COR HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE -- DIVERSE PLAYERS,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 004376 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/18/2016 TAGS: KDEM PHUM PGOV IZ SUBJECT: COR HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE -- DIVERSE PLAYERS, DIFFERING INTERESTS, DISAPPOINTING RESULTS REF: A. A) 06 BAGHDAD 01823 ¶B. B) 06 BAGHDAD 02590 Classified By: DEPUTY POLCOUNS ROBERT GILCHRIST FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) AND (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. After almost 5 months and countless meetings, the Council of Representatives (CoR) Human Rights Committee has yet to demonstrate that it will be an effective entity to draft or review key human rights legislation or substantially engage the CoR on its issues. Comprised of diverse members with notably differing priorities, the committee has failed to define its objectives, pass bylaws, or even pass the one piece of legislation that it was charged with reviewing in July. Numerous conferences and trips have repeatedly drawn committee members away from Baghdad for long periods of time, exacerbating the committee's relative dysfunction. The following is a snapshot of the committee to date. End Summary. ¶2. (C) The 14-member Human Rights Committee in the CoR contains individuals who appear passionate about human rights issues, but tend to define them in very distinct ways - often along sectarian lines. For example, the Committee Deputy Chair Harith al-Ubaidi (Tawafuq/Iraqi People's Conference) asserted in October that prison conditions were the top human rights issue for the committee. Meanwhile Shia Coalition (UIC) member and Faili Kurd Amer Thamer claimed that abuses against Faili Kurds both past and present were the highest priority, even going so far as to say that in the history of man no other has suffered as much as the Faili Kurd. ¶3. (C) Not to be outdone, UIC-Independent member Haifa al Helfi asserted to Emboffs November 14 that women's issues constituted one of the most important issue for the Human Rights Committee. Al Helfi, who is an Islamist, defined women's issues as violence against women and employment opportunities for women. Finally, UIC-Independent member and Shabak ethnic minority Hunain Qaddo has told PolOffs on multiple occasions that minority rights are extremely important and that intimidation on the part of Kurdish authorities is threatening the Shabak way of life. ¶4. (C) Despite these differences in opinions, most committee members have told EmbOffs that they strongly support the establishment of an Independent Human Rights Commission (Ref). However, after almost five months, the Committee has still been unable to pass it through. UNAMI's Human Rights Chief Gianni Magazzeni described to PolOffs on numerous occasions the intense, almost weekly, interaction UNAMI has with the Committee to encourage its passage. Despite UNAMI's efforts, the committee remains deadlocked. Ahlam As'ad (Kurdish Alliance/KDP),Secretary of the Human Rights Committee, told PolOffs in multiple Fall conversations that the legislation has been stuck because of disagreements on whether the commissioners should have immunity and how they would be selected. She also noted that the large number of offers of international training from international human rights organizations had delayed progress of the bill as members were often absent. ¶5. (C) Comment. Other committees have passed by-laws and have clear objectives of how their committee will approach their work. Despite substantial international assistance, however, the human rights committee finds it harder to do so simply because human right issues affecting Iraq are so wide-ranging and its members can not agree which are the most important. Additionally, with 14 members, the human rights committee is one the largest in parliament, which no doubt makes discussion more complicated. It is too early to know whether the committee's current inertia will characterize its existence over the next four years. A clear indicator will be whether the group manages to pass the Human Rights Commission legislation before recess, something even the Speaker's office has been pushing them to do. End Comment. ¶6. (U) Committee members: --Mohammed al-Haideri, Chair, --Harith Al-Ubaidy, Deputy Chair, Tawafuq -Iraqi's People Conference. --Ahlam As'ad Mohammed, Secretary, KAL-KDP, --Aida Ossairan, Iraqiyyia, --Amer Thamer Ali, UIC- Independent. --Amina Gahdban al-Fayadh, Tawafuq-IIP --Fatiha al-Zariej, UIC-SCIRI --Haifa Majli Al-Helfi, UIC-Independent --Dr. Hunain Qaddo, UIC-Independent --Hassan al-Rubai, UIC-Sadrist --Husayn Amir al-Abedi, UIC-Sadrist BAGHDAD 00004376 002 OF 002 --Kiyan Kamil Al-Basier, KAL-PUK --Omar Ali Husayn, KIU --Shatha Al-Obusi, Tawafoq-II KHALILZAD