TADHAMUN تـضـامـن

Tadhamun (solidarity) is an Iraqi women organization, standing by Iraqi women's struggle against sectarian politics in Iraq. Fighting for equal citizenship across ethnicities and religions, for human rights, and gender equality.

جمعية تضامن تدعم المساواة في المواطنة بغض النظر عن الأنتماء الأثني أو الديني وتسعى من أجل العدالة الأجتماعية و حماية حقوق الأنسان في العراق

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Outraged Iraqis condemn killings by foreign guards







BAGHDAD (AFP) - by Salam Faraj
Outraged Iraqi authorities on Wednesday condemned the killing in Baghdad of two women by foreign security guards but the Australian-run firm which hired the contractors defended their actions.


The daughters (L, 2nd L and 2nd R) of Iraqi Armenian Christian woman Maroni Awanis, who was killed by foreign security guards, mourn during the funeral procession in Baghdad. Outraged Iraqi authorities have condemned the killing in Baghdad of two women by foreign security guards but the Australian-run firm which hired the contractors defended their actions.(AFP/Ali Yussef)
Tuesday's shooting comes just days after Iraq vowed to punish US security firm Blackwater after a probe found that its guards opened "deliberate" fire in Baghdad three weeks ago, killing 17 civilians."The government and the prime minister and everybody categorically condemns the actions of this company," the head of the Baghdad security plan, General Qassim Mussawi said in a statement."Our weapon is the law for this company and we will try to study this issue calmly."Witnesses to Tuesday's shooting in the Karrada neighbourhood said a woman taxi driver mistakenly got too close to the firm's convoy and came under immediate gunfire by the guards, who work for Dubai-based Unity Resources Group (URG).The taxi driver, an Armenian Christian woman identifed as Maroni Ohannes, 49, and a female passenger died of gunshots to the head. Another woman passenger was wounded in the shoulder, while a child was injured by flying glass.Several witnesses reported barrages of gunfire while a policeman who witnessed the shooting said that after blazing away at the car the foreign security guards sped off "like gangsters.""The first information that we have is that our security team was approached at speed by a vehicle which failed to stop despite an escalation of warnings which included hand signals and a signal flare," Unity said in a statement."Finally shots were fired at the vehicle and it stopped. Unity is now working with the Iraqi authorities to determine the outcome of this incident.""We deeply regret this incident," the company said.A small group of grieving relatives of the two dead women, both Christians, gathered for their funerals at the Armenian Church in central Baghdad on Wednesday."The incident is a barbarous crime," said one sobbing relative, Kasbar Boghos. "Those guards are inhuman. They have no pity nor do they have any religion."Another, Kevork Armelian, judged the shootings a "crime against humanity.""We call on the Iraqi government to put an end to this," Armelian told AFP. "It was clear that women were inside the car when they opened fire haphazardly and deliberately."We demand the expulsion of the company so that others can learn a lesson. The Australian government when sending envoys should teach them human rights -- not how to kill innocent people."A spokesman for RTI International, a non-profit organisation which uses Unity as security escorts in Iraq, said the vehicles were returning to base after dropping off its staff."No RTI staff members were involved or present when the incident occurred. Unity was not transporting RTI personnel at the time. They had completed a transportation mission and were returning to their base of operations," Patrick Gibbons, the group's communications director, told AFP.RTI is involved in training Iraqis in local government management and administration.A US embassy spokeswoman in Baghdad told AFP that Unity was employed by a non-profit organisation under contract to the US government agency USAID."USAID does not direct the security arrangements of contractors. Contractors are contractually responsible for the safety and well being of their employees," spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo told AFP, adding that the State Department was in contact with the Iraqi authorities about the incident.Iraq's government said on Monday that it was determined to rein in private security contractors operating in the war-torn country following the Blackwater shooting on September 16, which an Iraqi report said was unprovoked."We have set strict mechanisms to control the behaviour of the security companies and their conduct in the streets," interior ministry spokesman Abdul Karim Khalaf said.

الملف – دبي

أعلنت شركة
Unity Resources Group للخدمات الأمنية واللوجستية في بيان لها من مقرها الرئيس في دبي مسؤولية عناصرها عن مقتل امرأتين في منطقة المسبح وسط بغداد.1

وقال بيان الشركة إن عناصرها أطلقوا النار على سيارة كانت متجهة نحو موكبهم بسرعة، وأخفقت في التوقف رغم كل الإشارات عن طريق اليد أو القنابل الدخانية، مما اضطرهم لإطلاق النار.
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وقد أسفر إطلاق النار عن مقتل مارو أوانيس البالغة من العمر 48 عاما والأم لثلاثة بنات، وجنيفا جلال البالغة من العمر 30 عاما.
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وقد قتلت السيدتان بعد ظهر الثلاثاء في منطقة المسبح بنيران عناصر الشركة الذين كانوا ضمن موكب من أربع سيارات رباعية الدفع قاموا بإطلاق قنبلة دخانية تحذيرية على بعد 80 مترا من سيارة الضحيتين، مما أدى إلى إصابة السائقة بالذعر وعدم تمكنها من إيقاف سيارتها إلى جانب الرصيف.1

