Hamit Dardagan, co-founder of Iraq Body Count, speaks on the catastrophic human cost of the Iraq War, 20 years on since the start of the 'war on terror'.



Hamit co-founded the Iraq Body Count project in late 2002 with John Sloboda, since when the project’s website has become the world’s largest public database of civilian deaths for a single conflict, recording details of the time, place and nature of more than 50,000 violent events in which they were killed. The organisation's documentation work continues to this day. He and John were also co-founding directors of the charity Every Casualty Worldwide, which they led until 2020. The charity was formed to bring fellow casualty recorders from around the world together for mutual support, to identify best practices and bring greater recognition to their field, culminating in the world’s first set of Standards for Casualty Recording. Hamit has written and co-authored a number of analytical papers on civilian casualties after Iraq’s 2003 invasion, including for the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet, as well as op-eds outlining the case for the detailed recording of all casualties (civilian and combatant) in publications as diverse as the Guardian and British Army Review.

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Every year the National Alternative Remembrance Ceremony makes a stand for a different approach to remembrance, one that confronts the injustices of war, remembers all its victims, both military and civilian, and stands up for peace.

This year the event was live streamed from Tavistock Square in London, after a year online due to the pandemic. Around 100 people attended in the square, with hundreds more watching online.

Speakers:
- Hamit Dardagan, co-founder of Iraq Body Count and the charity Every Casualty Worldwide
- Huda Ammori, activist, writer and co-founder of Palestine Action
- Hosted by Anya Nanning Ramamurthy, organiser of London youth climate strikes and PPU council member

The ceremony highlighted the importance of a peaceful and inclusive culture of remembrance at a time of growing instability caused by the climate crisis and the COVID pandemic. It also marked twenty years since 9/11 and the invasion of Afghanistan, with speakers focusing on the catastrophic impacts of the 'war on terror'.