Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BAGHDAD1041
2008-04-05 12:43:00
SECRET
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

MOHR DISCUSSES AMNESTY LAW, COM DECISIONS

Tags:  PHUM KDEM KJUS PGOV PINS IZ 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO5400
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #1041/01 0961243
ZNY SSSSS ZZH ZDK
P 051243Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6652
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001041 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/05/2018
TAGS: PHUM KDEM KJUS PGOV PINS IZ
SUBJECT: MOHR DISCUSSES AMNESTY LAW, COM DECISIONS

BAGHDAD 00001041 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Political Counselor Matt Tueller for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d)

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001041

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/05/2018
TAGS: PHUM KDEM KJUS PGOV PINS IZ
SUBJECT: MOHR DISCUSSES AMNESTY LAW, COM DECISIONS

BAGHDAD 00001041 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Political Counselor Matt Tueller for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: The Minister of Human Rights Wijdan Salim
discussed with PolOff on April 2 the state of amnesty
implementation and recent Council of Ministers votes. A
Ministry of Human Rights team has been investigating actual
releases of detainees under the Amnesty Law and has found
that far fewer detainees have been released than the chief
prosecutor submits. The Minister claimed that people are
being released without proper documentation from the
Ministries of Interior and Defense detention facilities, but
very few are being released from Ministry of Justice
facilities. She said the chief prosecutor is pushing for the
release of high-risk detainees who do not qualify under the
law for amnesty. The Minister discussed recent votes in the
Council of Ministers such as adopting the UN Convention
Against Torture and passing, at the Prime Minister's urgent
request, the plan to give USD 300 million to Coalition Forces
for reconstruction in Iraq. END SUMMARY.

AMNESTY LAW IMPLEMENTATION


2. (C) Ministry of Human Rights teams are investigating
claims by the chief prosecutor, Judge Ghadanfer al-Jasem,
that 13,000 detainees have been released under the Amnesty
Law, and 17,000 will be released in total. (Note: According
to the Supreme Judicial Council in open source press, 21,033
detainees have been released as of April 3. We have not seen
any evidence supporting this number. End Note.) The teams
have not found any evidence to substantiate these claims and
have evidence of only 302 detainees released from Ministry of
Justice (MoJ) facilities, 98 juveniles from Ministry of Labor
and Social Affairs (MoLSA) facilities, and only nine women
total. (Note: Judge Ghadanfer told ROL coordinator April 3
that the MoJ is refusing to release individuals who have been
granted amnesty, and Chief Judge Medhat will investigate this
matter. End Note.)


3. (C) Wijdan speculated that the majority of the 13,000
claimed by the prosecutor are being released from Ministry of

Interior (MoI) and Ministry of Defense (MoD) facilities. She
personally investigated this number, asking the head of the
MOI documentation office how many documents of released
detainees had been submitted. He was only given 44 such
documents, which are the original arresting documents with
identification information including pictures and
fingerprints. Wijdan was angry that the implementation is
not following the regulations, which require all releases to
be documented to track if any commit crimes within the
five-year period after release. The Ministry is working to
get a complete list of all releases.


4. (C) Minister Wijdan is also holding chief prosecutor
Ghadanfer responsible for releasing terrorists and others who
do not qualify for amnesty under the law, adding that
Ghadanfer is focused on releasing Sunni detainees. Wijdan
gave PolOff a copy of a list of people Ghadanfer had
recommended for release at Ft. Suse prison (MoJ),which
included two people convicted of willful murder, one
convicted of kidnapping and rape, and two sentenced to death
on terrorism charges. (Note: Under Article 2 of the Amnesty
Law, persons sentenced to death and convicted of willful
killing, kidnapping, and rape are to be excluded from the
law. End Note.) According to Wijdan, Deputy Minister of
Justice Posho did not support Ghadanfer's list, and ordered
these people not to be released; they are supposedly still
being held. In a separate allegation, Wijdan accused
Ghadanfer of refusing to allow the MoHR to transfer those
being released to their homes for security concerns and
instead is ordering the release of detainees directly out of
the prison gates.

COM AGREEMENTS: TORTURE, RECONSTRUCTION, ELECTIONS


5. (C) The Council of Ministers (CoM) on April 1 agreed to
adopt the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. This must now
go to the Council of Representatives (CoR) for approval. The
CoM however refused to agree to Article 20, which allows for
a commission, established according to the convention, to
investigate allegations of torture against the government.
According to Wijdan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the
Prime Minister's Legal Department were opposed to Article 20
because other countries have also excepted this article.
(Note: This is legal under the convention, as Article 28(1)
states: "Each State may, at the time of signature or
ratification of the Convention or accession thereto, declare
that it does not recognize the competence of the Committee
provided for in article 20." End Note.) The Ministry of
Displacement and Migration wanted to delay adopting the
convention due to the cost of paying for victims of torture,
and the Ministry of Environment wanted to establish laws

BAGHDAD 00001041 002 OF 002


against torture before adopting the convention. Wijdan
emphasized during the meeting that the convention can help
push through laws against torture and said the CoM favors
introducing new laws and increasing focus on preventing
torture.


6. (S) The CoM also agreed to give USD 300 million to
Coalition Forces for reconstruction projects in Iraq. She
said the Iraqi point of contact for the transfer of funds
will be the Higher Reconstruction Council, which is part of
the Prime Minister's Office and headed by Haq Al-Hakim.
Wijdan voted against this proposal because she disagrees with
the choice of Iraqi head of the project, accusing the council
of rampant corruption. She said this measure passed on April
1 because Maliki urgently pushed the CoM to adopt the plan.
According to Wijdan, the PM wanted to show the USG that he
does support the Coalition in light of the timing of his
Basra operations right before the April Congressional
testimony.


7. (SBU) Wijdan also confirmed that the CoM approved the
Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) initial request
for USD 100 million to fund voter registration activities.
She added that the Prime Minister,s draft of the elections
law will not be re-submitted to the CoM for review before
transmission to the CoR.


8. (C) COMMENT: According to Minister Wijdan and USG
monitoring, there is great discrepancy between publicly
announced figures of releases under the Amnesty Law and
actual releases. Implementation of the law does not seem to
be uniform around the country, and there are serious
allegations of violations under the law, some attributed to a
high-level MoJ official. We will follow-up on the list of
detainees at Ft. Suse who do not seem to qualify for amnesty.
We will also monitor the progress of the Convention Against
Torture as it is deliberated in the CoR. END COMMENT.
BUTENIS