April is a tough month for CIVIC’s family and friends. Every April 16, we remember our founder and inspiration, Marla Ruzicka, who was killed in Baghdad in 2005. And on April 20, we pause to remember her friend, and friend of CIVIC, award-winning photographer Chris Hondros.
Hamad Ramadan Hasan of the al-Nahrawan Quarter in west Mosul, which is still under ISIS control, is 24 years old. He was a high-school student when ISIS entered Mosul in 2014, forcing him to leave school. Today, he is married, and he and his wife left the neighborhood on March 28.
On April 16, 2005, the world lost the founder of Center for Civilians in Conflict (then known as the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict, or CIVIC). Marla Ruzicka, a vibrant, passionately caring woman, was traveling on the road between Baghdad and the international airport with her Iraqi colleague, Faiz Ali Salim, when a suicide…
By Sarah Rosangela and Kevin George, Center for Civilians in Conflict WASHINGTON—Three years ago today, Boko Haram abducted up to 276 girls from a school in Chibok, in Northeast Nigeria. Since then, 81 girls have been released or escaped, recounting horror stories of sexual slavery and forced marriages to Boko Haram fighters. On this dreadful…
In the 16th year—and third administration—of the US war against al-Qaeda and affiliated forces, questions remain in both policy and law about how the US government will approach the use of lethal force in counterterrorism operations. What is the prognosis for preserving or replacing the Presidential Policy Guidance and related Executive Orders? How will operational decisions…
Despite well-publicized and often unacceptable failures, proposed budget cuts by the United States would undo what good has been done to make UN peacekeepers better able to protect vulnerable civilians.
The spate of allegations of civilian deaths as a result of US operations in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen over the last few weeks has garnered significant interest from humanitarian groups around the world, as well as, finally, the United States Congress. Some media reports suggest that the March 17 bombing in Mosul, if true, is…
Civilians stay in war zones for all sorts of reasons: They may lack the resources to leave, or have no other place to go. They may be unwilling to leave vulnerable family members, may not want to leave their homes, or — most likely — they are not allowed to leave. There are 3,000 to 4,000 fighters in Raqqa, compared to 400,000 civilians.
How An Ignored U.S. War In The Middle East Is Affecting Civili… A U.S.-backed coalition has been bombing Yemen for almost 2 years, causing the majority of the 10,000+ deaths in the conflict there. The coalition and Iran-backed rebels are responsible for civilian deaths, starvation and economic chaos in one of the poorest countries in…