IRAQI INTERIOR MINISTER AUTHORIZES FIRING OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 002998 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/16/2016 TAGS: PGOV PINS PHUM KJUS IZ SUBJECT: IRAQI INTERIOR MINISTER AUTHORIZES FIRING OF EMPLOYEES REF: A. BAGHDAD 2924 ¶B. BAGHDAD 2842 Classified By: RULE OF LAW COORDINATOR JAMES YELLIN FOR REASON 1.4 (d). -------------- SUMMARY AND COMMENT -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Minister of Interior Bolani told ROL/Emboffs that on August 6 he had authorized the firing of 1,200 MOI employees with criminal records. But as of August 16 only a "small portion" of these people had been dismissed, according to the MOI Deputy Minister for Intelligence. ¶2. (C) COMMENT: If Bolani follows through on firing the 1,200 employees, he could help strengthen the rule of law and help inspire greater public confidence in the Ministry of Interior. This would not, however, obviate the need to arrest the people implicated in the abuses at the Ministry of Interior detention facility known as Site 4, including the commander of the Second National Police Division, Major General Mahdi Sobiah. END SUMMARY AND COMMENT. -------------- MINISTER AUTHORIZES FIRING OF EMPLOYEES -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Minister of Interior Jawad al-Bolani told Rule of Law (ROL) Coordinator on August 7 that the previous day he had signed an order authorizing the firing of 1,200 MOI employees because they had criminal records. (NOTE: We have obtained a copy of the written order, which specifies that the number is 1,228. END NOTE). ¶4. (C) But MOI Deputy Minister for Intelligence Hussein Ali Kamal told Acting Legatt on August 16 that only a "small portion" of the 1,228 had actually been fired. Kamal said Bolani plans to fire the 1,228 in small groups in order to minimize any political and security backlash. -------------- BACKGROUND ON THE 1,228 -------------- ¶5. (C) According to MOI employees, the MOI internal affairs unit investigated all 1,228 cases and has identified the employees as having committed serious crimes, including attacks on Coalition Forces, murder, and child molestation. According to Deputy Minister Kamal, many of the 1,228 belong to the Jaysh al-Mahdi, the militia of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. ¶6. (C) Many of the 1,228 employees were linked to their criminal records by fingerprint screenings about one year ago, according to MOI employees. But according to these sources, former Minister of Interior Bayan Jabr refused to carry out a mass firing amid the potentially destabilizing political events of last fall and winter, including the elections for a permanent government - a government in which Jabr serves as Finance Minister. -------------- POSSIBLE FUTURE DISMISSALS -------------- ¶7. (SBU) An MOI memo, apparently dated from early August, states: --A check of employee fingerprints (NOTE: Including against a US-supported Iraqi database. END NOTE) indicates 5.000 more MOI employees may have criminal records. --The firing of many of the above employees is likely in December. ¶8. (C) According to MOI employees, many of the above 5,000 were identified as criminals nearly a year ago when their fingerprints were first screened. (NOTE: Their cases have to be investigate by the MOI internal affairs unit to determine whether the criminal offenses are grounds for dismissal. Some of the offenses identified, for example, are political crimes against the former regime, which are not considered grounds for dismissal. END NOTE). KHALILZAD