TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE CONFERENCE READOUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002653

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/24/2016
TAGS: IZ KDEM PHUM PNAT PREL
SUBJECT: TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE CONFERENCE READOUT


Classified By: Political Counselor Margaret Scobey for reasons 1.4(b) a
nd (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY AND COMMENT: The United Nations
Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI),in partnership
with the International Center for Transitional Justice
(ICTJ) and Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights and the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights (UNHCR),
held a conference on transitional justice in Iraq on
July 22 and 23. Conference topics included Vetting
(De-Ba'thification),Prosecutions, Amnesty, Truth and
Reconciliation mechanisms, and Victim Compensation.
During the event, Iraqi government and International
officials discussed topics and formed recommendations
for moving forward on transitional justice issues. The
lack of political diversity among participants,
notably those working on De-Ba'thification issues,
calls into question some of the conclusions and
recommendations that were reached. END SUMMARY AND
COMMENT.

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MASHADANI'S OPENING REMARKS
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2. (C) The conference opened with remarks by Council
of Representatives (CoR) Speaker Mahmoud Mashadani.
Playing to heavy media presence, Mashadani made a
series of disparaging remarks against the US and UN
efforts in Iraq. Claiming the coalition was welcomed
as a surgeon, Mashadani said US forces have turned out
to be no better than butchers roughly treating a
carcass. He claimed the coalition was preventing
Iraqi security forces from securing the country and
demanded to know where human rights and transitional
justice were in a coalition holding 8,000 Iraqis in
detention without charges. Closing his statements,
Mashadani predicted reconciliation efforts would fail
if not done the Iraqi way, based on historic
principles as carried out through the Koran.

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DAY ONE HIGHLIGHTS
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3. (C) Following Mashadani's comments, Deputy Special
Representative to the UN Secretary General, Michael
Von Schulenburg, set aside his prepared remarks in an
attempt to re-focus the purpose of the conference.
Schulenburg opined that violence and retaliation must
not become a way of life in Iraq and that justice and
accountability were the only way to prevent this.
Schulenburg continued by suggesting that Iraq must
move away from blaming entire communities or groups
and instead prosecute individuals for their crime. He
said the UN stands ready to support, but Iraqis
themselves must lead the way.


4. (C) Iraqi Minister of Human Rights, Wijdan Salim,
called for the disbanding of militias and stressed the
importance of robust job training for those willing to
give up their arms. State Minister for National
Dialogue, Akram Al-Hakim, emphasized the just
treatment of detainees and early release as critical
to the beginning a dialogue process and stressed the
importance of compensation to those injured. Muwafak
Al-Rubaie stated that thousands currently held in
detention may be innocent and should be released. Al-
Rubaie went on to say that amnesty and detention are
Iraqi problems that must be dealt with by Iraqis.

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DAY TWO WORKSHOPS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
--------------


5. (C) On the second day of the conference, Iraqi
participants broke into four working groups, each
consisting of approximately 10 participants, an Iraqi
chairperson and a facilitator representing one of the
conference organizers. Emboffs were not allowed to
observe nor participate in the dialogue, but were
present for discussion of the final reports and
recommendations, summarized below:

-- Group 1 -- Recommendations on Vetting and De-
Ba'thification Processes: The process of De-
Ba'thification furthers the cause of justice in Iraq,
and therefore all decisions that have been issued by
the National De-Ba'thification Commission (NDC) should
be implemented. Ba'thists are largely responsible for

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corruption in the public sector and must be excluded
from government. The issue of rehabilitation and re-
integration into society is the last step in a process
that includes improvements in security, economic
development and victims' compensation, and should be
viewed as a longer term goal.

-- Group 2 -- Recommendations on Prosecutions: Rule of
law and accountability are key to transitional justice
efforts in Iraq. There must be a clear, legal
description of all those covered by any amnesty
issued. All convictions must be based on fair, legal
trials presided over by properly trained judges.
There should be a mechanism for cooperation between
the various transitional justice tools and bodies in
Iraq.

-- Group 3 -- Recommendations on Truth, Amnesty and
Reconciliation Mechanisms: Knowledge of the truth is
the first step towards public understanding and
prevention of further atrocities. A truth-telling
committee, supported by the UN and international NGOs,
should be formed by independent, professional experts.
The Council of Representatives should pass a law
tasking this committee to investigate human rights
violations from 1968 to the present. The committee
should produce final reports within two years or less,
and should provide these reports to the Speaker of
CoR, Chief Justice and Prime Minister. (COMMENT: The
deliberate inclusion of the post-Saddam years in the
recommendation on HR investigations is clearly
designed to include Iraqi Government and alleged
Coalition Forces human rights abuses. END COMMENT.)

-- Group 4 -- Recommendations on Compensation, Property
Claims and Martyrs: The issue of victims' compensation
raises problems for the government budget. Because
of the size of the problem, a committee of
representatives from the various relevant ministries
should be formed to draft compensation rules. This
committee should also take into account non-financial
ways to compensate victims, such as statues and
memorials. The committee should also look at other
available resources, such as revenue from properties
seized from Saddam and other officials of the former
regime.


6. (C) COMMENT: While it is encouraging to see Iraqis
debating issues of transitional justice, the lack of
political diversity among participants, especially in
the De-Ba'thification group, casts doubt on
conclusions reached on the most contentious issues.
De-Ba'thification facilitator Miranda Sisson of ICTJ
lamented that the Shia participants did not once
consider the Sunni perspective in their discussion of
the issue. Their solution rejects rehabilitation and
reconciliation in favor of broader application of De-
Ba'thification policies. Such one-sided conclusions
do not represent the whole of Iraqi public opinion,
and will likely lead to greater divides between Sunni
and Shia.


7. (C) COMMENT CONT'D: When asked why his political
bloc did not send more representatives to the
conference, which resulted in the one-sided
conclusions of the de-Ba'thification group, Tawafug
leader Alaa Mekki (who chaired the panel on amnesty
and reconciliation) commented that the Sunnis were
"lazy" and he couldn't get more political activists to
attend the conference. He added that he would submit
an opposing viewpoint on the De-Ba'thification issue
for the official record. While that may help to
balance the conference report, the lack of dialogue
between opposing sides is another lost opportunity.
END COMMENT.
SCOBEY