IRAQ

Soldiers from the Iraqi Ground Forces Command sleep in the playground area of an abandoned school on July 31, 2005 in Fallujah, Iraq. © 2005 Getty Images

Iraq The humanitarian situation in Iraq has moved from an emergency context to one of fragile early recovery. However, continued violence [between rebel groups, the Iraqi military and the U.S. military] has destroyed the social services infrastructure and access to basic services, such as water and sanitation, health care and education, remains limited especially for children. Traditional systems of physical, social and legal protection have also been severely compromised by the conflict and, as a result, children have become more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse… The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization National Education Support Strategy released in 2008 estimated that 2 million children of primary school age did not attend school largely owing to the security situation. Direct attacks against schools also continue to occur, and in some cases schools have been the target of suicide bombers. In May 2008, it was alleged that an armed group operating in Sadr City had closed 86 schools and threatened employees and students not to go to school and families not to send their children to school. It was reported that schools in Sadr City were being used as bases of operations for insurgent activities. MNF-I, the Iraqi Army and Iraqi police units occupied more than 70 school buildings for military purposes in the Diyala governorate. In central and southern Iraq, there were reported threats by militia, extremists or insurgent groups against schools and universities, urging them to modify activities, favour certain students or face violence. The institutions often complied with the threats, according to the US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. In Iraq, a Shiite militia group stored ammunition in a cache dug underground at the Abaa Dhar Primary School in Sadr City, according to media reports. On December 7, 2009, the ammunition accidentally exploded killing 8 people, including 6 children, and wounding 25 students and 3 teachers.

U.S. Military in Iraq The United States invasion of Iraq in 2003 involved the military use of schools by both sides to the conflict, during the hostilities and in the ensuing military occupation. The incidents raised both the strengths and limits of current prohibitions on the use of school buildings under existing international humanitarian law The US condemned Iraqi military commanders for using school buildings and grounds as sites for artillery, material storage, headquarters, and bases to launch attacks. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accused Iraqi President Saddam Hussein of using “schools, hospitals, orphanages, and cultural treasures to shield military forces thereby exposing helpless men, women and children to danger. At the same time, US military forces occupying Iraq also deployed in school buildings that were characterized as abandoned or closed because of the war. In April 2003 it was reported that US forces were occupying three schools in a town in northern Iraq, all closed due to the war. A US military spokesman, Lt. Col. Gary Keck, appeared unwilling to defend such a practice in public. Testimony “There is no domestic legislation, military regulation, policy, or practice binding on the US armed forces that prohibits or regulates the use of schools or other educational institutions by armed forces as short-term shelters or for other purposes not prohibited by the law of war. Decisions on the use of a school and the length of such use are the responsibility of the on-scene commander based on information reasonably available at the time and the commander’s compliance with the law of war.” - A U.S. Representative’s Response to Human Rights Watch

Case Study: al-Qa’id Primary School On April 23, 2003 in the city of Fallujah, approximately 150 US soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division took over the al-Qa’id primary school near the city center: The battalion commander, Lt. Col. Eric Nantz, told Human Rights Watch that his forces chose the school in order to be closer to the community: “The only reason we occupied the school is [that] we were trying to find a location where we could communicate with the people.” He did not indicate that he saw any tension between his community relations objective and the response of townspeople to their school being used for military purposes. Nantz noted that the soldiers under his command had discovered schools full of arms in other cities of Iraq, especially Samawa, where the 82nd Airborne had faced Iraqi resistance. “With that experience, we went to reduce the weapons flow and remove them,” he said. “They were a danger to coalition forces and to civilians.” However, his soldiers found no weapons in the Falluja school. The two-story building offered the US military a strategic base— a defensible structure, with a seven-foot high perimeter wall around the compound and sweeping views from the roof – while placing troops under possible attack in a densely populated area and rendering the school unsafe for educational purposes. Schools in Falluja were scheduled to reopen on April 29, 2003, and tensions ran high as parents in the neighborhood wanted the soldiers out. The US unit was open to withdrawing from the school, and they asked the mayor for an alternative location to base the troops. According to Nantz and his commander, Col. Bray, they had decided to withdraw from the al-Qa’id school on April 29. Before they did however, on April 28, Fallujah residents staged a demonstration outside the school calling for the soldiers to leave. The demonstration turned violent and US soldiers opened fire on the protesters, killing 17 Iraqis and wounding more than 70.

Iraq Resources UNESCO Report: Education Under Attack Education Under Attack GCPEA Report: Lessons In War: Military Use of Schools and Other Education Institutions during ConflictLessons In War: Military Use of Schools and Other Education Institutions during Conflict Human Rights Watch Report:Schools and Armed Conflict: A Survey of Domestic Laws and State Practice Protecting Schools from Attack and Military UseSchools and Armed Conflict: A Survey of Domestic Laws and State Practice Protecting Schools from Attack and Military Use Report of the Secretary-General: Report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in IraqReport of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Iraq Children and Armed Conflict Website: Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed ConflictOffice of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict