ACLU publishes volumes of data on civilian casualties in Iraq, Afghanistan
The files, obtained by Freedom of Information Act request, detail hundreds of cases in which families of the dead filed for compensation after their loved ones were killed by or as a result of coalition forces. "The files made public today comprise over 800 claims for compensation or condolence payments submitted to the U.S. Foreign Claims Commissions and the Commander's Emergency Response Program by surviving family members of Afghan and Iraqi civilians said to have been killed or injured or to have suffered property damages due to actions by Coalition Forces," the group announced in a media advisory. "Many of the claims were denied under the so-called "combat exemption" to the Foreign Claims Act (FCA), which provides that harm inflicted on residents of foreign countries by U.S. soldiers during combat cannot be compensated under the FCA, even if the victims had no involvement whatsoever in the combat. The documents reveal that, due to the claim denials, many innocent civilians were not compensated for their harm or were referred to the Commander's Emergency Response Program for a discretionary condolence payment that is subject to an automatic $2,500 limit per death." The complete log of documents is available in two parts: here and here. PressTV: 800 complaints filed over civilian casualties of US wars.