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From the start of our work, we have placed enormous importance on the recording of names and other personal details of those killed. This article explains why.

100 Names of Civilians Killed

— and only 2% of a vital task completed

John Sloboda

27th May 2003

Since the start of Iraq Body Count project we have been recording names of civilians killed. We have done this whenever names have been given in the media reports which form the sources for our work.

The table below contains the first 100 full names of civilians killed that we have been able to extract. They are listed in date order of death. Also included, where known, are age and/or brief personal details, the place of death, the date of death, the source in which the name was reported, and the incident code from the IBC data base. The majority of the basic research was undertaken by IBC archivist Kay Williams.

We record these names for exactly the same basic motivation as others have recorded the names of those who perished on September 11th 2001.1 Each person was a victim whose life was unjustly and abruptly ended. Each person loved and was loved: their death leaves an irreplaceable hole in someone’s heart. Each person requires to be remembered, not as a statistic but as a human being brutally plucked from their life, their family, their friends.

1September 11: A MemorialCNN, 2001.

2 Now online. See IBC Database: Individualsfor the latest IBC-extracted list of named or near-identified victims.

3Iraq: A Memorial Guardian, 16 May 2003.

4U.S. and Coalition Casualties: Iraq CNN, 2003–.

At the time of writing (May 27th) the maximum recorded civilians deaths arising as a result of coalition military action has exceeded 7,000. These 100 names therefore represent less than 2% of the total killed. Despite this, our list is, at present, the longest list of full names that has been published. We have found just over 200 further deaths for which some incomplete name information is available. This is generally of the form “relatives of (name)”, “11 members of the (name) family” or a more specific designation such as “daughter of (name)”. For the moment we are not publishing this data (in the hope that full names will become available) but are constantly adding to it and will make it available in due course.2 We also plan to add further human details to the data below, as we are able to extract and organise it.

On Friday 16th May 2003, the Guardian Newspaper devoted a special issue of their G2 supplement to obituaries of people killed in the Iraq War. Their publication was headed “One hundred lives: the untold stories of the men, women and children who died during the war on Iraq”. An abridged version is available on the Guardian website.3The Guardian report provided a brief obituary of each person killed, written by one of 7 Guardian journalists, James Meek, Will Hodgkinson, Ewan MacAskill, Jonathan Steele, Simon Hattenstone, Oliver Burkeman, and Luke Harding.

Only 47 of the deaths listed by the Guardian were civilian. The remainder were soldiers, mainly American. A more comprehensive list of names of coalition military personnel killed has been compiled by CNN.4

Compiling the fullest possible memorial to the civilian victims of the Iraq War is clearly a moral and humanitarian imperative. We publish these hundred civilian names partly to raise awareness of the fact that names are available, and the search for more names must be intensified. The fact that we have so few names should not be taken as any particular comment on the work of the journalists who published these names. It is not the job of journalists to gather names in a systematic way — their job is to report what they see and who they talk to. The preponderance of names from incidents in Baghdad reflects the high concentration of journalists working in that city, who were able to talk to doctors, relatives, and eye-witnesses. The full job of compiling a register of the dead can only be done by properly funded organisations operating on the ground in Iraq with that express purpose.

5Surveys pointing to high civilian death toll in Iraq Christian Science Monitor, 21 May 2003.

Our contribution to this work is clearly limited, and we cannot be confident that this work will progress much more rapidly or easily for people on the ground. One major problem is, of course, than many of those killed were not able to be identified at the time of their deaths. There are heart-rending reports of Iraqi families going from hospital to hospital and seeking out every makeshift graveyard they could find, looking for loved ones and their “missing, presumed dead.” The Iraqi Red Crescent, one of the agencies attempting a comprehensive count, was reported recently as saying that it was still too early for anything like a definitive estimate of civilian casualties.5

A comprehensive census of civilian deaths may take months or even years, and may perhaps never be so complete that each and every individual is named and registered among the war’s victims. But this makes it all the more important that every available name is recorded, so we know the extent of the task that lies ahead.

