Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict
Encyclopedia
Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC) is a Washington, D.C.
-based non-profit organization
and advocacy founded in 2003 by Marla Ruzicka
. CIVIC works on behalf of war victims, providing research and advocating policymakers. CIVIC is a part of the Making Amends Campaign.
in 2003. Marla, with the help of Senator Patrick Leahy, created the first-ever US-funded aid program dedicated to helping rebuild the lives of civilians unintentionally harmed by US combat operations. CIVIC works closely with the military and organizations such as NATO. Although Marla was killed by a suicide bomb
in Baghdad
in April 2005, her colleagues, friends and family continue to run CIVIC. A staff was hired in early 2006 and the organization expanded its mandate in early 2007 beyond Iraq and Afghanistan. CIVIC achievements include persuading the US Congress to develop programs that aid victims caught in the middle of widespread conflict.
deaths in 2008. Civic report concludes that civilian harm is compounded by widespread poverty
and that while the Pakistani government does make amends most do not receive any due to deficiencies in compensation mechanisms and no effort from the US. Another survey released by an individual associated with CIVIC counted two thousand killed and four thousand injured. CIVICs reports suggest that the number of civilians killed and injured in war conflicts exceeds the number that the United States
admits to.
and Afghanistan
and are working with NATO to develop compensation funds. They also try to focus media attention onto victims of war and create a wider recognition of war victims among policy-makers. CIVIC actively gathers stories from war victims in an attempt to show the human cost of conflict.
to train U.S. soldiers
shipping out to Iraq
and Afghanistan
on avoiding civilians and how to compensate for any harm caused. CIVIC also worked with the American Civil Liberties Union
to analyze civilian claims of damages and craft legislation to address shortfalls in the current system (the Civilian Claims Act). CIVIC successfully pressed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization member states to develop, fund, and ensure that a trust fund
for war victims was in place.
CIVIC provided a military lawyer that worked with Harvard University
to document US efforts to make amends to civilians suffering losses. They also organised for someone living in Afghanistan to help coordinate delivery of aid from NATO and the US to war victims. Over one-third of contributions to CIVIC come from individual contributions.
CIVIC received 10 million dollars from Congress as part of their initiative to advocate and help design a new US program for Pakistani war victims. CIVIC has conducted interviews with Pakistani and US policymakers, humanitarians and officials from international organizations, and over 160 Pakistani civilians.
Photographer Julien Bryan described the scene: "As we drove by a small field at the edge of town we were just a few minutes too late to witness a tragic event, the most incredible of all. Seven women had been digging potatoes in a field. There was no flour in their district, and they were desperate for food. Suddenly two German planes appeared from nowhere and dropped two bombs only two hundred yards away on a small home. Two women in the house were killed. The potato diggers dropped flat upon the ground, hoping to be unnoticed. After the bombers had gone, the women returned to their work. They had to have food.
But the Nazi fliers were not satisfied with their work. In a few minutes they came back and swooped down to within two hundred feet of the ground, this time raking the field with machine-gun fire. Two of the seven women were killed. The other five escaped somehow.
While I was photographing the bodies, a little ten-year old girl came running up and stood transfixed by one of the dead. The woman was her older sister. The child had never before seen death and couldn't understand why her sister would not speak to her...
The child looked at us in bewilderment. I threw my arm about her and held her tightly, trying to comfort her. She cried. So did I and the two Polish officers who were with me..." [Source: Bryan, Julien. "Warsaw: 1939 Siege; 1959 Warsaw Revisited."]
In September 1959 Julien Bryan wrote more about it in Look magazine:
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
-based non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
and advocacy founded in 2003 by Marla Ruzicka
Marla Ruzicka
Marla Ruzicka was an activist-turned-aid worker. She believed that combatant governments had a legal and moral responsibility to compensate the families of civilians killed or injured in military conflicts....
. CIVIC works on behalf of war victims, providing research and advocating policymakers. CIVIC is a part of the Making Amends Campaign.
Foundations
Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC) was founded by Marla RuzickaMarla Ruzicka
Marla Ruzicka was an activist-turned-aid worker. She believed that combatant governments had a legal and moral responsibility to compensate the families of civilians killed or injured in military conflicts....
in 2003. Marla, with the help of Senator Patrick Leahy, created the first-ever US-funded aid program dedicated to helping rebuild the lives of civilians unintentionally harmed by US combat operations. CIVIC works closely with the military and organizations such as NATO. Although Marla was killed by a suicide bomb
Suicide attack
A suicide attack is a type of attack in which the attacker expects or intends to die in the process.- Historical :...
in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
in April 2005, her colleagues, friends and family continue to run CIVIC. A staff was hired in early 2006 and the organization expanded its mandate in early 2007 beyond Iraq and Afghanistan. CIVIC achievements include persuading the US Congress to develop programs that aid victims caught in the middle of widespread conflict.
