UN OUTLINES CONCERNS WITH IRAQ'S CONSTITUTIONAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000419

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/06/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV IZ
SUBJECT: UN OUTLINES CONCERNS WITH IRAQ'S CONSTITUTIONAL
REVIEW PROCESS


Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Daniel Speckhard for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Deputy Special Representative to the
Secretary General (D/SRSG) Michael Schulenburg and UNAMI

SIPDIS
Director for the Office of Constitutional Support Professor
Nicholas Haysom updated the DCM on the Constitutional Review
Committee's lack of urgency and unwillingness to tackle the
tough political problems. They believe that perhaps placing
a priority on first passing discrete laws on controversial
issues (and then enshrining any legislative compromises in
the constitutional review process) might improve the process.
Schulenburg updated the DCM about the new UNAMI C-130 based
at Baghdad International Airport. End Summary.

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A LACK OF URGENCY
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2. (C) Professor Haysom explained that the Constitutional
Review Committee (CRC) had divided their work among three
sub-committees: (1) purely technical issues, which are
non-controversial and expected to be rubber stamped; (2)
non-contentious issues of substance; and (3) contentious,
substantive political issues.


3. (C) CRC members told Haysom that they expect the work to
take them to mid-May. However, Haysom cautions there may be
further delays "because they have yet to address the
contentious political issues of substance." "There is no
sense of urgency, even among the Sunnis," he remarked.

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NO INTEGRATED JUDICIARY
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4. (C) The UN recommends that the CRC change its approach to
a thematic one: (1) architecture and interaction of the
judiciary, at the federal, regional and governorate levels,
(2) corrections to discrete areas of the bill of rights, (3)
framework for the division and exercise of government powers,
and (4) wealth-sharing.


5. (C) Haysom pointed out that certain parties who want to
keep the status quo do not realize that, for example, Kurdish
judicial decisions cannot be enforced in Baghdad, or that a
national air traffic control system cannot be established.
The UN approach focuses on educating the parties to the
concrete ways in which particular changes might improve the
system of governance, and to show parties that changes are
therefore not necessarily threatening (nor do they imply a
zero sum gain).


6. (C) In February, the UN will take CRC members on fact
finding trips to Malaysia, Spain and Germany to examine
different models of federalism, judicial structures, and
wealth-sharing arrangements. On January 20-24 the UN hosted
a conference in Cairo entitled "Mapping Outa New Federal
Judicial System for Iraq" which included CRC members and
leading judges, including Iraqi Chief Justice Dr. Medhat
al-Mahmoud.

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CONSIDERING A DIFFERENT APPROACH
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7. (C) D/SRSG Schulenburg opined that the constitutional
review process should not get tangled up with the competing
legislative process. "Maybe by first resolving some of the
core political issues in discrete pieces of legislation, we
could facilitate the constitutional review process," he
observed. Starting with discrete problems and then finding
specific solutions might be a more practical approach than
starting with broad theories and working downwards into the
details. This might require, however, lengthening the
constitutional review process and focusing instead on
legislation.


8. (C) D/SRSG Schulenburg also suggested investigating a
"seven wise men" approach, as was done in Spain, whereby a
group of political elders were brought together to deal with
various heated issues. DCM pointed out that, unless it was
set up very carefully, such a group could undermine the
current process.

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UNAMI'S C-130
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9. (C) Schulenburg also provided an update on the Danish
C-130 provided to UNAMI. Management Counselor and UNAMI
Chief Administrative Officer John Griffith are hammering out

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an agreement to allow USG access to the plane. Routes from
Baghdad International Airport include twice-weekly flights to
Amman and regular weekly service to Erbil.
KHALILZAD