Amnesty International: Killings of civilians in Basra and al-’Amara

On May 11th, 2004 The Financial Times reported “An eye-witness told Amnesty's researchers that, rather than being hit accidentally by a warning shot as the army claimed, Hanan was killed when a soldier aimed at [the eight-year-old girl] and fired a shot from around 60 metres.” This report, however, did not fall on deaf ears. One the same day The Washington Post reported “A [British] High Court judge granted the families a full-court hearing into their claim that the soldiers' actions should be subject to British law and the European Convention on Human Rights... The ruling came as government officials responded to a new report by Amnesty International that accused soldiers of killing civilians -- including a child -- without justification.” View file