ANTI-CORRUPTION CONSULTATIONS IN KIRKUK

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 001551 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/11/2019 TAGS: PGOV KCOR KDEM IZ SUBJECT: ANTI-CORRUPTION CONSULTATIONS IN KIRKUK REF: BAGHDAD 101 Classified By: ACCO Joseph Stafford, reason 1.4 (b and d) SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) During May 31-June 2 visit to Kirkuk, Anti-Corruption Coordinator and staff (ACCO) and Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) Kirkuk officers met with head of local Commission on Integrity (COI) office, which he portrayed as increasingly active despite what he claimed was the Provincial Council Chairman's lack of cooperation. The Governor highlighted the need for local media to increase coverage of corruption, while the Municipalities and Public Works Ministry Inspector General's representative spoke of senior officials being fired for corrupt practices. A prominent businessman recounted his ordeal after refusing to pay a bribe to Kirkuk's Mayor. The head of the Provincial Council's Legal Committee cited the influence of political parties as a constraint on bringing corrupt officials and politicians to account. According to Kirkuk's chief judge, so far this year the local courts have received around 140 corruption cases and rendered guilty verdicts in 39. According to Kirkuk's top police official, the local Interior Ministry court has so far received about 50 cases in 2009, with around 25 percent entailing corruption. Given Kirkuk's strained and complex political environment, centering on Arab-Kurd tensions over the province's future status, it is noteworthy that the anti-corruption dossier looms as large as it does, judging from our discussions. ACCO extends deepest thanks to PRT Kirkuk for the excellent support of the visit. END SUMMARY. COMMISSION ON INTEGRITY -------------- ¶2. (C) ACCO, joined by PRT Kirkuk officers, began their program by meeting with the director of the Commission on Integrity's (COI) Kirkuk office, Shwan Saleh Mohamed. Appointed to his position in early 2008, Shwan said that he had initially been hampered in his corruption investigations by lack of cooperation by other local government institutions. He asserted that distrust of the COI had been so deep-seated that he and his staff had sometimes been thwarted in their investigative efforts through denial of access to other government offices in Kirkuk. Now, according to Shwan, the COI had gained enough acceptance to be able to carry out its investigations, although he asserted that one key official -- Provincial Council Chairman Rizgar Ali Hamajan, a Kurd affiliated with the PUK party -- maintained his adamant refusal to deal with the COI on the specious grounds that he was not required to do so. Shwan went on to accuse Kirkuk's police force of delays in executing arrest warrants obtained by the COI from the judiciary in corruption cases. ¶3. (C) Asked about the COI's achievements, Shwan cited 200 corruption cases in past months, adding that so far "20 to 25" had resulted in convictions. (COMMENT: He indicated that many of the 200 cases were still being adjudicated, hence the relatively few convictions to date. END COMMENT) He confidently predicted that 2009 would witness a substantial increase in numbers of investigations completed and cases submitted to the judiciary for prosecution compared to 2008 figures. Shwan went on to list an array of training and equipment needs, while also lamenting the lack of security personnel to protect COI facilities and staff. He also lamented what he claimed was the lack of attention from the COI headquarters, saying his requests for assistance were often ignored in Baghdad. ACCO undertook to raise Shwan's concerns with COI head Judge Raheem Al-Ugaili. GOVERNOR OF KIRKUK -------------- Q -------------- ¶4. (C) In his meeting with us, Governor Abdel Rahman Fatah, a Kurd without strong party links, acknowledged that corruption was widespread in Kirkuk's government apparatus. He pledged his cooperation with the COI and other corruption bodies -- in particular, the local offices of the Board of Supreme Audit and of ministries' Inspectors General -- in an effort to crack down on abuses. The Governor highlighted the need for local media outlets to give greater coverage to corruption and thereby impress upon the public the severity of the problem and encourage their support for anti-corruption initiatives. Among officials joining the discussion was the Kirkuk representative of the Muncipalities and Public Works Ministry's Inspector General, who spoke of BAGHDAD 00001551 002 OF 003 progress in ferreting out corrupt functionaries in the Ministry's local operations. He said that in recent months several senior Ministry officials in the province had been dismissed for alleged involvement in corrupt activities. The Inspector General's representative professed ignorance as to whether those dismissed would end up being prosecuted, but noted that dismissal itself involved a key sanction -- denial of pension and other benefits. PROMINENT BUSINESSMAN -------------- ¶5. (C) We met with a leading local businessman, Jalal Bazyan, to obtain his perspective on the corruption issue. He portrayed