TFIZ01: USAID/PRM DART SITUATION REPORT 2 APRIL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KUWAIT 001271

SIPDIS

STATE ALSO PASS USAID/W
STATE PLEASE REPEAT TO IO COLLECTIVE
STATE FOR PRM/ANE, EUR/SE, NEA/NGA, IO AND SA/PAB
NSC FOR EABRAMS, SMCCORMICK, STAHIR-KHELI, JDWORKEN
USAID FOR USAID/A, DCHA/AA, DCHA/RMT, DCHA/FFP
USAID FOR DCHA/OTI, DCHA/DG, ANE/AA
USAID FOR DCHA/OFDA:WGARVELINK, BMCCONNELL, KFARNSWORTH
USAID FOR ANE/AA:WCHAMBERLIN
ROME FOR FODAG
GENEVA FOR RMA AND NKYLOH
DOHA FOR MSHIRLEY
ANKARA FOR AMB WRPEARSON, ECON AJSIROTIC AND DART
AMMAN FOR USAID AND DART

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID PREF IZ WFP
SUBJECT: TFIZ01: USAID/PRM DART SITUATION REPORT 2 APRIL
2003

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SUMMARY
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1. On 1 April, DART personnel in Umm Qasr reported concerns
over water distribution. Additional DART personnel will
travel to Umm Qasr on 2 April to discuss the distribution
plans in more detail with those involved. On 28 March,
Coalition forces conducted an assessment of Umm Qasr
hospital, which concluded that there is a need for external
support to reinforce the hospital and staff. Coalition
forces also conducted assessments of Az Zubayr and An
Nasiriyah. Since Coalition forces deemed the coastal land
route to Umm Qasr a permissive environment, several NGOs and
IOs have begun planning assessment trips.
The UNSECOORD security assessment to Umm Qasr was conducted
on 1 April. If the assessment declares Umm Qasr a
permissive environment, U.N. personnel will be permitted to
travel to Umm Qasr. UNJLC briefed NGOs on 1 April about the
potential problem of obtaining fuel in Iraq. In addition to
coordination meetings with NGOs on abuse and prevention
issues, on 1 April, the APU filed an official Request for
Information at the HOC about the methods used by Coalition
forces to secure and protect documents critical to the
protection of human rights. END SUMMARY.

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DART UPDATE ON UMM QASR
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2. Two members of the DART, temporarily based in Umm Qasr,
reported on 1 April that Coalition forces have inventoried
goods found in port warehouses, including an unconfirmed
quantity of sugar, spare parts, clothing, and other
miscellaneous supplies.


3. Coalition forces made two unsuccessful attempts to
distribute food assistance supplied by Kuwait. The first
time, crowds mobbed the distribution point. During the
second attempt, the 85 neighborhood heads chosen to conduct
the distributions to beneficiaries demurred, citing a lack
of transport. Distribution will again be attempted on 3
April in Umm Qasr at 23 distribution points. The
distribution will be from a truck, two boxes per family
member. No advance notice will be given to the population,
and if successful the distribution will be tried in Al Faw.


4. The DART has serious concerns that this distribution may
not be necessary and could again end in disarray.
Additional DART personnel will travel to Umm Qasr on 2 April
to discuss the distribution plans in more detail with those
involved.


5. Large-scale looting of nearly every government office as
well as grain from the port silos and a forklift have been
reported. Further, it is believed that public distribution
system (PDS) records may also be difficult to locate. As a
result, on 1 April, Coalition forces established a gate at
the port to control access.

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COALITION ASSESSMENT OF UMM QASR HOSPITAL
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6. On 28 March, Coalition forces conducted an assessment of
Umm Qasr hospital. The thirty-one-bed hospital is staffed
by three physicians, including a pediatrician, a general
practitioner, and a junior doctor. Previously, the hospital
had eleven physicians. The hospital serves a population of
70,000 (40,000 from Umm Qasr and 30,000 from Swafan). It is
able to care for patients with general illness and minor
wounds, but has no surgical capacity and is not able to care
for secondary or tertiary patients. Patients needing
critical care were sent to Basrah, but this is not an option
at present due to ongoing fighting.


7. The hospital has one portable x-ray machine, and all
hospital supplies are in critical short supply. The
assessment concluded that there is a need for external
support to reinforce the hospital and staff through crisis
period and rebuilding of medical infrastructure.

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NGO MOVEMENT INTO UMM QASR
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8. Since Coalition forces deemed the coastal land route to
Umm Qasr a permissive environment, the number of non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) and international
organizations (IOs) wanting to perform assessments and
prepare their respective organizations for deployment into
Iraq has greatly increased. On 1 April, Medecins Sans
Frontieres, International Medical Corps, the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),the United Nations
Security Coordinator (UNSECOORD),the Office of
Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA),and the
Czech Embassy intended to travel to Umm Qasr.