100 names of civilians killed in the war on Iraq
No. Name Age (or personal details) Place of death Date of death Source IBC Incident code
001 Hashim Kamel Radi 22 Bus from Baghdad to Nasiriyah Mar Boston Globe 22 Apr  
002 Jalal al-Yussuf 17 Zambrania Mar IND 04 Apr
Alternet 08 Apr
j020
003 Ibrahim al-Yussuf 12 Zambrania Mar IND 04 Apr
Alternet 08 Apr
j020
004 Ahmed Al-Rahal
(al-Bath in some accounts)
- Communications Building on Baghdad-Amman road 20 Mar IND 22 Mar x007
005 Sufian al-Batayneh Jordanian student Road near Mosul 22 Mar HUA 25 Mar x018
006 Abdullah al-Ababneh Jordanian student Road near Mosul 22 Mar HUA 25 Mar x018
007 Ahmad al_enezi Jordanian student Road near Mosul 22 Mar HUA 25 Mar x018
008 Omran al-Serihaine Jordanian student Road near Mosul 22 Mar HUA 25 Mar x018
009 Fateha Ghazzi 8 Nahrawaan district,
near Diyala Bridge to NE of Baghdad
24 Mar IPT report 26 Mar  
010 Nada Abdallah 16 Nahrawaan district,
near Diyala Bridge to NE of Baghdad
24 Mar IPT report 26 Mar  
011 Um Aqeel-Khalil Mother-in-law of Sahar North Baghdad 24 Mar Wash Post 25 Mar x021
012 Sahar Khalil Daughter in law of Um North Baghdad 24 Mar Wash Post 25 Mar x021
013 Khowla Abdel-Fattah 70 North Baghdad 24 Mar Wash Post 25 Mar x021
014 Samad Rabai. - Al Shaab, Baghdad 26 Mar AJR 29 Apr x020
015 Faris El Baur 11 Al Shaab market, Baghdad 26 Mar   x020
016 Saif El Baur, 11 Al Shaab market, Baghdad 26 Mar   x020
017 Marwa Abbas 11 Baghdad 26 Mar? NYT 13 Apr  
018 Tabarek Abbas 8 Baghdad 26 Mar? NYT 13 Apr  
019 Safia Abbas 5 Baghdad 26 Mar? NYT 13 Apr  
020 Qassem Moussa 42 (teacher) Hilla 27 Mar WP 19 Apr  
021 Thamer Abdel-Wahid 27 Shuala Market, Baghdad 28 Mar Wash Post 15 Apr j005
022 Nujah Abdel-Ridda 27 Shuala Market, Baghdad 28 Mar Wash Post 15 Apr j005
023 Najia Hussein. - Bus from Hillah to Najaf 28 Mar SMH 03 Apr  
024 Haytham Rafi - Rifa 29 Mar ABC 1 Apr x027
025 Arkan Daif 14 Baghdad 30 Mar   Incident ibc x025?
026 Walid Abu Shaker 23 Saddam Canal Bridge, Baghdad 1 Apr GUA 3 Apr x036
027 Hilal Faraj Silo - Bartala 2 Apr Assyrian Forum 4 Apr ibc j016
028 Manal SaadAllah Matti - Bartala 2 Apr Assyrian Forum 4 Apr ibc j016
029 Mahroosa Jarjis - Bartala 2 Apr Assyrian Forum 4 Apr ibc j016
030 Valentina Bashar Faraj - Bartala 2 Apr Assyrian Forum 4 Apr ibc j016
031 Samar Hussein 13 Manaria 03 Apr IND 04 Apr  
032 Mohammad Ahmed 4 Radwaniyeh, Baghdad 4 Apr REU 4 Apr  
033 Nadia Kalaf 33 Palestine Street, NE Baghdad 5 Apr MIRROR 05 Apr  
034 Zeena Akram Hamoodi 12 Basra 5 Apr SMH Apr 09 j017
035 Mustafa Akram Hamoodi 13 Basra 5 Apr SMH Apr 09 j017
036 Zain El Abideen Akram Hammodi 18 Basra 5 Apr SMH Apr 09 j017
037 Zainab Akram Hamoody Hamoodi 19 Basra 5 Apr SMH Apr 09 j017
038 Hassan Iyad Hamoodi 10 Basra 5 Apr SMH Apr 09 j017
039 Ammar Muhammad Hamoodi 1 Basra 5 Apr SMH Apr 09 j017
040 Noor Elhuda Saad Hamoodi Baby Basra 5 Apr SMH Apr 09 j017
041 Wissam Abed Hamoodi 40 Basra 5 Apr SMH Apr 09 j017
042 Dr. Ihab Abed 34 Basra 5 Apr SMH Apr 09 j017
043 Khairiah Mahmoud   Basra 5 Apr SMH Apr 09 j017
044 Kamaran Abdurazaq Muhamed - Kalak, near Mosul 6 Apr AP 8 Apr x039
045 Duaa Raheem 6 Karbala 6 Apr Time 3 May  
046 Sa'la al-Mousai 55 Mansour district, Baghdad 7 Apr MIRROR 14 Apr  
047 Alaa-eddin Khazal 42 Mansour district. Baghdad 7 Apr Ireland.com 23 Apr  
048 Wadhar Handi 34 Highway 1 S of Baghdad 7 Apr NYT 12 Apr  
049 Bashir Handi 28 (brother of Wadhar) Highway 1 S of Baghdad 7 Apr NYT 12 Apr  
050 Safa Karim 11 Bagdhad 7 Apr IND 08 Apr  
051 Sena Hassad 36 Mansour district, Baghdad 8 Apr Telegraph 21 Apr k003
