GOI CALLS DETENTION OPERATIONS AND AMNESTY LAW A

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 002396 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/31/2018 TAGS: PHUM KJUS PINS PTER IZ SUBJECT: GOI CALLS DETENTION OPERATIONS AND AMNESTY LAW A NATIONAL CRISIS REF: A. BAGHDAD 2368 ¶B. BAGHDAD 1921 Classified By: Pol MinCouns Robert Ford for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih and Minister of Human Rights Wijdan Salim convened a meeting on July 27 with representatives of all three branches of government to address problems in the GOI detention system and with implementation of the Amnesty Law. Each branch representative admitted that there were fundamental problems within the detention system and that there was little coordination between the entities; some deemed it a "national crisis." Barham ordered the ministries to work together to address the lack of coordination through follow-up meetings and establish one national policy to deal with detention operations. Ministry and judicial officials blamed the problems with amnesty implementation on the lack of a national detainee database. With incomplete information, they cannot easily locate detainees. Barham charged the MoI's criminal registry bureau with putting together a national detainee database by working with each of the relevant ministries. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih and Minister of Human Rights Wijdan Salim convened a 3.5 hour meeting on July 27 to discuss problems with the GOI detention system and with amnesty implementation. Participants included Minister of Justice Safa al-Safi; Deputy Minister of Justice Ibrahim Posho; Deputy Minister of Interior Major General Ayden Khaled Qadir; officials from the Ministries of Interior, Defense, and Labor and Social Affairs; Chief Justice Medhat al-Mahmoud; Chief Prosecutor Ghadanfer; Judge Fayak; and parliamentarians Abdul Karim al-Samaraee (Tawafuq) and Harith al-Obaidy (Tawafuq). Embassy and MNF-I officials attended. DETENTION OPERATIONS: TORTURE AND LACK OF COORDINATION ¶3. (C) Minister Wijdan opened the discussion by stating that although there has been much progress in the GOI detention system in the last two years, there have been increasing reports of problems in the last few months. She emphasized that with security improving, this is the time to address fundamental problems with detention operations. She accused the Ministry of Interior (MoI) and Ministry of Defense (MoD) of arresting people without warrants, blocking inspection visits by her ministry, preventing family and lawyer visits of certain detainees, overcrowding and the spread of contagious diseases, long detentions without trial, and using torture methods to obtain forced confessions. Many of the torture cases, she said, were committed by the Baghdad Operations Command (BOC) during arrests and interrogations. (Note: No BOC representative was present at the meeting to address these concerns. End Note.) Wijdan said her ministry has reported 194 torture cases in 2007 and 2008 and sent each case to Ghadanfer. However, she claimed that there have been no convictions against any officers; they are only transferred to other jobs. ¶4. (C) An MoI official, upon questioning by Barham on these accusations, explained that police stations around the country are under control of provincial authorities, so the MoI has no authority to ensure detainees are not abused or tortured. He said that these police stations are staffed by "unqualified officers who know nothing about the law." An MoD official stated that "sometimes detainees resist during the arrest, so they are injured as a result." He added that warrants are sometimes not issued if there are national security threats although Wijdan argued that this is still unconstitutional. Al-Safi said the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) had improved human rights conditions in its facilities. It thus saw no incidents of torture in its facilities because investigations are conducted at MoI, MoD or BoC facilities prior to detainees' arrival at MoJ facilities. Regarding the accusations of zero accountability for torture, Medhat placed blame on the ministries for protecting employees against prosecution (ref A). Ghadanfer added that forced confessions are not accepted by judges, but that as far as punishing those who extract them, the Higher Judicial Council (HJC) cannot prosecute torture cases without cooperation from the ministries. Medhat commented on long detentions without trial and said if the ministries gave the HJC their case files, the HJC would ensure that the cases went to trial. Judge Fayak said one problem was there are not enough investigative judges. Barham remarked that this situation was unacceptable, and the HJC needs to investigate each torture case. ¶5. (C) Each party admitted that there were fundamental problems within the detention system and that there was little coordination between the entities, resulting in differing policies and a lack of standard procedures. Barham, Medhat, and Safa called the situation a "national crisis" and argued that the entities must continue meeting and establish one national policy to deal with detention operations. Medhat added that all detainees appearing for judicial investigation or trial must be under the custody of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ),which he claimed is stipulated by the Constitution. Barham noted that they had only a few months to fix these problems, as a new environment would be upon them soon. Barham ordered the ministries to work together to address the lack of coordination through follow-up meetings and also ordered each ministry to allocate money in its 2009 budget for new prison construction to address overcrowding issues. Barham said that the whole detention system would change at the end of the year, and the GOI would need to establish a coordinated policy before it is overwhelmed with responsibility. He said he would raise this with the PM once the ministries came up with a plan of action and then submit it to the Council of Ministers for approval. CONTINUED AMNESTY IMPLEMENTATION PROBLEMS ¶6. (C) The participants blamed much of the gap between release orders and releases on the chaotic nature of the detention system and specifically, the lack of a national detainee database. They complained that there is a delay in releasing detainees because each ministry must first find the accurate location of the detainee and make sure the detainee does not have other charges. Barham charged the MoI's criminal registry bureau with immediately putting together a national detainee database by working with each of the relevant ministries. (Note: This department is under-staffed and has not kept up-to-date with detainee information. It has only 80% of the MoJ detainee population information. The MoD refuses to send it any information, and the MoI itself has no internal mechanism for collecting and organizing detainee information. (Ref B) End Note.) ¶7. (C) During the discussion, many participants agreed that the law is problematic as it allows amnesty for terrorism crimes. Dr. Safa said the MoJ consequently has to check each release order before it can release anyone. He said that the law was unconstitutional since terrorism crimes cannot be granted amnesty under international law. With Medhat laughing in the background, Safa proclaimed he wanted the law declared unconstitutional, so he could stop releasing people. (Note: MoJ releases continue slowly despite the Minister's view. End Note.) ¶8. (C) Minister Wijdan said the main problems with execution of amnesty release orders are in the MoJ and MoI, and there had been fewer than 2000 releases from the MoJ. Dr. Safa responded that MoJ releases have increased and are now higher than Wijdan's statistics. Representatives from the MoI and criminal registry department claimed that there have been more than 10,000 releases around the country, according to MoI officials in different provinces. ¶9. (C) COMMENT: Although this was not the first meeting between GOI actors on these issues, there was a sense of urgency among the actors that these problems needed to be addressed. They discussed fundamental issues, and while there was plenty of blame, all participants agreed to continue meeting in order to establish one national policy for detention operations. Barham was an effective leader of this group and will hopefully continue in this role. Spurred by the Ambassador's urging at prior meetings, Barham and Wijdan quickly pulled together an effective meeting between the necessary actors. END COMMENT. CROCKER