The destruction of Al-Ameriya Civilian Shelter by the U.S. 17 years ago

Al-Ameriya Shelter
Abri d'Al Ameriya
Photos taken during our first visit to the shelter on 1st March 1992
Photos prises lors de notre première visite de l'abri le 1er mars 1992

BOMBING A CIVILIAN SHELTER IS
A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY
BOMBARDER UN ABRI CIVIL
EST UN CRIME CONTRE L'HUMANITE
Seventeen years ago, during the night of 13-14 February 1991 the U.S. sent 2 laser guided missiles to destroy the Ameriya Shelter in Baghdad, killing over 1.200 civilians, the majority of whom were women and children who had sought refuge there.
When we visited Al-Ameriya one year after the U.S. attack, all the houses around the shelter still had black banners with the names of their relatives who had died inside the shelter during that terrible night.
Il y a 17 ans, pendant la nuit du 13-14 février 1991, les Etats Unis ont envoyé 2 missiles sur l'abri civil d'Al Ameriya à Bagdad, tuant plus de 1.200 civils, la majorité d'entre eux étaient des femmes et des enfants qui s'y étaient réfugiés lors des bombardements américains sur les quartiers résidentiels de Bagdad.

from : EUROPEAN TURKMEN FRIENDSHIPS

http://turkmenfriendship.blogspot.com/2008/02/destruction-of-al-ameriya-civilian.html

Imprint of incinerated mother holding child (Baghdad)

The Al-Ameryia Shelter: Attacked during the Gulf War by two-laser guided bombs five minutes apart. Over 1200 women and children died; there were 14 survivors. Reconnaissance aircraft observed the shelter for three days prior to the attack, and the fresh air vent was targeted. The first bomb created an opening for the second, more powerful bomb. The blast temperature was 4000 degrees F; some children were incinerated and others were boiled alive when internal water pipes burst open. The US government claimed that the building housed military personnel and equipment, but no direct evidence was presented.

Imprint of incinerated mother holding child

Human skin on shelter wall


Um Reyda, with a memorial to her nine children (Baghdad)

Incinerated child's handprints

Lenses of incinerated children's eyes

البغداديـة تحيـي ذكـرى مأسـاة ملجـأ العـامريـة ... Justice Will Prevail

http://www.albaghdadia.com/

أحيا عدد من عوائل شهداء ملجأ العامرية الذين راحوا ضحية القصف الامريكي لملجأ المدنيين اثناء حرب الخليج الثانية قبل 18 عام أحيوا ذكرى ابنائهم الذين فارقوا الحياة يوم 13\2\1991 .و قد أحيت البغدادية ذكرى المجزرة التي ارتكبتها القوات الامريكية في ذلك اليوم و قد ناشد عوائل الشهداء قناة البغداديةلتبني حملة اعلامية لانصاف و تعويض عوائل الشهداء و اقامة دعوى دولية ضد الولايات المتحدة الامريكية .فريق البغدادية زار ملجأ العامرية الذي شهد تجمعا ً لعوائل الشهداء و استضافهم في برنامج ( ساعة ونص ) ليوم الخميس 5\3\2009 , حيث شرح أغلبهم المأساة و ما خلفته من آثار نفسية و إجتماعية و إقتصادية .و نقلوا الى مراسل البغدادية ميناس السهيل طلبهم من البغدادية بإنشاء صندوق لتمويل إجراءات دعوى قضائية ضد الولايات المتحدة الامريكية لتعويض عوائل الضحايا إسوة ً بما حصل في دول العالم الاخرى لا سيما و ان عناصر في الجيش الامريكي إعترفت في حينها بإرتكاب المجزرة عن طريق الخطأ على حد قولهم .

كما عرضت قبل مدة قليلة تقريراً عن فيلم سينمائي عن جريمة قصف ملجأ العامرية والفيلم هو " فجر يوم حزين " تأليف ( صباح عطوان ) واخراج ( صلاح كرم ) .

Justice Will Prevail

This is the slogan the families of the victims of Al Amiriya shelter in Baghdad during a live coverage from the bunker itself by Al Baghdadia satellite channel a couple of days ago to commemorate the victims of that criminal act during the 1991.
There were interviews with families of the victims and other people living in the surrounding area of the shelter – one of them told the story how he heard the first blast and after the second he ran towards the shelter, went to the second floor and saw people in flames screaming for help. Another told of his son who was in the shelter when it happened, the father went inside and saw his son, he was 12 years old then rapped in a blanket, his body was burned from toe to head, the whole flesh was eaten by the fire.
The families of the victims, old and young men and women appealed to the Iraqi government to re-open the shelter to public, which was closed in 2003 after the US occupation of Iraq. They called for effort and work on rebuilding the site and to make it a museum for others to see and remember those men, women, children and elderly people their lives were taken without purpose, and reason.
Some families were puzzled with the fact that human life is precious in many countries, taking an example of the terrorist attack on PAN AM flight in 1988, and they asked for justice, a similar fairness in assessing the altitude of this tragedy .
I was surprised to know from that live coverage that the US forces entered the shelter in 2003, torn up the pictures of victims hanging on walls, stepped on some of them with their boots and even sprayed their machine guns on the walls.
While I was watching, it crossed my mind many places I visited in the past in Europe to commemorate the victims of World War I and II, not to forget Hitler’s victims e.g. Auschwitz.
Would be wrong if Al Amiriya shelter be included as part of UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites? Maybe not! It is not the Pyramids.
It all goes back to one concept: how valuable those who died to their own people in order to make others from other countries acknowledge their rights, for justice.

by MixMax

Iraq The Lasting Love ~~ العراق... اسميك المحبة

http://iraqthelastinglove.blogspot.com/2009/03/justice-will-prevail.html