A STEP FORWARD ON HUMAN RIGHTS: MOD TRANSFERRING

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 001911

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/14/2019
TAGS: KJUS PHUM PGOV SOCI IZ
SUBJECT: A STEP FORWARD ON HUMAN RIGHTS: MOD TRANSFERRING
PRISONERS TO MOJ

REF: A. BAGHDAD 1699

B. BAGHDAD 1786

Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Steve Walker for Reason 1.4 (
d).


1. (C) In response to a recent prison abuse scandal (ref A),
the Iraqi Ministry of Defense (MOD) has ordered its
operational commands to transfer detainees to the Ministry of
Justice (MOJ) to bring the Iraqi Army in compliance with CPA
Order number 10. CPA Order 10 vests full authority and
control over all detention and prison facilities in the MOJ.
On June 17, Iraqi Minister of Defense Abdul Qader Mohammed
Jassim sent a memorandum to the entire MOD stating that "all
prisons and detention facilities existing in your locations
and in your units should be exclusively reserved for military
detainees who are under disciplinary punishment. We also
order not to detain individuals who are involved in terrorist
acts or are intelligence targets or have more than 24 hours
in detention from the time of issuance of the arrest warrant;
our previous orders emphasize referring the above detainees
to the concerned authorities within the time frame mentioned
above." On June 27, Lieutenant General Salih Sarhan, the MOD
Secretary General, sent an additional memorandum to the
operational commands of the Iraqi Army instructing them to
comply as well, emphasizing that the Baghdad Operations
Command (BOC) must transfer detainees under its custody to
the Iraqi Correctional Services along with their
investigation papers in order to complete their legal
procedures.


2. (C) The MOD holds an estimated 2,000 detainees in various
detention facilities throughout Iraq with the majority
located in the Ninewah Operations Command (NOC). Since June
23, the BOC, which contains nine MOI and MOD detention
facilities, has reduced its detainee population from 1159 to

540. A significant number of those detainees were
transferred directly from BOC detention facilities to the
MOJ-controlled Rusafa Prison Complex. Notwithstanding the
mandate of CPA 10, the GOI has not provided the MOJ with
additional detention facilities, personnel, or equipment
needed to assume custody and control over these additional
detainees. As a result, the MOJ Rusafa Prison Complex is now
populated with detainees over its rated capacity.

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Comment
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3. (C) The GOI decision to transfer responsibility for
prisoners from the MOD to the MOJ represents a positive step
forward for the rule of law in Iraq and one that the Embassy
had lobbied for strongly (ref B). As reported in reftel B,
many inmates in MOD detention facilities had been languishing
for months in overcrowded facilities that lacked ventilation
and sanitation with little due process or access to the
judicial system. Getting the MOD out of the prison business
will greatly reduce the potential for future human rights
abuses within this Ministry. We will continue to encourage
the GOI to ensure that the MOJ is properly resourced so that
the problem of overcrowding and lack of judicial process is
not simply transferred from one ministry to another. End
comment.
HILL