9. The UNSECOORD security assessment to Umm Qasr was
conducted on 1 April. If the assessment declares Umm Qasr a
permissive environment, in accordance with U.N. guidelines,
then U.N. personnel will be permitted to begin entering this
southern port town. If no U.N. personnel do so within 48
hours of the declaration, another security assessment must
be conducted. However, it is anticipated that some staff
from the World Food Program, the United Nations Children's
Fund (UNICEF),and the United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) will
immediately enter Umm Qasr from Kuwait City.


10. According to the Humanitarian Operations Center (HOC),
the UNICEF-contracted convoys that left on 30 March to
provide water and water bladders to Umm Qasr, Safwan, and Az
Zubayr experienced many difficulties. The distribution plan
was that the bladders would be placed in strategic locations
within the three towns and then filled by the water tankers.
The convoy tanker operation would then be repeated on
subsequent days. Instead, only three of the 13 tankers
contracted by UNICEF were successful in crossing into Iraq.
The three tankers that crossed the border went to Umm Qasr
but were prevented from unloading and filling the bladders
by the local population. One driver was physically
threatened but not harmed. The remaining two tankers made
it back into Kuwait. However, one driver drove a tanker
into a ditch and abandoned the vehicle. The tanker was
recovered on 31 March.


11. As a result, a UNICEF meeting on 31 March determined
that: 1) the water tanker program is suspended until further
notice; 2) Coalition forces will establish water bladder
sites inside their area of responsibility and pass the site
locations to UNICEF through the HOC; 3) UNICEF will
transport the required number of water bladders to an Umm
Qasr port warehouse for storage; 4) coalition forces will
construct water bladder platforms and install the water
bladders; 5) UNICEF will locate a member of its staff to Umm
Qasr and contact local Iraqi water tankers to begin filling
and replenishing the water bladder sites; and 6) the source
of the water is likely to come from the newly finished
pipeline near Umm Qasr.

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COALITION ASSESSMENTS OF AZ ZUBAYR AND AN NASIRIYAH
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12. A HOC spokesman reported that Coalition force
assessments determined that the 132-bed hospital in Az
Zubayr is in minimal working condition. Only 12 of the 40
doctors remain working, three out of the four ambulances are
operational, with the U.K. military attempting to repair the
fourth, and two of the four operation rooms are functioning.


13. Another Coalition force assessment on An Nasiriyah
concluded that the drinking water is of poor quality, there
is only sporadic electricity, medical care is rudimentary,
and Iraqi paramilitary operations are ongoing.

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FUEL
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14. The U.N. Joint Logistics Cell (UNJLC) coordinator
briefed NGOs at HOC on 1 April about the potential problem
of obtaining fuel in Iraq. NGOs will be competing with
hospitals, water treatment plants, and electrical generating
plants for potentially scarce supplies. The UNJLC advised
NGOs to bring their own fuel and plan as if there will be no
guaranteed source of supply. NGOs should use diesel-fueled
vehicles, as the supply of diesel may be more abundant
inside Iraq.

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ABUSE PREVENTION UNIT (APU)
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15. The DART Abuse Prevention Unit (APU) met with
representatives of the International Rescue Committee (IRC)
on 31 March to discuss increased cooperation and
coordination. The meeting followed several months of close
cooperation between USAID and IRC in Washington, D.C. on
protection-related issues. IRC requested that the APU
provide training in identifying and responding to human
rights abuses for its ten expatriate staff members. The APU
also encouraged IRC to submit a proposal that would focus on
increasing awareness and protection of human rights in post-
conflict Iraq, including mechanisms for protecting documents
critical to the protection of rights (e.g., property records
and birth certificates).


16. Also on 31 March, the APU attended a meeting organized
by ORHA to discuss human rights issues (including rule of
law, transitional justice, vetting of Iraqi police forces,
and property rights) in post-conflict Iraq. Participants at
the meeting, including representatives of the Department of
Defense, Department of State, and USAID, discussed the role
of the media in promoting tolerance and mitigating conflict.
ORHA requested assistance from the APU in developing plans
for promoting human rights in post-conflict Iraq, including
the need to institutionalize human rights norms in governing
structures.


17. On 1 April, the APU filed an official Request for
Information at the HOC about the methods used by Coalition
forces to secure and protect documents critical to the
protection of human rights, including birth certificates and
property and court records. In addition, the APU shared a
working paper with the HOC on the importance of protecting
documents crucial to the mitigation of conflict.


18. On 2 April, the APU will participate in ORHA's Human
Rights Working Group. The APU will also meet with the
International Rescue Committee. Later this week,
Interaction will sponsor a meeting of NGOs where the APU
will discuss its plans for preventing, mitigating, and
responding to human rights abuses.

JONES