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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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November 21st,
2007 - The Killing of Mary Awanis Transcript from Special Broadcasting Service
(SBS) Video: The
Killing of Mary Awanis - SBS Dateline Documentary |
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By Sophie McNeill Special Broadcasting Service November 21, 2007 Sophie McNeil brings you the
heartbreaking story of Mary Awanis, an Iraqi single mother of three who was
killed in Baghdad by employees from the Australian-run private security
company Unity Resources Group. Mary was reportedly driving
behind a convoy in Baghdad that was being guarded by URG employees. They
perceived her as being a threat and when she allegedly didn't stop after
being warned, they opened fire, killing her. Mary's brother Paul lives in
the UK and is now the guardian of Mary's children. McNeill records Paul's
attempts to get them out of Iraq, a place where private security firms -
exempt from prosecution in Iraq - are accused of acting like lawless cowboys. You will almost certainly
remember the headlines back in September when security guards from the US
Blackwater company operating in Iraq opened fire and killed 17 innocent
bystanders. Hard not to remember. Then last month, the news broke that two
Iraqi women in Baghdad had also been killed, this time by employees of not an
American, but an Australian-run security company. One of the two women killed
was a widow and mother of three. Sophie McNeill has been following her story. Transcript: REPORTER: Sophie McNeill On Tuesday 9 October, Mary
Awanis and her three passengers were driving through the streets of Baghdad. At
that same moment, an armed convoy belonging to the Australian-run private
security company Unity Resources Group was returning to its base. Mary's car
was reportedly driving about 90m behind the convoy when the URG guards
decided it was a security threat. They used flares and hand signals to warn
Mary off, but when her car came closer, they fired over 40 shots towards it. MAN, (Translation): You
can’t describe it. Just at the Masbah intersection over there, they were
coming in this direction, quite far from them. The guards opened fire. Mary and her fellow
passenger in the front seat were killed instantly. PAUL MANOOK, MARY’S BROTHER:
On Wednesday morning nearly 24 hours later my sister phoned from Baghdad and
broke the news and I was absolutely beside myself, I just went... Paul Manook is Mary's
brother. He left Baghdad in 1974 but kept in close touch with his family in
Iraq. Mary was the youngest of his three sisters. PAUL MANOOK: She was a very loving
sister, and her house was full of friends. Every time I phoned people were
visiting and such. So really, that was her character, such a lovely
character. Mary's husband died from
heart failure in 2004, leaving her as the sole provider for their three young
daughters. Mary was university educated with a degree in science, but in
today's war-torn Iraq, there weren't many options for her to earn a living. PAUL MANOOK: My sister,
everything fell suddenly on her to look after the children and she learned
how to drive, and within six months, I think. On Baghdad's dangerous
streets, Mary started an unofficial taxi service to take the children of
family and friends to university. PAUL MANOOK: She said she
will never go to area that was dangerous, she avoided that. And also she only
used the car if it was necessary, to the university and back and to church
and back. Mary was an Armenian
Christian. Three daughters were at her funeral. Nora is 20, Karoon 19, and
the youngest, Alees, is 11 years old. Having now lost both, their mother and
father, their uncle Paul has become their official guardian. Paul's flown
from the UK to the Jordanian capital Amman with his daughter, Miriam. They've
come to investigate Mary's death and see how to get the girls out of Iraq. MIRIAM MANOOK, MARY’S NIECE:
Really my first thought was that we had to get the girls out. We can't leave
them in a country where this can happen to them. They want to bring the girls
back with them to the UK, but for now Jordan is the best and most immediate
option. MIRIAM MANOOK: They've lost
their mum and they have been living in this country that is sort of steadily
descending into just such horror that in the past few weeks I don't think
they have been doing anything other than just staying in the house, you know. Since the war began, over 2
million Iraqis have fled to neighbouring countries. But Jordan and Syria have
now tightened their borders and it's become increasingly difficult for people
to escape Iraq. Paul and Miriam hit the phones to see who can help. With no
official government or agency support, they are relying on unofficial
channels to rescue their orphaned nieces. MIRIAM MANOOK: I spoke to
Tamara about the tickets, like do we buy them here for them, and she said
Faisal will buy them as soon as they have the visa. The hope was for the girls
to come to Jordan while Paul and Miriam were still here, but arranging visas
and passports is taking longer than hoped. PAUL MANOOK: Something's not
right. Paul calls the family in
Baghdad. PAUL MANOOK, (Translation):
How are you? Yeah, thank God. We are fine, how are you? We talked to people
here and they said as whenever the papers are ready you have to leave
directly, don't stay there. Paul and Miriam believe they
may have a civil case against Unity Resources Group. PAUL MANOOK: They could have
done entirely differently, they could have shot the tires to disable it from
a distance if they suspected it. So they could have shot a bit more in the
air, just to warn, but somehow I was told that there was about 40 bullets
hailed on them, and 19 going into my sister's body, from waist up like. I
don't know what went into the mind of this person that he would hail 40
bullets completely, as if they are nothing. As if they have no value. According to witnesses,
after opening fire on Mary and her passengers, the URG guards left without
offering any assistance. MIRIAM MANOOK: All the
accounts that we have is simply that my aunt was shot and that the
contractors left. Virtually in a blaze of dust. Unity Resources was founded
in 2000 by Australian Gordon Conroy, a former SAS commander. Over half of the
company's 160 staff are said to be Australians or New Zealanders. Its yearly
turnover is reported to exceed $50 million. This is not the first time they
have made the headlines. In March last year, URG guards shot and killed a
72-year-old professor and Australian resident, Kays Juma. Paul believes the
Australian Government has a responsibility to monitor the kinds of operations
its citizens set up aboard. PAUL MANOOK: It was
Australian origin. Yes, registered in Singapore, yes, headquarters in Dubai.