corruption as rampant in the province as well as in the neighboring Kurdistan region, where he also has business interests. Bazyan recounted his personal ordeal over corruption at the hands of Kirkuk's Mayor, Ehsan Goly, claiming that the latter arranged for police to destroy three of Bayzan's gasoline stations in retaliation for his refusal to pay the bribe demanded by the Mayor. Bazyan asserted that bringing to account the Mayor and other corrupt local politicians was difficult, as they enjoyed the "protection" of major political parties. As a case in point, he continued, the Mayor,a Kurd, was affiliated with the KDP, whose influence made the former's prosecution unlikely; Bazyan added that he himself would not file a complaint with authorities against the Mayor for fear of further retaliation by the KDP. At the same time, he went on to insist that he would continue to resist pressures to pay bribes and persevere in his business interests. He expressed optimism that over time public pressure and more accountable political institutions would bring an end to at least the most egregious forms of corruption in Kirkuk and in Iraq generally. MEMBER OF PARLIAMENTARY COUNCIL -------------- ¶6. (C) In our meeting with the chairperson of the Provincial Council's Legal Committee, Hola Ahmed, a Sunni independent, she echoed Bazyan's view that the influence of political parties was a major constraint on bringing corrupt officials and politicians to account. Consistent with COI head Shwan's comments, she portrayed Provincial Council Chairman Rizgar Ali Hamajan as unresponsive to the local COI office; she also accused him of preventing the Council from adopting a more active role against corruption. Ms. Ahmed spoke of the personal risk to herself of speaking out against corruption, mentioning a recent attempt on her life; she added that her father, a prosecutor who handled corruption cases, had been assassinated several years ago. She claimed to be heartened by the growing assertiveness of the Council of Representatives (COR) on the anti-corruption dossier, noting the COR's subjecting the then-Trade Minister last month to tough questioning over corruption allegations. Ms. Ahmed expressed hope that when Kirkuk's deferred Provincial Council elections are finally held, a new Council -- and Council Chairman -- will be more effective in promoting the anti-corruption cause. JUDICIARY AND POLICE -------------- ¶7. (C) Our program included a call on Kirkuk's senior judicial figure, Appellate Court Chief Justice Nu'man Al-Bayati, joined by Investigative Judge Qasim Al-Azzawi. They claimed that during 2006-08, the local courts had handled 510 corruption cases, of which 365 had been thrown out under the Amnesty Law of February 2008. (COMMENT: See reftel for background on the Amnesty Law. END COMMENT) The judges stated that, to date in 2009, the courts had received around 140 corruption cases and rendered guilty verdicts in Qaround 140 corruption cases and rendered guilty verdicts in ¶39. (COMMENT: As reported above, COI head Shwan spoke of 200 cases, but did not make clear whether they had all been sent to the judiciary or whether any dated back to 2008. Similarly, it is not clear what period of time is covered by the "20 to 25" convictions cited by the COI head. END COMMENT) Similar to local COI head Shwan, they complained that local judges lacked adequate security personnel to ensure their safety. ¶8. (C) The final meeting was with Kirkuk's top policeman, Police Director MAJ GEN Jamal Taher. He brushed aside COI head Shwan's claim of delays by police in executing arrest warrants in corruption cases, asserting that his police force cooperated "fully" with the COI and its anti-corruption mission. Asked about corruption in the police force itself, MAJ GEN Taher acknowledged abuses and presented us a chart showing criminal cases involving police officers brought before Kirkuk's Interior Ministry court the previous month. BAGHDAD 00001551 003 OF 003 Of the 50 or so cases, around 25 percent entailed corruption, e.g., bribery, fraud. He requested that USG training programs for Kirkuk's police include an anti-corruption component. COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (C) Given Kirkuk's strained and complex political environment, centering on Arab-Kurd tensions over the governate's future status, it is noteworthy that the anti-corruption dossier looms as large as it does, judging from our discussions. Our sense is that, in Kirkuk, as elsewhere in Iraq, the establishment of an effective anti-corruption regime remains in the early stages. There are bright spots; one is the progress of the local COI office in winning the cooperation of other governorate authorities -- with the glaring exception of the Provincial Council Chairman. Another is entrepreneur Bazyan's refusal to yield to pressure for bribes while continuing to pursue his business interests. But Provincial Council member Ahmed's recounting of the attempt on her life and assassination of her father serves as a reminder of the risks that come with anti-corruption activism in Iraq -- and of the need, as articulated by COI head Shwan and Judges Al-Bayati and Al-Azzawi, for adequate protection by the GOI. END COMMENT FORD