Pushing the U.S. Military to Help Harmed Civilians
| Location: | OSI-New York |
| Event Date: | June 2, 2004 |
| Speaker: | Marla Ruzicka |
Marla Ruzicka, founder of the non-profit organization Campaign for Innocent Victims In Conflict (CIVIC), discussed her work in Iraq as an advocate for civilians harmed by military conflict. While in the region, she has organized survey teams to collect an accurate accounting of civilian displacement, abuse, injury, and death. One of CIVIC's main goals is to convince the U.S. government to grant sympathy payments to those who suffered prior to the official end of military operations (in May 2003), not just during the subsequent occupation. CIVIC is currently setting up a survey team in Falluja, a city hard-hit by fighting between the U.S. military and militias tied to Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.