VP HASHIMI'S HUMAN RIGHTS ADVISOR AND TASK FORCE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 002854 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2017 TAGS: PHUM MOPS PREL PGOV PINR IZ SUBJECT: VP HASHIMI'S HUMAN RIGHTS ADVISOR AND TASK FORCE 134 DISCUSS COALITION DETENTIONS REF: A. BAGHDAD 2720 ¶B. BAGHDAD 2670 ¶C. BAGHDAD 2671 ¶D. BAGHDAD 2503 ¶E. BAGHDAD 2784 Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR MATT TUELLER FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (S) SUMMARY: Sheikh Omar Jabouri, Vice President (VP) Tariq al-Hashimi's human rights advisor, proposed August 14 that tribal sheikhs should act as guarantors for the release of Coalition detainees. In his conversation with Task Force 134 (TF-134) Commanding General Major General (MG) Douglas Stone -- who oversees the Coalition's detention program -- Jabouri noted that the tribes could recruit former detainees to fight against al-Qa'eda in Iraq (AQI). He stated his intention to engage with Multi-National Corps-Iraq (MNC-I) Commanding General Lieutenant General (LTG) Raymond Odierno to advocate for MNC-I's approval of more releases so that TF-134 can release more detainees through the guarantor pledge program. Jabouri also offered to assist TF-134 in locating qualified personnel to apply for positions as teachers, counselors, and moderate religious instructors to support the Theater Internment Facility Reintegration Center (TIFRIC) Program, aimed at rehabilitating Coalition detainees and reintegrating them into civic life. END SUMMARY. -------------- -------------- JABOURI: SHEIKHS CAN GUARANTEE RELEASES OF COALITION DETAINEES -------------- -------------- ¶2. (S) Sheikh Omar Jabouri on August 14 advocated for tribal sheikhs to act as release guarantors for Coalition detainees during a meeting with TF-134 Commanding General MG Stone. (Note: Under the Coalition's Judicial Pledge Program, Iraqi judges certify guarantors' liability for the actions of detainees who sign a pledge to refrain from future misconduct in conjunction with their releases from Coalition custody. End note.) Jabouri said that that many Sunni tribes are now fighting alongside Coalition Forces, and if more Coalition-held detainees were released, they could be recruited by tribal sheikhs to fight AQI. He stated that "if the problem of certain detainees is that they pose an imminent threat, the tribes can guarantee that they will not go against the Coalition or Iraqi Security Forces." Jabouri suggested providing sheikhs with guarantor release forms so that "two birds could be killed with one stone" -- the Coalition and tribes could be brought closer, while increasing their combined, counter-AQI capacity. He further noted that he had engaged with Coalition commanders in the nine districts of Baghdad through three lines of coordination: combat, intelligence, and security near mosques. Jabouri noted that Coalition battalion and brigade leaders are working with tribal and community leaders in the north of south of Baghdad. ¶3. (S) Jabouri asserted that many among the predominantly Sunni, Coalition-held detainee population are ready to cooperate by informing on AQI. Jabouri said that they were coming to understand that a "Persian agenda" had lured them into joining AQI and other similar groups in order to destroy their livelihoods. "Now people understand that the Coalition is not after their oil and is trying to rebuild their country," he added. Without providing specific details, Jabouri also told MG Stone he had conducted meetings for arranging post-detention employment programs. -------------- - MG STONE EXPLAINS GUARANTOR PROGRAM TO JABOURI -------------- - ¶4. (S) MG Stone explained to Jabouri that Iraqi judges from the Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI) who have presided over guaranteed releases under the Judicial Pledge Program at a courtroom at Camp Cropper (a Coalition detention center in Baghdad) believe tribal sheikhs might eventually exploit individuals they guarantee, and therefore, prefer family members as guarantors. He noted that TF-134 is working directly with Minister of Human Rights Wijdan Salim to locate appropriate guarantors. He told Jabouri that besides having guarantors, in order for security detainees to qualify for the pledge program, the Coalition units that originally took custody of the individuals and identified them as security threats must authorize their release. MG Stone further BAGHDAD 00002854 002 OF 003 explained that the authorizations can be from any level of MNC-I, and TF-134's Detainee Disposition Review Board assesses detainees' suitability for release before seeking permission from MNC-I to