وقال شرطي رفض الكشف عن إسمه لوكالة أسوشيتدبرس إن الحراس كانوا مقنعين ويرتدون ملابس رسمية باللون الخاكي، وإن أحدهم غادر مركبته وبدأ بإطلاق الرصاص على السيارة، فيما فتح رفيقه النار من سيارة أخرى ضمن الموكب الذي ضم أربع سيارات
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وقال القس الذي حضر إلى مركز شرطة المسبح برفقة أقارب الضحيتين اللتين تنتميان إلى الطائفة المسيحية الأرمنية في العراق، إن مارو أوانيس كانت تستخدم سيارتها لتوصيل موظفات حكوميات إلى مقار أعمالهن يوميا، لإعالة بناتها الثلاث.
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فيما صرخت أخت زوجها أناهيد بوغوص قائلة "أتمنى أن ينتقم الله من هؤلاء القتلة، من سيربي هؤلاء البنات بعد وفاة والدتهن".
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من جانبها، قالت الحكومة العراقية على لسان الناطق الرسمي باسمها علي الدباغ إن تحقيقا يجري لمعرفة ملابسات مقتل عراقيتين على يد عناصر إحدى الشركات الأمنية الخاصة.
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بدورها، قالت ميريمبي نانتونغو الناطقة باسم السفارة الأميركية في بغداد إن السفارة لا علاقة لها بالموكب الأمني الذي أطلق النار على النساء
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Petition sign and circulate:

Release Iraqi women hostages, victims of terrorism themselves

بعيدا عن الوطن؛ حراك التضامن مع الوطن فنا، شعرا وكتابةً
Away from Home; Memory, Art and women solidarity: you are invited to an evening of poetry and music 22/3/2017 18:30 at P21 Gallery London click here for more details
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Public meeting at The Bolivar Hall, London Sat.14/5/2016 at 15:00 IDPs : Fragmentation of Cultural and National Identity



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Protest the suffering of Iraqi Christians: No to terrorism No to state terrorism.Hands off our minorities. Hands off our people. Shame on the human rights violators on all sides. Assemble 11:30 on 28/7/14 near Parliament Square, near Westminister tube station London. For more past events click here

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Useful links






Halt All Executions! Abolish The Death Penalty!

We women of Tadhamun condemn the persisting practice of arbitrary arrests by the Iraqi security forces. We condemn their arrests of women in lieu of their men folk. These are 'inherited' practices. We are alarmed by credible media reports of the Green Zone government’s intentions of executing hundreds of Iraqi men and women.


For more info click here
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Professor Zaineb Al Bahrani of Columbia University NY speaking at a our meeting on the destruction/damage to historical sites in Iraq

On youtube: Part1
Part 3
Part4
One more video:



Human Rights Watch: No woman is Safe

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Articles published on this site do not necessarily reflect the opinion of WSIUI or its members


المقالات المنشورة على هذا الموقع لا تعكس بالضرورة آراء منظمتنا أو أعضاء منظمتنا


Samarra Minrate built in 852 AD

Samarra Minrate built in 852 AD
Building of 1 500 massive police station !
From the angle of the photo, it is possible to calculate that the complex is being built at E 396388 N 3785995 (UTM Zone 38 North) or Lat. 34.209760° Long. 43.875325°, to the west of the Malwiya (Spiral Minaret), and behind the Spiral Cafe.
While the point itself may not have more than Abbasid houses under the ground, it is adjacent to the palace of Sur Isa, the remains of which can be seen in the photo. While the initial construction might or might not touch the palace, accompanying activities will certainly spread over it.Sur Isa can be identified with the palace of al-Burj, built by the
Abbasid Caliph al-Mutawakkil, probably in 852-3 (Northedge, Historical Topography of Samarra, pp 125-127, 240). The palace is said to have cost 33 million dirhams, and was luxurious. Details are given by al-Shabushti, Kitab al-Diyarat.
Samarra was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO at the end of June. The barracks could easily have been built elsewhere, off the archaeological site.--
Alastair Northedge Professeur d'Art et d'Archeologie Islamiques UFR d'Art et d'Archeologie
Universite de Paris I (Pantheon-Sorbonne) 3, rue Michelet, 75006 Paris
tel. 01 53 73 71 08 telecopie : 01 53 73 71 13 Email :
Alastair.Northedge@univ-paris1.fr ou anorthedge@wanadoo.fr