emma_goldman
22nd October 2006, 22:27
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/20/...in2111951.shtml (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/20/iraq/main2111951.shtml)
Iraq PM Blocks Civilian Death Toll Release
UNITED NATIONS
Oct. 20, 2006
(AP)
Iraq's prime minister has barred the Health Ministry from
releasing alarming casualty figures that showed violence in
Iraq was killing 100 civilians a day and provided a rare
insight into the worsening sectarian conflict, according to
an internal U.N. memo obtained Friday.
The memo from top U.N. envoy for Iraq Ashraf Qazi to several
senior U.N. officials said Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki's
office had twice instructed the ministry not to release the
numbers to the United Nations and that his office would now
be responsible for releasing any such information.
The U.N. mission in Iraq had published the Health Ministry's
numbers in its bimonthly reports about the human rights
situation in Iraq. The figures were seen as one of the rare
reliable indicators of the civilian suffering in Iraq — and
U.N. officials even suspected they have underreported the
actual number of civilian deaths.
The figures gained widespread international attention in
July, when they showed that some 6,000 Iraqi civilians had
died over the previous two months, or about 100 people a
day, the victims of assassinations, bombings, kidnappings,
and torture. In the next report, released in September, the
civilian death figures painted an even grimmer picture,
showing civilian deaths had risen to an all-time high of
6,599 for July and August.
In the memo, Qazi said Al-Maliki's spokesman had told the
U.N. mission, known by its acronym UNAMI, that the Health
Ministry figures were overstated.
Qazi said, however, that Al-Maliki had earlier confirmed the
figures during an official visit to London. He said the
government decision "may affect" his mission's ability to
report on civilian deaths in the country.
"UNAMI figures were never publicly contested by the
government and may have contributed to an increased
international awareness regarding the severe consequences
that the conflict in Iraq is having on civilians," Qazi
wrote in the memo.
The contents of the document were first reported in Friday's
Washington Post.
Qazi, contacted in Baghdad on Friday, would not comment on
the memo.
Iraq's deputy U.N. Ambassador Feisal Amin al-Istrabadi said
the change was meant to make sure the casualty count was as
accurate as possible. He denied the government was trying to
mask the reality on the ground in Iraq, saying it would be
impossible to do that.
"The security situation in Iraq is what it is, and the
people of Iraq are aware of that," Istrabadi said. "It is
not a situation whereby manipulating numbers, you can fool
people into thinking it's one thing where it's another. It
may rankle some bureaucratic feathers but I don't think it
makes any difference."
The numbers released to the U.N. were based on two sets of
data from the Health Ministry. One figure was collected from
the Medico Legal Institute in Baghdad, which tallied the
number of unidentified civilians killed violently and
brought to the Baghdad morgue.
The other figure, maintained by the Health Ministry itself,
recorded the number of people violently killed brought to
hospitals in the entire country except for the Kurdistan region.
Other casualty figures for Iraq have varied widely. Earlier
this month, researchers from Johns Hopkins University in
Baltimore and the Al Mustansiriya University in Baghdad
released a study saying nearly 655,000 Iraqis have died in
the war that began in 2003. That was far higher than other
estimates, and President Bush has said he did not believe
the numbers.
Qazi's note mentioned those figures and said his office
hoped to comment on them soon.
"It must be noted that increased restrictions on the release
of official data concerning victims takes place at a time of
increasing media attention and the release of scientific
data on the subject," the memo said.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric refused to comment on the
contents of the note because it was private. However, he
said one of the U.N. mission's specific tasks was to report
on the situation in the country.
"The U.N. has enjoyed extensive cooperation with the Iraqi
Ministry of Health and the Medico Legal Institute in Baghdad
and we very much hope that that cooperation will continue,"
Dujarric said.
Iraq PM Blocks Civilian Death Toll Release
UNITED NATIONS
Oct. 20, 2006
(AP)
Iraq's prime minister has barred the Health Ministry from
releasing alarming casualty figures that showed violence in
Iraq was killing 100 civilians a day and provided a rare
insight into the worsening sectarian conflict, according to
an internal U.N. memo obtained Friday.
The memo from top U.N. envoy for Iraq Ashraf Qazi to several
senior U.N. officials said Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki's
office had twice instructed the ministry not to release the
numbers to the United Nations and that his office would now
be responsible for releasing any such information.
The U.N. mission in Iraq had published the Health Ministry's
numbers in its bimonthly reports about the human rights
situation in Iraq. The figures were seen as one of the rare
reliable indicators of the civilian suffering in Iraq — and
U.N. officials even suspected they have underreported the
actual number of civilian deaths.
The figures gained widespread international attention in
July, when they showed that some 6,000 Iraqi civilians had
died over the previous two months, or about 100 people a
day, the victims of assassinations, bombings, kidnappings,
and torture. In the next report, released in September, the
civilian death figures painted an even grimmer picture,
showing civilian deaths had risen to an all-time high of
6,599 for July and August.
In the memo, Qazi said Al-Maliki's spokesman had told the
U.N. mission, known by its acronym UNAMI, that the Health
Ministry figures were overstated.
Qazi said, however, that Al-Maliki had earlier confirmed the
figures during an official visit to London. He said the
government decision "may affect" his mission's ability to
report on civilian deaths in the country.
"UNAMI figures were never publicly contested by the
government and may have contributed to an increased
international awareness regarding the severe consequences
that the conflict in Iraq is having on civilians," Qazi
wrote in the memo.
The contents of the document were first reported in Friday's
Washington Post.
Qazi, contacted in Baghdad on Friday, would not comment on
the memo.
Iraq's deputy U.N. Ambassador Feisal Amin al-Istrabadi said
the change was meant to make sure the casualty count was as
accurate as possible. He denied the government was trying to
mask the reality on the ground in Iraq, saying it would be
impossible to do that.
"The security situation in Iraq is what it is, and the
people of Iraq are aware of that," Istrabadi said. "It is
not a situation whereby manipulating numbers, you can fool
people into thinking it's one thing where it's another. It
may rankle some bureaucratic feathers but I don't think it
makes any difference."
The numbers released to the U.N. were based on two sets of
data from the Health Ministry. One figure was collected from
the Medico Legal Institute in Baghdad, which tallied the
number of unidentified civilians killed violently and
brought to the Baghdad morgue.
The other figure, maintained by the Health Ministry itself,
recorded the number of people violently killed brought to
hospitals in the entire country except for the Kurdistan region.
Other casualty figures for Iraq have varied widely. Earlier
this month, researchers from Johns Hopkins University in
Baltimore and the Al Mustansiriya University in Baghdad
released a study saying nearly 655,000 Iraqis have died in
the war that began in 2003. That was far higher than other
estimates, and President Bush has said he did not believe
the numbers.
Qazi's note mentioned those figures and said his office
hoped to comment on them soon.
"It must be noted that increased restrictions on the release
of official data concerning victims takes place at a time of
increasing media attention and the release of scientific
data on the subject," the memo said.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric refused to comment on the
contents of the note because it was private. However, he
said one of the U.N. mission's specific tasks was to report
on the situation in the country.
"The U.N. has enjoyed extensive cooperation with the Iraqi
Ministry of Health and the Medico Legal Institute in Baghdad
and we very much hope that that cooperation will continue,"
Dujarric said.