The Guardian 11 May, 2005
Belgium:
doctors bill US for treating Iraqi girl
Belgian doctors have sent an Iraqi girl home after treating her for leg wounds caused by
a cluster bomb during the US invasion — and sent the 51,570 euro ($66,650) bill to the US
embassy.
"We haven't heard from them yet", said Bert De Belder, coordinator of the humanitarian agency
Medical Aid for Third World which brought the girl to Belgium. "We're giving them 10 days to
respond ... I don't think they will pay it", Dr Belder added.
The girl, 15-year-old Hiba Kassim, smiled to reporters as she waited for her flight to Jordan to
meet her father.
"Thank you, Belgium", she said.
Doctors brought Kassim to Belgium last year to try to save her left ankle, seriously injured by a
cluster in 2003. The US Air Force dropped a cluster bomb on the Baghdad neighbourhood
where 13-year-old Hiba Kassim was playing with her little brother Yussef. The bomb killed
Yussef and seriously wounded Hiba in her left leg, abdomen and right knee.
After five operations and weeks of physiotherapy, Kassim is able to walk again, but with a slight
limp.
"We hold the US government accountable for the serious physical and psychological harm done
to Hiba Kassim. First, US troops hit Hiba with a cluster bomb, while, according to International
Humanitarian Law, targeting civilians in an international armed conflict is prohibited, as is the
use of cluster bombs or ammunition in civilian areas", the doctors wrote in a letter
accompanying the bill.
"Second, Hiba was not able to get proper medical care, while according to the Fourth Geneva
Convention (Articles 50, 55 and 56), the Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring the medical
supplies of the population and of ensuring and maintaining the medical and hospital
establishments and services in the occupied territory", the letter said.