17 |
Civilian casualties
209.
IBC stated in
the introduction to the dossier that:
“Assurances
that military forces ‘make every effort to avoid civilian
casualties’ are no
substitute
for real data‑gathering and analysis, and can have no basis without
it. On
the eve of
the invasion Tony Blair stated that ‘[Saddam Hussein] will be
responsible
for many,
many more deaths even in one year than we will be in any conflict’.
Only
data such
as presented here will allow a realistic evaluation of such
predictions.”
210.
The US
Government was required under the Emergency
Supplemental
Appropriations
Act 2005 to provide quarterly reports to Congress on political,
economic
and
security progress in Iraq.129
211.
The second
quarterly report, in October 2005, included a graph showing
the
average
daily number of coalition and Iraqi casualties caused by insurgents
since
1 January
2004.130
The report
did not provide the data used to produce that graph.
212.
On the basis
of that graph, The New York
Times estimated that
over 25,000 Iraqi
civilians
and members of the Iraqi Security Forces had been killed and
wounded by
insurgents
since 1 January 2004.131
The New
York Times stated that
that was fewer than
reported by
the Iraqi MOH and IBC.
213.
A Pentagon
spokesperson stated that the figures were compiled from reports
filed
by
coalition military units after they responded to attacks. Those
reports did not provide
a
comprehensive account of Iraqi casualties, but did provide
information on trends in
casualties
resulting from insurgent attacks.
214.
The New York
Times reported that
the graph had been included in the quarterly
report as a
result of specific questions posed by Congressional staff, and
commented
that its
disclosure was significant as it showed that the US military was
tracking Iraqi
casualties,
having “previously avoided virtually all public discussion of the
issue”.
215.
In subsequent
quarterly reports to Congress, the Pentagon updated that graph
and
added a
breakdown of casualties by province.132
216.
In June 2006,
the UK Government signed the Geneva Declaration on
Armed
Violence
and Development.133
Signatories
resolved to take action to reduce armed
violence
and its negative impact on socio‑economic and human development,
including
by
supporting initiatives “to measure the human, social and economic
costs of armed
violence,
to assess risks and vulnerabilities, to evaluate the effectiveness
of armed
violence
reduction programmes, and to disseminate knowledge of best
practices”.
129
Emergency
Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on
Terror, and Tsunami
Relief,
2005.
130
Report to
Congress, October 2005, ‘Measuring Stability and Security in
Iraq’.
131
The New
York Times, 30 October
2005, US quietly
issues estimate of Iraqi civilian casualties.
132
Report to
Congress, May 2006, ‘Measuring Stability and Security in
Iraq’.
133
Geneva
Declaration on Armed Violence and Development, 7 June
2006.
207