TRAINING FOR COMMISSION ON INTEGRITY INVESTIGATORS

UNCLAS BAGHDAD 003348 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR INL/I, NEA/I JUSTICE FOR ODAG, OPDAT, ICITAP, CRM E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KCOR KJUS IZ SUBJECT: TRAINING FOR COMMISSION ON INTEGRITY INVESTIGATORS IS A HIT IN TIKRIT ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: With the expanded capacity of Iraq's primary anti-corruption enforcement agency, the Commission on Integrity (COI),the U.S. has begun working with the agency's managers to extend training programs for investigators in selected provincial locations. The first session was delivered by instructors from the DOJ International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) funded by INL and hosted by Salah ad Din Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in November 21-25, 2009 and represents an important expansion of the COI's legitimacy and capacity. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) The COI, along with Iraqi Ministry Inspectors General, is the principal enforcer of Iraq,s anti-corruption laws. Established in 2004, COI is an independent governmental body charged with prevention, public education, legislative engagement and enforcement of corruption laws. Since mid-2004, the U.S. has provided extensive assistance, including management and investigative training for COI personnel designed and implemented by ICITAP advisors and funded by INL. ¶3. (SBU) Since the appointment of COI Commissioner Judge Raheem Hasan Al-Ugaily in 2007, ICITAP has been expanding COI's capacity to design and conduct its own training programs and, beginning in October 2009, COI agreed to ICITAP's recommendations to expand investigative training programs to COI offices in the provinces. Although the COI established provincial offices (beginning with the branch office set up in Basra in 2004),provincial programs, staffing, and equipment have always lagged behind investments in the Baghdad central office. ¶4. (SBU) The city of Tikrit, in Salah ad Din Province, was chosen by COI as the site for the first of three provincial training sessions, and training was carried out from November 21-25, 2009. The session was hosted by Salah ad Din PRT and facilitated by the PRT,s DOJ Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) Resident Legal Advisor. A two-member ICITAP Team provided instruction and materials for 21 COI participants from Ninewa, Kirkuk and Salah ad Din, all of whom successfully completed the course. Feedback from COI students was overwhelmingly positive with demand for more of this type of training. Subject to Commissioner Raheem,s approval, the training program will be repeated for COI offices in Basra in February 2010 and Najaf in March 2010. ¶5. (SBU) ICITAP COI program staffing consists of eight technical advisors and trainers. The staffing levels will remain constant through May 30, 2010, when the program draws down to 3 advisors who will conclude the overall program by March 31, 2011. Between December 2009 and May 2010, ICITAP will present training courses for the COI in Non-Governmental Organizations, Inspections & Audits, Computer Crimes & Computer Forensics, Terrorist Financial Fraud, White Collar Crime Investigations, Use of Advanced Technologies, Undercover Operations and Financial Crimes Investigations. From June 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011, the ICITAP advisors will focus primarily on advising and mentoring for COI officials in Baghdad, and will not conduct training sessions. FORD