Marla Ruzicka, (December 31 1976 – April 16, 2005), of Lakeport, California was an American Green activist and aid worker who was killed by a car bomb blast in Baghdad. She founded the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC), an organization that assists Iraqi victims of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.
She organized door-to-door surveys of civilian casualties in Iraq since the US capture of Baghdad in April 2003. CIVIC survey teams fanned-out across Iraq to gather first-hand accounts of civilian casualties of dead, injured, homeless, displaced, and abused.
After receiving CIVIC's first report, Patrick Leahy - the Democratic Senator for Vermont - sponsored legislation to provide $10 million in U.S. aid to innocent Iraqis who have been harmed by the US military.
Ruzicka had ten years of human rights organizing experience. Prior to launching the project in Iraq, she was based in Kabul, Afghanistan. Ruzicka worked with the San Francisco-based human rights organization, Global Exchange , to pressure the US government to set up a fund for Afghan families harmed in Operation Enduring Freedom. She arrived in Kabul only a few days after the Taliban were removed from power. In Afghanistan, she conducted a survey on the military campaign effects on Afghan civilians to apply for compensation and aid.
In July 2002, Ruzicka began working with USAID and the Senate Appropriations Committee to allocate money to rebuild homes for families that suffered losses as a result of U.S. military actions.
"Marla Ruzicka is out there saying, 'Wait, everybody. Here is what is really happening. You'd better know about this.' We have whistle blowers in industry. Maybe sometimes we need whistle blowers in foreign policy." - Senator Patrick Leahy.
External links
Last updated: 05-06-2005 23:12:49
