accountable for what they did in Iraq and what they did to the Iraq Veterans Against War—I mean, the veterans when they were in Iraq, and also to pay reparations to Iraq, just like they forced the Iraqi government to pay reparations to Kuwait. There, the U.S. government needs to be held accountable for the thousands of children who have come to life with no organs, with no limbs that are working, with a brain that is underdeveloped. The mothers—I met a mother in the town of Haweeja who has four disabled children. Who’s going to be responsible for her for the rest of her life?

NERMEEN SHAIKH: But as you mentioned, Yanar, your organization, the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, has been documenting the toxic legacy of the U.S. military’s presence in your country. I want to play a comment from a young mother in Haweeja named Sawsan. She describes how she spends much of her time caring for her young child, Mohammed, who is unable to use his limbs.

YANAR MOHAMMED: [translated] How old are you, Sawsan?

SAWSAN: [translated] My age is maybe 25, because I was born in ’83.

UNIDENTIFIED: [translated] Now you became 29, because I was born in ’83.

SAWSAN: [translated] Oh, yes.

YANAR MOHAMMED: [translated] And your son, what is his name, and what does he have?

SAWSAN: [translated] Mohammed Mihad. He has a brain problem. His four limbs, they all have the same problem. I’m always carrying him. My back is tired.

YANAR MOHAMMED: [translated] Who treats you?

SAWSAN: [translated] I’ve let myself go.

YANAR MOHAMMED: [translated] Who takes care of you?

SAWSAN: [translated] Nobody takes care of me. He is four years old now, and I’m not becoming pregnant so that I can take care of him.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Yanar Mohammed, can you talk a little bit about the situation in Haweeja? Locate it for us in the country, and tell us how common this experience is elsewhere in the country, as well.

YANAR MOHAMMED: The town of Haweeja is right next to a U.S. military base, what used to be a U.S. military base. And these people live only a few miles away from the field where there was daily ammunition training. And now we understand there’s something called DU. And it was released in the air, and the mothers were breathing it. In a town that has a population of 100,000, 109,000, we found 600 children who have the same birth defect. And some of the families who come from, let’s say, religious backgrounds have decided that they cannot have children anymore. They’re abstaining from getting children because they are living a big crisis, and they have no solution for it.

And the Iraqi government does not pay any social insurance for handicapped or disabled baby, because our law, which was written in Saddam’s time, says a child has to be over 12 years old to be paid any social insurance. And all these children are less than 10 years old. They were born in the times when there was ammunition training in that U.S. military base. So the mothers, hundreds of mothers in Haweeja, absolutely have nobody to refer to, nobody to be responsible of them. And the children, some of them not only have lost their limbs and their brain, but they also lost their parents in the battles between the U.S. and the local people. So, a kid who was called Ahmed, and he is in one of the pictures in the Right to Heal campaign—you can see it on the website. You will see that he had not only lost his limbs and his arms, he has nobody to take care of him. Both parents were killed. This is the legacy of the U.S. occupation on Iraq.

AMY GOODMAN: As we wrap up, Maggie and Yanar, are you both planning to go to Iraq together? And what—for people who listen and watch this right now, what do you want them to do?

MAGGIE MARTIN: Well, I hope that eventually I and other folks will be able to go to Iraq and work closely with our partners. I think that we’re looking for public support to raise this issue and demand accountability to the U.S. government. People can visit our website. It’s righttoheal.org. Veterans should visit ivaw.org, Iraq Veterans Against the War.

AMY GOODMAN: And Yanar?

YANAR MOHAMMED: I feel that people need to support Iraqi people’s right to reparation. The thousands of families who have the birth defects in their children and the women who have been trafficked with no right to citizenship now, all of that needs to be addressed. And I also need—as an organization, we did this fact-finding mission, and now the Iraqi government has set us some conditions to be registered for our legality. They tell us, “You cannot shelter women. You cannot have political work.” So this is the kind of democracy we have in Iraq.

AMY GOODMAN: Yanar Mohammed and Maggie Martin, I want to thank you both so much for being with us. Yanar is with the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, Maggie Martin with Iraq Veterans Against the War. Together they’re part of the Right to Heal campaign.

And that does it for this segment. Nermeen, I want to wish you good luck as you head off today to Hungary.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Thank you so much. Yes, that’s right. I’ll be going to Hungary to give a TED Talk in Budapest a day after tomorrow.

AMY GOODMAN: And your subject?

NERMEEN SHAIKH: I’m talking about some of the assumptions that we have about our political system and why perhaps now is the time to question them.

AMY GOODMAN: We are going to link to your speech as soon as they post it online. Have a very good talk in Budapest, Hungary.

This post originally appeared on Democracy Now!  at http://www.democracynow.org/2013/3/20/right_to_heal_iraqi_civilians_join.

On the 10-year anniversary of America’s invasion of Iraq, Current TV’s John Fugelsang is joined from Washington by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., who holds the distinction of being the only member of Congress to vote against both the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force resolution following the Sept. 11 attacks as well as the 2002 Iraq War Resolution.

Fugelsang then talks with a panel composed of Eric Boehlert, senior fellow at Media Matters for America; Yanar Mohammed, the president of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq; and Maggie Martin, director of organizing for Iraq Veterans Against the War. Boehlert argues the media helped sell the Iraq War to the American people. “President Bush could not have sold this war without the mainstream media,” he says.

The panel reflects on how the lives of Americans — and Iraqis — have been impacted by the Iraq War, and Mohammed says, “You cannot bring anything good by bombing and by killing. It’s an arsenal of killing that was sent to the other side of the world.”

This post originally appeared on Current TV at http://current.com/shows/viewpoint/videos/a-decade-later-what-has-the-real-impact-of-the-iraq-war-been/.

The right of victims of armed conflict to receive reparation is well established under international law. A basic concept of our domestic and international justice systems is that victims of harm have a right to a remedy. Reparations are a critical avenue of providing remedies to victims of gross violations of international human rights law or humanitarian law. Armed conflict can bring devastation to people’s physical, mental, and emotional states as well as to their economic security and social status.

Adding to the understanding of reparations and how the issue should be approached, the Nairobi Declaration on Women’s and Girls’ Right to a Remedy and Reparation calls for the recognition of how armed conflict impacts genders differently and for the involvement of those most affected in determining the nature and scope of the remedy. It also considers the obstacles that often exist to the full participation of women and girls in remedy processes and sets forth principles that provide for the involvement of victims generally but, specifically, for the involvement of women and girls in every stage of the reparation process: design, implementation, evaluation, and decision-making.

What Can Reparations Look Like?

Reparations can come in the form of a wide range of programs, processes and actions that seek restitution, rehabilitation, compensation, and/or satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition.

Concretely, reparations can look like: medical and psychological care, legal and social services, monetary compensation, public acknowledgment of the facts and acceptance of responsibility, prosecution of the perpetrators, search for the disappeared and identification of remains, and activities aimed at remembrance,  commemoration, and education and at preventing the recurrence of similar crimes. One example of reparations from the United States is the United States’ official apology for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and monetary compensation to Americans of Japanese descent.  This was the result of a successful campaign for reparations led by Japanese Americans throughout the 1980s that culminated with the signing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.

Again, those most directly impacted by the violations must play an integral role in the decision-making regarding the form, implementation and evaluation of reparations.

Reparations should be proportional to the gravity of the harm suffered. And in the cases of sexual violence and other gender-based crimes, governments should take into account the multi-dimensional and long-term consequences of these crimes when implementing remedies programs.

Recent Advances in International Law

Last year, the International Criminal Court issued its first decision concerning reparations in the case of Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubango Dyilo. The court affirmed the importance of victims, their families and communities participating in the reparations process. The Court further promoted a gender- and ethnic-inclusive approach to reparations and mandated that the Trust Fund for Victims work with victims to ensure that the reparations were consistent with the principles the Court set out.

