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CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq (May 6, 2008) - Soldiers
of the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team, along with
members of the Australian army and Italian-led provincial
reconstruction team of Iraq's Dhi Qar province, teamed up recently
to train Iraqi soldiers and police on international law and human
rights.
A group of 18 Iraqi servicemembers attended a 10-day course to
learn basic principles of the Law of Armed Conflict, human rights,
police ethics and their legal obligations and responsibilities
while conducting operations.
"The course was focused on training legal advisors and operators
for the Iraqi security forces," said Army Capt. Eric Widmar, 1st
Brigade Combat Team judge advocate and course instructor. "The
focus was to train them on the Laws of Armed Conflict with a focus
on the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Conventions."
Many of the topics discussed during the training will prove
useful as the students conduct routine patrols and missions, the
captain said.
The distinction between an enemy combatant and a civilian was
one of the topics. The students had to apply the principles they
learned to scenarios they would likely face on the streets of
Nasiriyah or elsewhere in Dhi Qar province.
"The legal obligation to distinguish between combatants and
civilians, the legal obligation to care for the wounded and the
treatment of detainees and other human rights subjects were taught.
It's very, very relevant to these guys, given the security
situation," Widmar said.
Another focus of the training was for the students to be able to
train their fellow soldiers on the principles they learned in the
classroom and apply them to situations they might encounter on the
street.
"The whole intent of this was to enable these key leaders, legal
advisors and operators and law faculty members to take this
information back and train more people. It was essentially a
train-the-trainer program on international law and human rights,"
Widmar said.
Many of the students said the course was significant and that
they were glad they had the opportunity to attend.
"I think it was a successful course, and we are making use of
the information that we received here during the course," Lt.
Quassay Adil Thajeel al-Ataby, an Iraqi police officer who attended
the course, said. "The training is very valuable, and we are
planning to have these types of courses in the future with our
colleagues and officers in order to teach them what we learned. It
is extremely important to continue doing such courses."
For some, this was the first time they received information on
some of the topics taught in the course.
"I think this course was very important, because it was the
first time we've learned and received so much information on
international law," said Lt. Col. Jalil Al-Kadhim, a member of the
Iraqi military academy and course attendee.
In addition to teaching the principles of the Law of Armed
Conflict and human rights, the course instructors provided the
students with necessary materials to teach an international law
course themselves.
"We provided CDs with all the materials used throughout the
course. We also provided them with copies of all the Geneva and
Hague conventions translated into Arabic, as well as a lot of other
materials," Widmar said.
After 10 days of class time, the course ended and the students
received their certificates of completion. Widmar said he was happy
with the outcome of the course and saw it as a rewarding
experience.
"The most rewarding experience was to sit back and hear them
articulate arguments based on law instead of just raw emotion," he
said.
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