SUNNI PARLIAMENTARIANS FORM HUMAN RIGHTS BOARD;

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 001306 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/22/2016 TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM IZ SUBJECT: SUNNI PARLIAMENTARIANS FORM HUMAN RIGHTS BOARD; SAY THEY WILL ASK SHIA LEADERS TO JOIN Classified By: DEPUTY POLITICAL COUNSELOR MICHAEL J. ADLER, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) In an April 18 conversation, Sunni Council of Representative (CoR) and National Dialogue member Hasan Dekan Khudeir Al-Janabi told Poloff that Tawaffuq had created a human rights abuse review board to focus on displacement and detentions. Degan said that the Board, currently comprised of six Tawaffuq members, would soon reach out to Shia coalition members to join. He said the board currently consisted of CoR members Ala Mekki, Husayn al-Falluji, Abdul Nasar al-Janabi, Dhafir al Ani, and Omar Al-Jabouri. According to Dekan, the intent of the board is to investigate human rights abuses pertaining to detainees and sectarian displacement. When asked whether he hoped to serve on the CoR human rights committee, Dekan replied that he was interested in serving on both the security and human rights committees, but if forced to choose between the two, he would choose the security committee. (COMMENT: While clearly seeing human rights and security as linked, Dekan appeared to believe he would have more impact on the security committee.) ¶2. (C) Dekan told Poloff that the board had been formed by Tawaffuq members soon after the February 22 Samarra attack to respond to the growing concerns over sectarian displacement as well as complaints regarding detainee abuse. Dekan explained to PolOff that he was hoping to enlarge the membership on the board with members from the Shia coalition as well as with representatives from the Ministries of Defense, Interior, Human Rights, and Displacement and Migration. ¶3. (C) Dekan said the board was needed because of the lack of response to complaints of detainee abuse as well as the growing sectarian displacement problem. He emphasized that involvement by members of the Shia Coalition is particularly important in order to make the board effective and credible. Dekan reported that he had already begun active work in visiting prisons and meeting with the associated ministries. Dekan said he had not produced reports on his findings but promised to keep PolOff apprised of the development of the group as well as of its conclusions. ¶4. (C) Comment: In a country where one's perspective on specific abuse allegations is often shaped by sectarian identity, it is noteworthy that a Tawafuq CoR member intends to reach out to members of the Shia community. Though Dekan is still in the beginning phase, members of the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) have had experience receiving human rights abuses complaints from their constituents and no doubt will be able to support this effort. It remains to be seen whether Degan is serious about including Shia Coalition members on the board, whether any Shia Coalition member will be willing to sign on, and whether this initiative will live on past government formation and establishment of the CoR Human Rights Committee. KHALILZAD