release them. MG Stone advised Jabouri that MNC-I Commanding General LTG Odierno must agree to any proposed releases. ¶5. (S) Jabouri replied that he and VP al-Hashimi would plan on discussing guaranteed releases with LTG Odierno in a future meeting, and perhaps suggest a list of candidates to be considered for the pledge program. ¶6. (S) MG Stone informed Jabouri that a group of 50 to 70 detainees, whose releases MNC-I had approved, would be released in Anbar province within a week, during a single ceremony. Jabouri stated that he was trying to generate moral support for the tribes to join the fight against extremists; therefore, "if 20 of 50 released detainees belong to a sheikh, shouldn't we say that the sheikh had something to do with the release?" MG Stone replied that sheikhs would be welcome to join the ceremony. -------------- JABOURI OFFERS TO ASSIST TIFRICS PROGRAM -------------- ¶7. (S) MG Stone told Jabouri that the Coalition wants to rehabilitate and release detainees whenever possible, and he believes that few are truly irreconcilable. Of the total Coalition-held detainee population, he said, there were perhaps 1,800 to 2,000 AQI-members, and there was an ongoing effort to try and co-opt 10 of them as Anti-extremist Re-education Program instructors as part of the Theater Internment Facility Reintegration Center (TIFRIC) Program. (Note: There are approximately 23,000 Coalition detainees held at Camp Cropper and at Camp Bucca in Um Qasr. The TIFRIC program concept is to decentralize the detainee population into several smaller centers located closer to detainees' places of origin. This would help detainees reintegrate into their home communities after receiving job-training, basic education, and anti-extremist re-education while they are detained. End note.) ¶8. (S) Jabouri praised the job training program, and said he believes the Coalition is serious about it. He offered to assist with recruiting 100 basic education instructors, 40 to 60 counselors and psychologists, and 20 moderate religious instructors for the different programs under TIFRIC. Jabouri also told MG Stone that he would try to help recruit approximately 80 guards and 30 teachers to assist the over 700 juveniles in Coalition custody (ref A). (Note: TF-134 on August 13 opened the "House of Wisdom" -- a school for Coalition-held juvenile detainees in the north part of Victory Base Complex. TF-134 plans to turn over the juveniles and the school to the GOI in the future (septel). End note.) ¶9. (S) In a separate conversation after his meeting with MG Stone, Jabouri (through his assistant Dr. Kheder Shukur who also attended the meeing) told PolOff that he believed it was the most productive meeting on the detainee issue he had attended during the last four years. -------------- JABOURI ON ENGAGING THE COALITION -------------- ¶10. (S) Jabouri also told PolOff that his direct engagements with Coalition units began approximately a year ago through the Brigade Combat Team in charge of the East and West Rashid areas of Baghdad. Jabouri assessed that because the Coalition has decided to engage the tribes in fighting AQI, his recent attempts at more extensive engagements with Coalition units have become more successful (ref B and C). -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶11. (S) Jabouri's positive view of guaranteed releases and rehabilitation and reintegration for the majority Sunni detainee population at Coalition detention centers is consistent with views expressed by other prominent Sunnis (ref D). Jabouri's suggestion that sheikhs should receive credit for detainee releases indicates that they equate to an BAGHDAD 00002854 003 OF 003 important political deliverable for Sunni politicians. ¶12. (S) The TIFRIC program and detainee release programs may not necessarily enjoy equal support from Shi'a politicians, and therefore, necessarily promote national reconciliation. For example, on August 20, the Badr Organization-affiliated paper published a last-page commentary by Sadk Al-Rusafi calling for the execution of "terrorists" in both GOI and USG controlled prisons, noting that: "There are thousands of al-Qa'eda's elements in the U.S. and government prisons. These are criminals and murderers, some of them have spent several years without trial. We believe that keeping them all this time without trial is not in the favor of Iraq especially because these murderers are ready to return to their criminal trade as soon as possible. Keeping them all this time will open the door for their release by many suspicious parties that have links with Al-Qaeda who have paid large amounts of money for their support" (ref E). END COMMENT. CROCKER