MOHR ON NEW MINISTERS, MASS GRAVES, MP AL-DAINI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000543

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/02/2019
TAGS: PHUM KJUS KWMN PTER KU IZ
SUBJECT: MOHR ON NEW MINISTERS, MASS GRAVES, MP AL-DAINI

REF: A. BAGHDAD 492

B. BAGHDAD 358

C. KUWAIT 148

D. 2008 KUWAIT 1160

E. 2008 BAGHDAD 1954

F. BAGHDAD 533

Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Steve Walker for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Minister of Human Rights Wijdan Salim told
us on February 24 that she expects the newly appointed Judge
Dara will be an effective Minister of Justice, once he
negotiates his learning curve. By contrast, she expressed
concern about the new Acting Minister of State for Women's
Affairs, who she fears will take a conservative, Islamist
approach to women's issues. Salim reported that the ICRC is
concerned about the lack of GOI progress on uncovering bodies
from graves of Kuwaiti missing persons from the Gulf War,
which she attributed to the lack of standard operation
procedures for using witness information to uncover graves, a
situation the GOI is trying to rectify. Salim confirmed that
an arrest warrant has been issued for Parliamentarian Mohamed
al-Daeni and believes he is guilty of terrorism. End Summary.

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NEW MINISTERS OF JUSTICE AND WOMEN'S AFFAIRS
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2. (C) Minister of Human Rights Wijdan Salim discussed with
PolOffs on February 24 her opinions of two new ministers:
Minister of Justice Judge Dara Noor al-Deen (analysis of new
Minister to be reported septel)and Acting Minister of State
for Women's affairs Khulud al-Majun. Salim, who worked with
al-Deen in the Governing Council, predicted that the new
Minister of Justice would do a good job but will need some
time to learn the issues. Al-Deen told Salim he planned to
let Deputy Minister of Justice Ibraheem Posho focus on
prisons issues, which will allow him to concentrate on other
matters. Salim noted that former Acting Minister of Justice
Safa al-Safi did not have much trust in Deputy Minister Posho
and did not give him much authority. Al-Deen told Salim that
he will only stay in the position for one year, until the
next parliamentary elections, currently planned for December.


3. (C) Salim confirmed that Prime Minister Maliki accepted
the resignation of former Minister of State for Women's
Affairs Nawal al-Sammarae and that he will not offer her
another cabinet position (ref A). The new Acting Minister is
Khulud al-Majun, the current Minister of State for Provinces.
Salim said she has offered al-Majun the full support of the
Ministry of Human Rights (MoHR) but expressed concern that
al-Majun will have a very conservative and Islamist outlook
on women's issues. She bases this on al-Majun's response to
the MoHR's recent Victims of Terrorism report (ref B),in
which al-Majun recommended that the MoHR cease writing such
reports in "an investigative style" and instead address human
rights issues with reference to the Quran and Shari'a law.

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MISSING PERSONS FROM GULF WAR
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4. (C) Salim met with ICRC on February 23 to discuss the
delays in uncovering the mass graves of Kuwaitis who went
missing during Saddam Hussain's invasion of Kuwait. Salim
said ICRC is frustrated that the GOI is moving too slowly on
this issue and not investigating the graves within the
agreed-upon time frame. Salim blamed the delays on "internal
GOI problems." The main problem is that the GOI only
recently established a set of agreed-upon procedures for
dealing with witnesses who have information on grave
locations. Witnesses have been unofficially (i.e.,
Qlocations. Witnesses have been unofficially (i.e.,
anonymously) providing information on grave locations to
various MoHR officials or other GOI officials.


5. (C) The Prime Minister's Legal Adviser Dr. Fadl advised
that GOI policy should mandate that witnesses need to either
meet formally (i.e., provide names) with the MoHR to discuss
the whereabouts of the Kuwaiti graves, or if they wish to
remain anonymous, work directly with the ICRC or Kuwaiti
government. Salim stressed that the GOI is not ignoring this
issue and is working to establish mechanisms for receiving
information on grave locations. Salim said ICRC and the
Kuwaiti government are complaining because they believe the
GOI is intentionally dragging its feet, which is not the
case. She said she would try speed up the process of
uncovering the graves. (refs C, D)


6. (C) Comment: Another reason for the delays in
investigating the Kuwaiti graves is that the MoHR does not
have the resources or capacity to investigate more than one

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mass grave at one time. Mass graves from post 2003 and the
Saddam era are more politically important for the GOI (ref
E). To address this problem, DRL is funding, and has
previously funded, the International Commission for Missing
Persons (ICMP) to provide training to the MoHR and increase
the ministry's capacity. ICRC has provided support to the
Medico-Legal Institute (MLI),which handles the forensic
analysis of uncovered bodies. UNOPS is working on a project
to increase capacity of MoHR missing persons teams in order
to work on several graves at one time. UNAMI is funding over
$1 million to increase MoHR capacity to investigate mass
graves and will focus on the Kuwaiti sites. (Note: MoHR,
ICMP, and ICRC are all slated to participate in the first
international conference on forensics and law tentatively
scheduled for late April in Baghdad. End Note). If the GOI
gives the MoHR more support for mass graves, then the issue
will be addressed faster. The GOI has not given the ministry
the resources needed, which is why it has been unable to open
more than one mass grave at a time. End Comment.

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ARREST WARRANT FOR MP AL-DAENI
--------------


7. (C) Salim told PolOffs that she received confirmation
from the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Tariq Abdullah that
the GOI has issued an arrest warrant for Parliamentarian
Mohamed al-Daeni, who is suspected of terrorism (ref F).
Salim said al-Daeni has called her about seven times each day
for the last few days and is very worried about being
arrested. Al-Daeni claimed he is innocent, but that his
bodyguards were tortured to "confess" that he was involved in
terrorist acts. Salim sent an MoHR inspection team to visit
al-Daeni's bodyguards, but the detention officials refused to
allow them into the facility where they are being detained.
Salim sent a letter to the PM asking for permission to visit
the guards and hopes that her teams will be able to do so
soon. (Note: Al-Daeni's parliamentary immunity was lifted
on February 25, and there are press reports that he was
arrested. Several of his colleagues reported that they have
not heard from al-Daeni since that day, and are afraid he too
is being held and tortured. End Note.) She added that she
knows al-Daeni is guilty because he has previously remarked
to her that should he faces any threats of arrest from
"certain officials," he will violently resist. (Note: Salim
and al-Daeni have met occasionally over the last year at his
request, generally to discuss the situation of Sunni
detainees in USG and GOI custody. End Note.)
BUTENIS