PRT DIYALA: KURDS AND SUNNIS CLAIM GOI SECURITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002837

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/04/2018
TAGS: POL PINS PHUM MOPS IZ
SUBJECT: PRT DIYALA: KURDS AND SUNNIS CLAIM GOI SECURITY
OPERATIONS UNFAIRLY TARGET THEM

REF: BAGHDAD 2759

Classified By: Political Affairs Minister-Counselor Robert S. Ford for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (U) This is a PRT Diyala reporting cable.

Summary
--------------


2. (C) Top Kurdish and Sunni political leaders in Diyala
view the recent security operations in the province
(Operation Benevolent Diyala) as a GOI sectarian campaign
designed to suppress Kurdish and Sunni participation in the
upcoming provincial elections. Sunni contacts have told us
that arrests of Sunni political leaders and their staff
sidelined the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP),the Sons of Iraq
(SOI),and other Sunni groups during the recent voter
registration period, which ended August 28. PRT Rule of Law
team has confirmed that about a thousand were arrested and
all were Sunnis. Kurdish party leaders were not arrested,
but claim they were threatened by Iraqi Security Forces (ISF)
several days before the Khanaqin demonstration on August 26.
Sunni political leaders charged that ISF raids during
Operation Benevolent Diyala raised public fears and prevented
many from venturing outside their neighborhoods to register
to vote. Widespread Sunni and Kurdish perceptions of
injustices committed by ISF could negatively impact the
upcoming provincial elections in Diyala. End Summary.

Sunni Charges of GOI Election Tampering
--------------


3. (C) Diyala Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) Chairman Hamdi,
Provincial Council member and Sons of Iraq (SOI) Leader Dr.
Hussein al-Zubaidi, Deputy Governor Auwf, and other IIP
leaders have repeatedly complained that Operation Benevolent
Diyala, launched by Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) on July 27,
has been a sectarian campaign orchestrated to ensure that
Shi'a retain political control of Diyala Province. They
charge that since the province is majority Sunni (estimates
range between 50-70 percent),Shi'a political parties can
only win the next election by disenfranchising Sunnis.


4. (C) The ISF's occupation of the Diyala Governorate
Election office in Baqubah for over a week at the start of
security operations raised additional Sunni suspicion of GOI
intent to tamper with the elections. Sunnis have expressed
concern that the ISF took over voter registration offices in
several cities, including Muqdadiyah, which have large Sunni
populations. However, when asked, Amer Latif Majeed, the
Diyala Governorate Election Official (GEO),conceded that he
had seen no sign of ISF tampering with the records.


5. (C) Deputy Governor Auwf told us that security operations
had prevented Sunni leaders from assisting Sunni voters to
register and had intimidated the Sunni public, especially
following the August 19 ISF raid on the Diyala Governance
Center and the Provincial Council chambers. He charged that
the GOI was waging a campaign to deprive Sunni voters of
their rights. According to the Diyala Sunni leadership, ISF
arrested 80-85 Sunni political party officials during the
recent security operations, in addition to a number of
politically active SOI leaders. They also alleged that
political party records were seized. Auwf and Diyala IIP
Chair Hamdi believe that Sunni success in the next elections
will depend on how many first time Sunni voters register to
vote, including large numbers of returning internally
displaced persons (IDPs).


6. (C) GEO Amer Latif Majeed told us August 25 that voter
registration in Diyala has been dismal (only about 135,000),
which is less than 30 percent of the projected total expected
to register. He said Sunni political parties have not
participated in the registration process. Amer also remarked
that voter registration was extremely low in areas where
Operation Benevolent Diyala was conducted. He noted that
most of those who registered were men, which contrasted with
previous elections where women voters registered in similar
numbers to those of male voters. According to Amer, only
1,653 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have registered to
vote. He said this was particularly low given the province
has approximately 25,000 registered IDP families. According
to Director General (DG) of Migration, Mohammed Bajellan, and
Governor Ra'ad, the number of IDPs in Diyala may be three
times as high as the numbers registered. (Embassy Note: The
voter registration update period began July 15. Diyala has
had some of the highest turnout at voter registration
centers, trailing only Anbar and Ninewa in total number of
visitors. Voter registration in Iraq is a passive system; if
one's name is on the Public Distribution System (PDS) list -
Iraq's rations database - then one is registered to vote. In

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addition, one family member may check the voter registry for
the entire family, thus a turnout of 135,000 could reflect as
many as 400,000 names being reviewed. End Note.)

Kurds Fear They are the Next Target
--------------


7. (C) Provincial Council Chairman Ibrahim Bajellan
(Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) told us that one reason the
Kurds demonstrated on August 26 was to protest ISF threats
against Kurdish parties if they did not close their offices
in Diyala (reftel). Bajellan added the Kurds also were
suspicious of ISF raids on Sunni political parties during
which the ISF allegedly seized records and materials.


8. (C) Precise statistics on whom and how many people were
arrested during Operation Benevolent Diyala (also known as
Glad Tidings of Benevolence) have been difficult to obtain;
however, the total briefed by the Diyala Police Operations
Center to provincial officials at the end of August was
1,164. According to Deputy Governor Auwf (Sunni),the Iraqi
Police (IP) began arresting Sunnis over a week prior to the
start of the operation. Auwf had learned in mid-July that he
was about to be arrested and quickly arranged to appear
before a judge in Muqdadiyah to have the charges dismissed.


9. (C) According to Sunni provincial officials, the ISF
provided contradictory data on the number of arrests to
Governor Ra'ad and other provincial officials. They charge
that after the first week, although the ISF had told CF that
less than 50 individuals had been detained, the ISF had
informed Governor Ra,ad al Tamimi (Shi'a independent) and
other provincial officials that 189 wanted individuals were
in detention. Gov Ra'ad also told the PRT that the wanted
list included 1,200 names, which had been whittled down from
an original wanted list of 6,000. Based on reports we
received from several jails and visits by the PRT,s Rule of
Law team to detention facilities, we confirmed that slightly
over 1,000 individuals were arrested, many of whom were
released during the last week of August. The Rule of Law
team reported all individuals in the detention facilities
they visited up until the last week in August were Sunnis.

Comment
--------------


10. (C) Diyala governorate matters in part because its mix
of Sunni Arab, Shi'a, and Kurd is a miniature of the country.
Peaceful coexistence can happen elsewhere in Iraq if it can
happen in Diyala. Iraqi military officials have declared the
recent security operations in Diyala a success, citing the
noticeable reduction in violence and detention of most of the
wanted individuals. However, our Sunni and Kurdish contacts
have expressed strong reservations about ISF conduct,
accusing the GOI of promoting a sectarian agenda, including
targeting primarily Sunnis in the province and attempting to
disenfranchise Sunnis and Kurds in the upcoming elections.
Our sense is that the campaign may have targeted mainly
Sunnis, and when the Embassy DCM raised this question with a
top aide to the Prime Minister, that official made no effort
to deny it. The accusations that the arrests intimidated the
voter registration are less evident, especially given the
passive registration already in place and the relatively high
number of new registrations in Diyala. That said, the
perceived injustices among Sunnis and Kurds, if not
addressed, have the potential to create political and
security problems in the next provincial elections. End
Comment.
BUTENIS