052 Rana Hassad 10 Mansour district, Baghdad 8 Apr Telegraph 21 Apr k003
053 Maria Hassad 7 Mansour district, Baghdad 8 Apr Telegraph 21 Apr k003
054 Sama Sami 30 Mansour district, Baghdad 8 Apr Telegraph 21 Apr k003
055 Lana Sami Under 10 (daughter of Sama) Mansour district, Baghdad 8 Apr Telegraph 21 Apr k003
056 Miriam Sami Under 10 (daughter of Sama) Mansour district, Baghdad 8 Apr Telegraph 21 Apr k003
057 Lava Sami Under 10 (daughter of Sama) Mansour district, Baghdad 8 Apr Telegraph 21 Apr k003
058 Salma Amin 50 Mansour district, Baghdad 8 Apr Telegraph 21 Apr k003
059 Mohammed Amin 27 (son of Salma) Mansour district, Baghdad 8 Apr Telegraph 21 Apr k003
060 Said Amin 24 (son of Salma) Mansour district, Baghdad 8 Apr Telegraph 21 Apr k003
061 Shams Amin 20 (daughter of Salma) Mansour district, Baghdad 8 Apr Telegraph 21 Apr k003
062 Sami Osama - Sanawa (possibly Samawah) Before 8 Apr Arab News 8 Apr  
063 Tareq Ayoub - Aj-Jazeera�s Baghdad ofice 8 Apr AP REU 8 Apr x041
064 Taras Protsyuk, 35 Palestine Hotel, Baghdad 8 Apr AP REU 8 Apr x042
065 Jose Couso 37 Palestine Hotel, Baghdad 8 Apr AP REU 8 Apr x042
066 Vatche Arslanian 48 Baghdad 8 Apr REU 9 Apr
BBC 9 Apr
x046
067 Hanna Fatah 70 mental patient, Al Rashad hospital 8 Apr NYT 11 May  
068 James Kachadoorian - Baladayat Street, Baghdad 8 Apr NYT 19 Apr  
069 Nicolas Kachadoorian - Baladayat Street, Baghdad 8 Apr NYT 19 Apr  
070 Edmund Kachadoorian - Baladayat Street, Baghdad 8 Apr NYT 19 Apr  
071 Wael Sabah Mother of Noor and Abdul Baladyat district of Baghdad. 8 Apr GUA 09 Apr x043
072 Noor Sabah 12 Baladyat district of Baghdad. 8 Apr GUA 09 Apr x043
073 Abdul Khader 5 Baladyat district of Baghdad. 8 Apr GUA 09 Apr x043
074 Hamsa Mohammed Omar 6 Fathlia (N. Iraq) 9 Apr Gua 13 Apr x060
075 Hamsa Mohammed Omar 12 Fathlia (N. Iraq) 9 Apr Gua 13 Apr x060
076 Ali Ramzi 10 Fathlia (N. Iraq) 9 Apr Gua 13 Apr x060
077 Abu Salam Abdul Gafir 16 Fathlia (N. Iraq) 9 Apr Gua 13 Apr x060
078 Rowand Mohammed Suleiman 8-months Baghdad (Al Yarnouk Hosp) 10 Apr GUA 12 Apr
BG 11 Apr
j022
079 Haithem Tamini 7 Baghdad 11 Apr Newsday 22 Apr  
080 Nora Tamini 9 Baghdad 11 Apr Newsday 22 Apr  
081 Arkan David Belu 28 Baghdad 11 Apr Newhouse NJ 13 May  
082 Khansa�a Thaib - South of Baghdad 13-18 Apr SMH 21 Apr  
083 Muhammed al-Barheini 25 Shop on Al-Rashid Commercial St, Baghdad 11 Apr Sky 11 Apr j025
084 Rashid Majid - Al-Kharnouq, Baghdad 15 Apr Miami Herald 16 Apr. j027
085 Ghassan Majid - Al-Kharnouq, Baghdad 15 Apr Miami Herald 16 Apr. j027
086 Arkan Majid - Al-Kharnouq, Baghdad 15 Apr Miami Herald 16 Apr. j027
087 Uday al Shimarey - Al-Kharnouq, Baghdad 15 Apr Miami Herald 16 Apr. j027
088 Dana Ali 8 Baghdad 19 Apr   ibc x071
089 Lamiya Ali 6 Baghdad 19 Apr   ibc x071
090 Abdullah Abdul-Majeed al-Sa'doon 26 Basra 22 Apr BG 25 Apr  
091 Salman Abu al-Heel 25 Kut 24 Apr GUA 25 Apr  
092 Waleed Saleh Abdel-Latif. 32 Fallujah 28 Apr Commondreams 29 Apr  
093 Tuamer Abdel Hamid 47 Fallujah 28 Apr Commondreams 29 Apr  
094 Hussein Rashid 18 Fallujah 28 Apr Commondreams 29 Apr  
095 Sa'aleh al-Jumaili 20s Fallujah 30 Apr IND 1 May x069
096 Ghanam al-Jumaili 20s Fallujah 30 Apr IND 1 May x069
097 Ali Salim 14 Basra 3 May GUA 5 May
BBC 5 May
j034
098 Raeed Amar 13/14 Birmingham (burn wounds sustained in Basra) 4 May Birmingham Post 9 May  
099 Daoud Qais - Baghdad 17 May WP 20 May  
100 Ahmed al Rifaai 13 Samarra 26 May SMH 30 May
KR 29 May
x082

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