Visiting people deprived of freedom

From April to July 2007, the ICRC visited more than 2,000 people deprived of freedom throughout Iraq. It monitored their treatment and detention conditions and made recommendations to the detaining authorities for corrective action where necessary.

It carried out eight visits to four places of detention or internment under the authority of the Multi-National Forces – Camps Cropper and Remembrance II at Baghdad airport, Camp Bucca and the Detention Internment Facility (DIF) at Basra airport in the south.

However, the ICRC is currently unable to carry out visits to Camp Bucca due to the deterioration of the security situation in the area and the subsequent difficulties in accessing the Camp. The ICRC assesses the situation regularly and hopes to be able to resume visits soon.

Delegates also carried out 18 visits to nine detention centres under the authority of the Kurdish regional government.

Maintaining family links

Through its visits, the ICRC helped people deprived of their freedom to keep in contact with their families through Red Cross Messages (RCMs). From April to July 2007, with the help of the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS), the ICRC collected and distributed almost 27,500 RCMs.

The ICRC also continued to help families to visit their relatives held at Camp Bucca and the the Detention Internment Facility at Basra Air Station. It contributed to the financing of more than 10,000 visits, enabling more than 6,000 detainees to see their loved ones.

Clarifying the fate of the missing

The ICRC continued its efforts to find out what happened to people unaccounted for from the conflicts going back to 1980. From April to July 2007, the ICRC was able to locate or determine the fate of 88 individuals.

Responding to medical emergencies

The ICRC continued its efforts to help Iraqi health facilities cope with medical emergencies following fighting or bomb attacks. From April to July 2007, it:

• delivered supplies for the treatment of more than 2,500 wounded to medical facilities in 12 governorates (Kirkuk, Tamim, Al-Qadisiya, Kerbala, Babel, Nainawa, Baghdad, Diyala, Anbar, Erbil, Thiqar and Saladin);

• provided essential equipment for 24 emergency treatment rooms in 10 governorates (Baghdad, Nainawa, Babel, Tamim, Saladin, Kirkuk, Kerbala, Al-Qadisiya, Anbar and Najaf);

• delivered consumables, such as dressings and suture kits, to hospitals in 13 governorates (Baghdad, Babel, Anbar, Diyala, Missan, Basra, Thiqar, Najaf, Kirkuk, Erbil, Suleimaniya , Nainawa, and Dohuk);

• gave essential equipment for 11 operating theatres in four governorates (Baghdad, Basra, Najaf and Thiqar).

Supporting health services

Between April and July 2007, the ICRC continued rehabilitation and reconstruction works, as well as the renovation of water and sanitation facilities, in over 27 primary health care centres and hospitals around the country (Baghdad, Anbar, Diyala, Nainawa and Basra governorates). It started building a new health centre in Diyala and continued the construction of a PHCC in Nainawa governorate.

Supporting medico-legal facilities

The ICRC pursued its efforts to support the medico-legal infrastructure in Iraq in dealing with human remains, thus seeking to prevent the increase of unidentified and/or unclaimed bodies.

Between April and July 2007, the ICRC completed projects aimed at restoring the capacity of the mortuaries in al-Numan Hospital, al-Kindy Hospital, the medico-legal institute (MLI) mortuaries in Baghdad city and the MLI mortuaries at Ba'quba in Diyala governorate. A similar project was completed at MLI mortuaries in Basrah governorate.

Providing water

The ICRC continued trucking drinking water – over 592,000 litres a day – to ten IDP camps, hospitals and villages in seven governorates (Erbil, Dohuk, Diyala, Suleimaniya, Anbar (Trebil), Najaf and Baghdad). It also provided some 330,000 1-litre water bags to IDP camps and hospitals in five governorates (Baghdad, Anbar, Najaf, Babel and Saladin).

It continued, or completed, the rehabilitation of water supply facilities that serve over 700,000 people, both IDPs and residents, throughout Iraq.

Helping the displaced and host communities

Hundreds of families continue to flee their homes to escape the violence. Most IDPs are sheltered by host communities, while others find refuge in public or abandoned buildings and some in tented camps. IDPs and their host communities are often in need of the most essential items.

The ICRC continued its relief activities in favour of the most vulnerable, including residents and IDPs. It provided aid in the form of food and other essential items to the Iraqi Red Crescent Society, which carries out the bulk of the distributions.

Relief activities between April and July 2007:

• Under its agreement with the Iraqi Red Crescent, the ICRC supplied relief items to IRCS branches for distribution to IDPs and host communities in the areas of Najaf, Kerbala, Kirkuk, Erbil, Mosul , Wasit, Anbar, Saladin, Diwaniyah, Babel, Nassiriyah and Missan. The assistance included family food parcels, hygiene kits, tarpaulins, buckets, jerry cans, cool boxes and kitchen sets.

• Thousands of families throughout Iraq were given food and other essential items (notably in the cities of Haditha, Fallujah and Ramadi and in the governorates of Diyala and Dohuk), sometimes in cooperation with local partners – for instance, with a women's association in Baghdad, the ICRC assisted the Adhamiya community (mainly widows with children or households whose breadwinners were in detention).

• It provided food for staff and patients at al-Numan hospital in Baghdad;

• The ICRC also responded to specific requests, helping IRCS branches (Mosul, Dohuk, Erbil and Baghdad) to respond to influxes of IDPs. It delivered 350 tents to Al-Waleed refugee camp, at the border between Iraq and Syria.

Supporting people's livelihood

The ICRC implements agricultural projects to help vulnerable families increase their income.

Three projects are underway in northern Iraq: in Suleymanieh governorate, the ICRC is restoring essential irrigation channels washed away by floods in November 2006. And in Nainawa governorate, two projects implemented through a local partner are helping 75 households – headed by women – to increase their income through improved vegetable production.

Assisting the physically disabled

The ICRC assists eight limb-fitting centres in various parts of the country (including the IRCS centre in Mosul) and manages the physical rehabilitation centre in Erbil. ICRC input includes training and technical support (for example to the Basra centre).

The centres supported by the ICRC dealt with 4,730 patients and produced over 600 prostheses and 1,320 orthopaedic appliances from April to June 2007.

Working with the IRCS

The ICRC cooperates closely with the Iraqi Red Crescent. Their staff work together in several fields, such as relief distribution and re-establishing family links, notably through the distribution of Red Cross Messages.

The ICRC continues its technical and material support for the IRCS. In May 2007, the ICRC provided computers for IRCS headquarters and branches in order to increase their efficiency.

Raising awareness about humanitarian law and activities

The ICRC meets with parties to the conflict to raise awareness about its mandate and activities and the rules of international humanitarian law. Between April and July 2007, it held four workshops with Iraqi officials to discuss its humanitarian action and the need to protect the civilian population during armed conflict.