US embassy cable - 03KUWAIT1271

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 
----------------------- 
 
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 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
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