Belfast law firm Madden & Finucane is helping the families of Iraqi civilians
shot at a US Army checkpoint to take legal action against the American military.
A three-strong delegation from the firm visited Iraq last week, where they met
with local lawyers and representatives of human rights groups. They compiled a
dossier on the checkpoint shooting and held a press conference with the families
of those killed.
The firm is planning a £9.5 million suit in US civil courts for the wrongful
deaths of four members of one family, shot dead by US soldiers. The Baghdad
killings occurred on 7 August in the city's Salaa district.
According to the families of the deceased, two cars in which the victims were
travelling happened upon a hastily constructed US roadblock manned by the First
Armoured Division. The division was in the process of raiding a suspected nearby
hideout.
The first car, which contained three young men, was riddled with bullets when it
failed to slow down, resulting in the deaths of Saif Raed Azawi, age 21, and a
passer-by, Ali Hekmet, 31.
Seconds later, the second vehicle, carrying members of the al-Kawas family, was
also shot at, resulting in another four deaths.
Adel Abdul Kareem Al Kawas and three of his children - Hadir who was 18, Ola,
16, and Mervit who was only 8 - died as a result of the attack. Adel Abdul,
Kareem's heavily pregnant wife, and another 13 year-old daughter, managed to
survive the incident but received extensive shrapnel injuries.
Madden & Finucane says that concerns have been raised in relation to the
witholding of medical treatment to those injured at the scene who subsequently
died.
The father and his eight-year old daughter were taken from the site in a US
military ambulance sometime after 10pm, but did not arrive at Baghdad's "medical
city" until more than an hour afterwards. Eyewitness reports, which the legal
team has collected, say the man and his daughter could have survived but for the
hour-long delay.
The surviving male occupants of the first car - who are aged 18 and 19 - were
also injured in the attack. They were taken to a US military base where it has
been confirmed by the ICRC that one is still being detained.
However, the whereabouts of the second, 19-year old, Ali Hussein Ali, remain
unknown, and have yet to be confirmed by either the ICRC or the US military.
There has been no suggestion by either the American Army or eyewitnesses that
the soldiers involved were under attack at the time of the shootings.
The Fourth Geneva Convention makes it unlawful for occupying forces to use
excessive force against civilians. Any deliberate killing constitutes a grave
breach under the Convention and is considered a war crime.
Ritchie MacRitchie, one of the firm's solicitors, says discussions are already
underway to pursue the case in America.
"We are currently discussing with legal contacts in America how to pursue a case
for sizeable compensation, but that does not overcome the need for an
independent investigation to bring those responsible to justice," he said.
Solicitors from Madden & Finucane have also been advising lawyers involved in
the commission investigating the shooting by Israeli police of 13 Israeli-Arab
demonstrators in October 2000.