More resources:

Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4721cb942.html

Nairobi Declaration on Women’s and Girls’ Right to a Remedy and Reparation available at: http://www.fidh.org/IMG//pdf/NAIROBI_DECLARATIONeng.pdf

Redress, What is reparation? available at: http://www.redress.org/what-is-reparation/what-is-reparation

You can learn more about the Right to Heal initiative and the request for a hearing at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in the Right to Heal factsheet, which available in English and Arabic at this link.

American forces took Baghdad on April 9, 2003, but the US entanglement was just beginning. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have lost their lives in that war.

And it is estimated that over 4,400 US military personnel have been killed, nearly 32,000 have been injured.

It is also estimated the war has cost US tax payers at least $1.7tn over the past decade.

But for all the media coverage of the Iraq war’s 10th anniversary, little time has been dedicated to the enormous costs, many of them spent on no-bid contracts to defence firms with close ties to the Bush administration.

Defence contractors received $138bn, with just 10 firms receiving 52 percent of the money. And the firm that raked in the most cash, Halliburton spin-off KBR, has close ties to Dick Cheney, the former US vice president.

Meanwhile the US government has yet to pay out $490bn in benefits owed to veterans and their families.

Iraqi human rights groups and US veterans have filed a joint case against the US government in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights demanding accountability and reparations for both wounded veterans and Iraqis.

The 10th anniversary of the Iraq war was greeted with little fanfare in Washington.

But the same media outlets who finessed the Bush administration’s case for war have been covering the anniversary. Often using the same analysts and journalists who failed to question the official narrative ten years ago.

So, ten years on from the invasion of Iraq, are the right questions finally being asked? And have US politicians, pundits and journalists learnt from their mistakes?

Inside Story Americas, with presenter Shihab Rattansi, discusses with guests: Jeremy Scahill, the national security correspondent for The Nation; Peter Hart, the activism director for Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting; and Rajiv Chandrasekaran, the senior correspondent for The Washington Post and a former Baghdad bureau chief for the newspaper.

This post originally appeared on Al Jazeera English at http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestoryamericas/2013/03/20133219858494504.html.

A decade after the U.S. invaded Iraq, U.S. veterans, Iraqi human rights organizations and their allies launched a joint initiative, Right to Heal. Together, they are demanding that the human rights impacts of the war in Iraq be assessed and that concrete action be taken towards rehabilitation and reparations for those impacted by the lasting effects of the war.

Thanks to Brother Ali for usage of ”Singing This Song” and to Line Break Media for producing the video.

Originally published on DemocracyNow, Wednesday, March 20, 2013:

On the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, we look at how U.S. military veterans and Iraqi civilians have come together to launch “The Right to Heal” campaign for those who continue to struggle with the war’s aftermath. We’re joined by U.S. Army Sergeant Maggie Martin, who was part of the invading force in March 2003 and is now director of organizing for Iraq Veterans Against the War. We are also joined by Yanar Mohammed, president of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, who describes how the condition of women has deteriorated in Iraq, with many young women and orphans pushed into sex trafficking. Mohammed’s organization has also documented the toxic legacy of the U.S. military’s munitions in Iraq by interviewing Iraqi mothers who face an epidemic of birth defects.

Ten years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, veteran Maggie Martin, field organiser for Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Yanar Mohammed, co-founder of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, are fighting for a common cause.

Ten years after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, and despite numerous studies, the human cost of the war remains difficult to measure. Besides the casualties – both civilian and military – tens of thousands of people have been permanently disabled and emotionally scarred, while millions of Iraqis have been forced into exile. As many as 80,000 Iraqi refugees fled to the US in the wake of the war.

“My Beloved Enemy” is a web documentary series that focuses on real people, both Iraqi and American, whose lives have been forever changed by the war.

In this episode, the first in a five-part series, veteran Maggie Martin of Iraq Veterans Against the War explains her eventual disillusionment with the war effort, while Iraqi activist Yanar Mohammed of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq recounts her effort to inform Iraqis during the insurgency that many Americans opposed the invasion.

This post originally appeared on France 24 at http://www.france24.com/en/20130325-my-beloved-enemy-usa-vet-iraqi-activist-war-hussein-webdoc.