ICRC TO INCREASE GOI DETENTION INSPECTIONS AND

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002582

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/14/2018
TAGS: ICRC PHUM KJUS PINS IR IZ
SUBJECT: ICRC TO INCREASE GOI DETENTION INSPECTIONS AND
ENGAGE IN MEK TRANSFER OF AUTHORITY

REF: A. BAGHDAD 2304

B. BAGHDAD 2519

Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Steve Walker for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d)


1. (S) SUMMARY: In separate meetings with PolOff and
Embassy Legal Adviser on August 5, ICRC Iraq delegation
members discussed their increased access to GOI detention
facilities, ICRC support for USG efforts to obtain humane
treatment assurances before transferring third country
national detainees, and willingness to help facilitate the
transfer of authority over the Mujahedin e-Khalq (MEK) from
the USG to the GOI. Due to the improving security situation,
the ICRC is now able to increase inspections of GOI detention
facilities; it conducted its first Baghdad visit in July, a
limited-scale inspection at the Rusafa Rule of Law Complex.
The team has previously only inspected Ft. Suse prison in
Sulaymaniyah in December 2007. ICRC said it would monitor
and advise the GOI, USG, and MEK leadership with regard to
the upcoming transfer of responsibility for the MEK from the
USG to the GOI, including a visit to Camp Ashraf to conduct a
humanitarian assessment of each MEK member. END SUMMARY.

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DETENTION FACILITY INSPECTIONS INCREASING
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2. (C) In a meeting with PolOff on August 5, ICRC Iraq
delegation members discussed their increased access to GOI
detention facilities. Protection Coordinator Laurent Saugy
and Legal Advisor Larry Maybee said that the improved
security situation has enabled ICRC to increase its
inspections of GOI detention facilities. An ICRC team
conducted its first Baghdad visit in July, a limited-scale
inspection at the Rusafa Rule of Law Complex. The team had
previously only been able to inspect only one facility due to
security concerns for ICRC teams, Ft. Suse prison in
Sulaymaniyah, in December 2007. The delegation expressed
hope that with the security improvements in Iraq and a formal
agreement with the GOI, ICRC could expand its operations and
have a strong, positive impact on the treatment of detainees
and the conditions of detention facilities.


3. (C) Since 1992, the ICRC has had a formal agreement with
the KRG to inspect KRG and Asayish detention facilities, but
it had not been active in the rest of Iraq until 2007. In
2007, the ICRC Iraq delegation made a verbal agreement with
Deputy Minister of Justice Posho to inspect Ministry of
Justice (MoJ) detention facilities. The ICRC also engaged
with the Ministry of Interior (MoI),Ministry of Defense
(MoD),and Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MoLSA) on
inspecting their detention facilities; each agreed "in
principle" to ICRC inspections. The ICRC is currently in
discussions with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) to
negotiate a formal agreement that would give the ICRC access
to all detention facilities in Iraq. The team hopes to
complete this agreement in 2009.

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TRANSFER OF TCNS
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4. (C) The ICRC team discussed with Embassy Legal Adviser
on August 5 USG efforts to protect third country national
(TCN) detainees following their transfer from MNF-I custody
to their home countries. The ICRC team expressed support for
USG efforts to vet TCNs for persecution fears, and to obtain
humane treatment assurances from receiving states prior to
transferring TCNs. The team encouraged the USG to inform
detainees of any assurances the USG may receive from states
to which they will be transferred. More generally, the ICRC
team asked that MNF-I stop returning released detainees to
their points of capture. Many such detainees, they noted,
are rearrested and tortured by MoI. They urged MNF-I to work
with appropriate GOI officials, including the Minister of
Human Rights, to return released detainees directly to their
families (ref A).

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MEK TRANSFER OF RESPONSIBILITY
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5. (S) The ICRC delegation told PolOff that it would be
actively involved in the upcoming transfer of security
responsibility for the MEK from the USG to the GOI, including
a visit to Camp Ashraf in the near future to conduct a
humanitarian assessment and interview residents. They
emphasized that this visit would occur after MNF-I conducts a
risk assessment by conducting a census and interviewing each
MEK member (ref A). (Note: MNF-I completed the census on
August 10. End Note.) Once the transfer took place, ICRC

BAGHDAD 00002582 002 OF 002


would continue to facilitate repatriations to Iran for
willing MEK members. The team also noted ICRC's intention
soon to designate two ICRC employees to work full-time at
Camp Ashraf. The ICRC will make an initial reconnaissance
visit to Camp Ashraf on August 19, and the head of the ICRC
Iraq delegation, Juan-Pedro Schaerer, will lead a delegation
to visit Ashraf a week later.


6. (S) The ICRC delegation noted to Embassy Legal Adviser
that it shares the USG's interpretation of the legal status
of the MEK at Camp Ashraf, i.e., that because the
international armed conflict in Iraq ended in 2004, and
because the United States is not an "occupying power" in
Iraq, the MEK have no legal right to claim protected persons
status under the Fourth Geneva Convention. However, ICRC
observed that MNF-I bears responsibility for protecting the
MEK at Camp Ashraf for as long as MNF-I controls the camp.


7. (S) ICRC supports the USG strategy for a phased
transition of authority over Camp Ashraf from the USG to the
GOI. The team highlighted the importance of receiving
written assurances from the GOI that it will not forcibly
expel, torture, or otherwise mistreat the Camp Ashraf
residents following a transfer of authority. ICRC also
supported the USG's request to the GOI that the USG, or a
mutually agreed third party, have access to the MEK at Camp
Ashraf for as long as it remains open, in order to verify the
GOI's humane treatment assurances.


8. (S) The ICRC delegation emphasized the need for the USG
to respect its independence and limited mandate. The team
noted, for example, that it could not, without consent, share
interview results from ICRC interviews, and thus urged the
USG independently to interview individual MEK members about
their fears of persecution, and independently assess their
wishes to remain at Ashraf, reside elsewhere in Iraq, return
to Iran, or resettle in a third state. The ICRC also asked
the USG to coordinate closely with ICRC before making public
statements about the organization's involvement with the MEK,
so as not to compromise its independence or mandate. The GOI
also should be encouraged not to unilaterally broadcast
ICRC's role at Camp Ashraf.


9. (C) COMMENT: ICRC's increased access to GOI detention
operations and the upcoming transfer of security authority
for Camp Ashraf is a positive step in the ICRC increasing its
engagement in Iraq beyond its extensive humanitarian
assistance activities. A larger ICRC presence will support
USG efforts in promoting rule of law and will increase
pressure on the GOI to improve detention operation standards
and respect humanitarian assurances. Although ICRC will not
relocate its Iraq delegation from Amman to Baghdad in the
near future, it will continue to step up its presence around
the country, including at Camp Ashraf. Post will coordinate
and share information on our detention facility inspections
with the ICRC and encourage the teams to expand their scope
of work. We will also encourage ICRC's efforts in ensuring
humane treatment of the MEK during and after the transfer of
security authority.
CROCKER