You can see the international scene of it, it's a global system. So the
Australian Government has a responsibility. It's true its not operating from
Australia but the moral case is very strong. There is a moral case to monitor
and uphold the law. I've come to the Arab
Emirates to see if I can get any answers about Mary's death. Unity Resource
Group, like many private security companies in Iraq, has headquarters here in
Dubai. REPORTER: Oh hi, is Michael
Pridden there please? Michael Pridden is an
executive with the group. Sure, it's Sophie McNeill from Dateline, SBS TV,
Australia. URG has expressed regret over the incident, but they refused to
answer any questions we asked about the attack. I've been trying to talk to
URG management for weeks but they haven't returned my calls and have refused
our request for an interview. REPORTER: Hi. Excuse me,
hello? Can I just speak with Mr Pridden, is he available? Please, just a few
minutes of your time. MAN: No, we are not doing
any interviews. RICHARD GALUSTIAN: So many
shots to be fired at one car driven by a woman with another woman in the
passenger seat seems very, very excessive. Richard Galustian lived in Baghdad
for three years running his own private security company. That's where he met
Australian Gordon Conroy who set up Unity Resources Group. RICHARD GALUSTIAN: They had
a pretty good reputation, nothing controversial, relatively low-key, and run
by Australian management. Richard says that in the
world of private security in Iraq there are essentially no real checks and
balances. RICHARD GALUSTIAN: There's
that feeling of lawlessness, that feeling of being in a Mad Max movie. There
is essentially a sort of lawless cowboy philosophy amongst some of the people
in private security. Richard Galustian believes
that the deaths of civilians at the hands of private security contractors is
vastly underreported. RICHARD GALUSTIAN: The two
incidents that have got all this publicity, the Blackwater incident and the
URG incident, are just two of something that's been a symptom right from the
very beginning. Or just because the media hasn't reported it or because
there's been so much general carnage, people who were involved in incidents,
whether they shot somebody, wounded them or killed them, felt that they were
immune. They felt they wouldn't be prosecuted. And they weren't and they
haven't. REPORTER: So as someone who
worked in the industry, this is something that you saw all the time, but it
just went unreported? RICHARD GALUSTIAN: Yes. Back in Amman, Jordan,
Miriam has received copies of her cousins' passports by email. She's hopeful
they'll able to get their visas to Jordan soon. MIRIAM MANOOK: This is Nora,
the eldest of Mary's daughters. So she is my cousin. She's 20. Iraqi police have told
Dateline that they are continuing to investigate the incident. But because
private security firms are immune from prosecution in Iraq, it is unlikely
that the men who killed Mary Awanis will face any criminal charges. Miriam
and Paul want people to realise that behind every death in Iraq, there is a
family and a story. MIRIAM MANOOK: The stories
you hear about, they are people like you or I, they've got families who are
real and they've got lives, and they all have hopes and dreams. And I just
feel that Iraq is not a country in which to live your life. Reporter/Camera: Sophie
McNeill Fixer: Alia Hamzah Translator/Subtitlers: Marie
Evanian & Dalia Matar Editor: Rowan Tucker-Evans Producer: Ashley Smith Executive Producer: Peter
Charley Source: SBS External link: http://news.sbs.com.au/dateline/the_killing_of_mary_awanis_135428 |