Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BAGHDAD4778
2006-12-30 01:36:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

IRAQI KURDISTAN MINISTER OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Tags:  PHUM PGOV PREL PINS KJUS KPAO US IZ 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO7050
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #4778/01 3640136
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 300136Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8856
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 004778 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/24/2016
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL PINS KJUS KPAO US IZ
SUBJECT: IRAQI KURDISTAN MINISTER OF HUMAN RIGHTS
ACKNOWLEDGES ABUSES


Classified By: Regional Coordinator James Yellin for reason 1.4 (d).

This is a Kurdistan Regional Reconstruction Team (RRT) cable.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 004778

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/24/2016
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL PINS KJUS KPAO US IZ
SUBJECT: IRAQI KURDISTAN MINISTER OF HUMAN RIGHTS
ACKNOWLEDGES ABUSES


Classified By: Regional Coordinator James Yellin for reason 1.4 (d).

This is a Kurdistan Regional Reconstruction Team (RRT) cable.


1. (C) SUMMARY: Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)
Minister of Human Rights, Yousif Mohammad Aziz, admitted an
imperfect human rights record in a meeting with Regional
Coordinator and RRTOffs on December 18. Minister Aziz
acknowledged physical abuse in prisons, failure to release
prisoners after the completion of their sentence, and
intimidation of independent journalists. He said the
Ministry of Human Rights performs an advocacy role by
bringing complaints to the ministries of justice and
interior, and by raising public awareness of human rights
protections. He also requested technical assistance in
developing laws for the protection of human rights and press
freedoms. END SUMMARY.

POLICING AND CORRECTIONS REMAINS DECENTRALIZED


2. (SBU) RRTOffs met in Erbil with Yousif Mohammad Aziz, KRG
Minister of Human Rights, on December 18, who said his
ministry acts as an advocate for human rights within the
government and conducts public awareness campaigns. He added
that the Ministry of Human Rights investigates complaints
against other government ministries, such as the Ministry of
Justice and the Ministry of Interior, but the legal framework
for the protection of human rights is the domain of the
Ministry of Justice, while policing and public security fall
to the Ministry of Interior. Finally, the Ministries of
Justice and Interior operate their own prisons.


3. (SBU) COMMENT: The Ministries of Justice and Interior are
two of four government ministries that were not merged when
the KDP and PUK parties agreed to form a unified regional
government in January 2006. As a result, the parties each
maintain separate Ministries of Justice and Interior which
operate in their respective regional strongholds,
complicating the ability of the KRG to monitor and maintain

uniform protections for human rights. END COMMENT.

TORTURE PERSISTS BUT IS NOT SYSTEMIC


4. (C) Regional Coordinator inquired about the role of the
Ministry of Human Rights in supervising conditions in KRG
prisons. Aziz explained that Ministry officials visit
prisons in the region bi-weekly. ICRC and international NGOs
such as Human Rights Watch also make periodic visits and are
welcomed. According to Aziz, officials have uncovered cases
of prisoner beatings and torture, but this is limited to
individual prison guards and is not a systematic government
or corrections policy. Aziz avoided answering questions on
the treatment of prisoners in &clandestine8 secret prisons
run by KDP and PUK security forces. He said the Ministry
only handles prisons that are officially registered.


5. (C) Aziz also said the corrections systems frequently
keeps prisoners incarcerated beyond the completion of their
sentence. Sometimes this is due to an assessment that the
prisoner is likely to face private retaliation for his crime
upon release. In many other cases this is because the system
lacks personnel and resources (e.g. parole officers) to
properly administer prisoner release programs.

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS &GOOD, BUT NOT VERY GOOD8


6. (C) Regional Coordinator inquired about protections for
press freedoms, citing the arrest of several prominent
journalists in the region for criticism of KRG and party
officials. The Minister, a PUK member from Dohuk province,
said KDP officials were responsible for the most severe cases
and quickly asserted that all the journalists had been
released. He said that while press freedom in the region is
not perfect, it had improved since the Saddam era. &I
cannot tell you that it,s very good, but it,s good,8 he
said. He added, &We cannot make a switch from Saddam to
democracy in a matter of days.8


7. (U) Background on Press Freedom: Kamal Sayed Qadir, an
Iraqi-Austrian dual national of Kurdish decent was arrested
and sentenced to 30-years in prison in the fall of 2005 for
criticizing KRG Prime Minister Masoud Barzani and other KDP
officials for corruption. He was released only after the
Austrian government and UN officials interceded. Earlier
this year Sulaimaniyah-based journalist Hawez Hawezi was
detained for 4-days and beaten by PUK security forces after
publishing an article pointing to corruption in the PUK.
After a second detention for a follow-up story, Hawezi left
Iraq to seek refugee status with the UN in neighboring Syria.



8. (C) Tawana Osman, editor-in-chief of Sulaimaniyah-based

BAGHDAD 00004778 002 OF 002


independent weekly Hawlati (The Citizen) independent daily
recounted in a meeting with RRT PAO five cases in the last
year in which he defended his publication for investigative
reports on topics such as food and vaccination theft by
public officials and drug abuse by Kurdish celebrities,
receiving a six-month suspended sentence in one case. The
publication has hired a lawyer who does a final editorial
&scrub8 before publication pointing out stories government
officials may find objectionable. End Background.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR ASSISTANCE


9. (U) The Minister said he would welcome assistance from the
United States to improve the legal framework for human rights
protections in the region, especially in drafting and
administering human rights codes and a press law. He
stressed that this work should be done in conjunction with
the Kurdistan National Assembly (KNA) committee on Human
Rights and the Ministries of Justice and Interior. Regional
Coordinator replied that he would look into what might be
done to help.
SCOBEY