Findings
CIVIC released a report in 2009 on civilian harm in Northwest Pakistan. It was based on a United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan report that estimated a 40% increase in the number of civilianCivilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
deaths in 2008. Civic report concludes that civilian harm is compounded by widespread poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
and that while the Pakistani government does make amends most do not receive any due to deficiencies in compensation mechanisms and no effort from the US. Another survey released by an individual associated with CIVIC counted two thousand killed and four thousand injured. CIVICs reports suggest that the number of civilians killed and injured in war conflicts exceeds the number that the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
admits to.
Mandate
CIVICs goals are to urge warring parties to take responsibility and provide help to civilians they've harmed, to adopt a new international norm dictating recognition and making amends to war victims and to be the voice for war victims. They work to achieve these goals by creating US-funded programs to aid war victims in IraqIraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and are working with NATO to develop compensation funds. They also try to focus media attention onto victims of war and create a wider recognition of war victims among policy-makers. CIVIC actively gathers stories from war victims in an attempt to show the human cost of conflict.
Accomplishments
CIVIC partnered with the United States militaryUnited States armed forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
to train U.S. soldiers
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
shipping out to Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
on avoiding civilians and how to compensate for any harm caused. CIVIC also worked with the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
to analyze civilian claims of damages and craft legislation to address shortfalls in the current system (the Civilian Claims Act). CIVIC successfully pressed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization member states to develop, fund, and ensure that a trust fund
Trust law
In common law legal systems, a trust is a relationship whereby property is held by one party for the benefit of another...
for war victims was in place.
CIVIC provided a military lawyer that worked with Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
to document US efforts to make amends to civilians suffering losses. They also organised for someone living in Afghanistan to help coordinate delivery of aid from NATO and the US to war victims. Over one-third of contributions to CIVIC come from individual contributions.
CIVIC received 10 million dollars from Congress as part of their initiative to advocate and help design a new US program for Pakistani war victims. CIVIC has conducted interviews with Pakistani and US policymakers, humanitarians and officials from international organizations, and over 160 Pakistani civilians.
See also
- Marla RuzickaMarla RuzickaMarla Ruzicka was an activist-turned-aid worker. She believed that combatant governments had a legal and moral responsibility to compensate the families of civilians killed or injured in military conflicts....
- United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
- United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
- War in North-West PakistanWar in North-West PakistanThe War in North-West Pakistan is an armed conflict between the Pakistan Armed Forces and armed religious groups such as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan , Lashkar-e-Islam, TSNM, Arab and Central Asian militants including Al-Qaeda, regional armed movements and elements of organized crime.The armed...
- Human rights in PakistanHuman rights in PakistanPakistan’s human rights record has dramatically improved since the reforms that took place after the tenure of President Zia-ul-Haq in 1988. The situation of human rights in Pakistan is a complex one, as a result of the country's diversity, large population, its status as a developing country and a...
- NATO
External links
Note
- Rory McCarthy, "Iraq: after the war: Campaigners count bodies to ensure US compensation", The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
(London), May 17, 2003.
Photographer Julien Bryan described the scene: "As we drove by a small field at the edge of town we were just a few minutes too late to witness a tragic event, the most incredible of all. Seven women had been digging potatoes in a field. There was no flour in their district, and they were desperate for food. Suddenly two German planes appeared from nowhere and dropped two bombs only two hundred yards away on a small home. Two women in the house were killed. The potato diggers dropped flat upon the ground, hoping to be unnoticed. After the bombers had gone, the women returned to their work. They had to have food.
But the Nazi fliers were not satisfied with their work. In a few minutes they came back and swooped down to within two hundred feet of the ground, this time raking the field with machine-gun fire. Two of the seven women were killed. The other five escaped somehow.
While I was photographing the bodies, a little ten-year old girl came running up and stood transfixed by one of the dead. The woman was her older sister. The child had never before seen death and couldn't understand why her sister would not speak to her...
The child looked at us in bewilderment. I threw my arm about her and held her tightly, trying to comfort her. She cried. So did I and the two Polish officers who were with me..." [Source: Bryan, Julien. "Warsaw: 1939 Siege; 1959 Warsaw Revisited."]
In September 1959 Julien Bryan wrote more about it in Look magazine:
- In the offices of the Express, that child, Kazimiera Mika, now 30, and I were reunited. I asked her if she remembered anything of that tragic day in the potato field. "I should," she replied quietly. "It was the day I lost my sister, the day I first saw death, and the first time I met a foreigner - you." Today, Kazimiera is married to a Warsaw streetcar motorman. They have a 12-year-old girl and a boy, 9, and the family lives in a 1 1/2-room apartment, typical of the overcrowded conditions of war-racked Poland. She is a charwoman at a medical school (she told me her biggest regret is that her education ended when the war began), and all of the $75 earned each month by her husband and herself goes for food. Kazimiera and her husband, like most Poles, supplement their income with odd jobs, and are sometimes forced to sell a piece of furniture for extra money. But they celebrated my visit to their home with that rare treat, a dinner with meat.