MUTHANNA OVERVIEW OF PRESS FREEDOM AND HUMAN RIGHTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003842 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM IZ SUBJECT: MUTHANNA OVERVIEW OF PRESS FREEDOM AND HUMAN RIGHTS REF: BAGHDAD 3585 Classified By: PRT Team Leader Brad Lynch for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) This is a PRT Muthanna reporting cable. ¶2. (C/REL MCFI) Summary: Muthanna Province, while not suffering from high-profile overt violations of human rights and press freedom, shows serious deficiencies in each area. The province's media are controlled by either the national government, provincial government, or the political parties in power, limiting the independence of journalists. Civil society has shown increased liveliness in recent years, and the government has become more tolerant of it. The status of women, prisoners' rights, and education generally lag behind international standards. End summary. No Completely Independent Journalists -------------- ¶3. (C/REL) Muthanna does not enjoy a robust, free press in the western sense. The province's two television, two radio, and four newspaper outlets are either government-owned or controlled by political parties (reftel),with the possible exception of the local university newspaper. For example, Samawah TV is controlled by the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI),and its news programs demonstrate an obvious pro-ISCI slant. The weekly Al-Samawah newspaper covered one of the PRT's food-distribution programs during Ramadan this year. The ISCI-controlled newspaper used the opportunity to promote a food-distribution program run by a local ISCI party official. ¶4. (C/REL) news reporting in Muthanna, especially in the Al-Samawah weekly newspaper and the government-owned Al-Muthanna TV station, are not very critical of public officials. Investigative journalism, even on such topics as government corruption, does not exist in Muthanna. On the other hand, journalists have told the PRT that -- in contrast to other areas of Iraq -- there is no real danger of violence to journalists because of what they write. Still, journalists fear some kind of retribution for critical coverage. When they do write on corruption, it is in general terms, and avoiding mention of names or positions. ¶5. (SBU) Satellite TV is common if not ubiquitous in the province, so many people can view popular stations such as Al-Iraqiyya, Al-Arabia and Al-Jazeera. Muthanna also has a few very small community newspapers with limited circulations. The PRT has seen no reports of any of them being shut down in the past year. Human Rights and Rule of Law -------------- ¶6. (C/REL) The worst human rights problem in the judicial system is the treatment of prisoners. As elsewhere in Iraq, the Ministry of Justice prison in Muthanna houses many more inmates than its capacity. There is no separate prison for women and children, although they are segregated from the men. ¶7. (C/REL) Criminal investigations in the province are still largely driven by interrogations and confessions, instead of evidence. This is not in itself a human rights violation, but there are reports of coercive and otherwise abusive interrogations being used to secure confessions. Education -------------- ¶8. (SBU) The lack of universal basic education continues to be a concern in Muthanna. More than a third of adults (36 percent) in the province are illiterate, according to Provincial Council (PC) documents. Another 50 percent has been classified by the Iraqi Government "literate" by virtue of having received primary school education, but has very limited education. While these statistics just describe the adult population, PRT interviews with local officials indicate that many children in Muthanna drop out of school by Qindicate that many children in Muthanna drop out of school by the sixth grade. ¶9. (SBU) For children who do go to school, educational access appears to be adequate even though facilities are not. Schools segregated by sex are the norm, but boys and girls have equal access to teachers and classroom space. Most school expenses, such as teacher salaries, books and other supplies are paid from ministerial budget allocations from Baghdad. A typical primary school's curriculum includes the predictable subjects of math, reading, science and, for older students, English. Classrooms are often overcrowded. A recent Provincial Council study estimates that the typical Muthanna class has between 39 and 47 students. The PRT recently visited one school where more than 60 children were BAGHDAD 00003842 002 OF 002 crammed into a space that should have accommodated no more than 20. Human Rights and the Status of Women -------------- ¶10. (C/REL) Like much of rural society in Iraq, Muthanna is heavily patriarchal and tribal. In the past, women were expected to do little but tend to the family and perform other mostly house-based chores. While the patriarchal nature of society has not changed much, women have been able to take more of a role recently in Muthanna. The most active non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Muthanna are led by women. Batool Abdul Amir Mohammad Hassan, an engineer from the provincial capital of Samawah, is the provincial coordinator for the EIN election monitoring network and the director for the Center for Women's Rights. Batool has an extensive network of contacts with independent NGOs and has partnered with the PRT in organizing several training and capacity-building initiatives. Most recently, Batool arranged for 31 women from Muthanna to participate in a small business development workshop at Camp Mittica on November 17. While many of these NGOs and businesses are not owned by women or fully independent -- a husband or another man controls parts of the organization behind the scenes -- there are far more opportunities for women than a few years ago. CROCKER