IRAQI NSC DISCUSSES FALSE ACCUSATIONS AND THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 000611

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/03/2019
TAGS: IZ MARR PGOV PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: IRAQI NSC DISCUSSES FALSE ACCUSATIONS AND THE
REHABILITATION OF DETAINEES UNDER THE AMNESTY LAW

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Patricia Butenis for reasons 1.4 (b) a
nd (d).


1. (C) Summary: At the March 1 National Security Council
meeting, Chief Justice Medhat briefed the NSC on issues
involving false accusations in the justice system, as well
as the use of secret informants. The PM directed that a
press conference be organized to discuss false accusations,
including publicizing the punishments for those found
guilty of this crime. The NSC reviewed questions from the
Council of Representatives (CoR) involving the proportion
of police in various provinces, and discussed Camp Ashraf.
The Ministry of Justice briefed the NSC on a study
concerning the rehabilitation of detainees released under
the Amnesty Law, and the PM determined that the Council of
Ministers Secretariat would follow up on the establishment
of a rehabilitation center due to need to coordinate among
various ministries. End Summary.

False and Alleged Accusations
--------------


2. (C) The meeting began with a lengthy discussion of a
rule of law topic - "false and alleged accusations." The
Chief Justice (CJ) led this discussion, noting that false
accusations violate the law against creating evidence and
undermine the judicial process. He said this crime should
be punished by a prison term of five years or less and a
fine. He stressed that it is a crime only if the
individual knows that the evidence he is giving is false.
The CJ also said this issue requires education and that
there would be a press conference and television interview
to increase public knowledge of the problem of making false
accusations and the punishment for this crime.


3. (C) The Chief Justice distinguished between false
accusations and the use of secret informants. The Minister
of Interior noted that secret informants are frequently
used and are necessary. The Chief Justice noted that this
can be abused, and that traditionally, secret informants
were used in crimes involving state secrets and economic
crimes. In response to a question from the National
Security Advisor Mowafaq Rubai'e, the Chief Justice said
that courts would not permit a person to be a witness
unless he can be questioned, stressing that this is
necessary for the integrity of the judicial process. The
Chief Justice said he believes this is overused and that it
presents challenges to judges who have to evaluate the
credibility of secret informants.


4. (C) The CJ noted that he was in Basra several days
earlier and that the stricter use of secret informants has
led to a decline in false accusations and overall
improvement in the rule of law. The Interior Minister
defended the use of secret informants as critical to
pursuing criminals and terrorists in the current situation,
but underlined that judges must verify the identity and
credibility of these informants. The Prime Minister
stressed the danger of allowing false accusations against
people. DPM Barhim Salih asked how defense attorneys can
challenge the statements of secret informants. The CJ
stressed that the security services must investigate and
ensure that the information provided is accurate. He
emphasized that judges have the power to exclude evidence
from secret informants if they are not satisfied with the
credibility of the information. The CJ further stressed
that if secret informants are unwilling to appear before a
judge, then their information should not be taken into
account.


5. (C) The Prime Minister stressed that judges must be
asked to follow up on false accusations, and try people for
Qasked to follow up on false accusations, and try people for
this crime as a deterrent. However, he acknowledged that
the use of secret informants is important and said that the
press conference will not deal with that issue. The
Prosecutor General noted that the criminal law makes it a
crime to falsely accuse someone, but only if the witness
knows that the information is false. Therefore, he said,
it can be difficult for a judge to assess whether someone
knowingly provided false evidence. The CJ replied that
this underlines the importance of the security services
carefully investigating all accusations before presenting
the case to the judge. The Minister of Defense commented
that while MOD forces act on arrest warrants, they do not
have an investigative capacity -- that needs to be handled
by MOI.

Distribution of Iraqi Police by Province and Percentage of
Population
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6. (C) The meeting turned to the question of the
proportional number of police in each province, in
comparison to the population of the provinces. The PM
asked why this issue was put on the agenda. The Interior
Minister noted that this was raised at the NSC meeting
several weeks earlier (Note: At that meeting, the PM told
the MOI and MOD that it would not be possible to increase
numbers due to budget constraints. End Note). The MOI
noted that the CoR's Security and Defense Committee had
raised questions about the numbers of police in various
provinces, questioning why some (such as Anbar) were
higher, and others lower. They had also complained about
the "militarization" of Iraqi society.

7. (C) The Minister of Defense said that the security
situation in the provinces varies. General Odierno also
stressed that it is important to consider the number of
Iraqi Army in each province, considering the fact that the
IA is currently performing an internal security function.
In the future, when the IA is focused on external security,
it would be more appropriate to examine the proportion of
police to population in the provinces.


8. (C) The meeting continued to discuss the proportion of
police to citizens, including the proportions in foreign
countries such as France and the U.S. The PM noted that
the GOI must take into account the upcoming reduction of
U.S. forces, but added that there are currently an adequate
number of forces and that the GOI does not intend to
increase numbers. The MOI noted that his ministry's plans
included a large number of individuals who would be
protecting oil infrastructure, and that as of March he
would not be responsible for the oil police. The PM
advised the MOI to brief the CoR Security and Defense
Committee on specifics involved with the ministry's hiring
plan, in relation to the CoR's consideration of the MOI
budget.

Camp Ashraf
--------------


9. (C) NSA Rubai'e raised the issue of Camp Ashraf and the
MEK. The MOD noted that trailers were being set up inside
the camp. (Note: The Ministry of Human Rights is
conducting a survey and requires a neutral location to
interview camp residents. End Note). The PM asked what
control exists over camp residents, and why one MEK member
was meeting with "the resistance." Rubai'e said that this
case was under investigation, and suggested that residents
should perhaps be transferred from Ashraf. The MOD said
that there is no other suitable location, but Rubai'e
replied that a location near Ramadi was possible.

Rehabilitation of Prisoners Released under the Amnesty Law
-------------- --------------


10. (C) An employee of the Ministry of Justice briefed the
group on an MOJ study concerning the rehabilitation of
individuals released from detention under the Amnesty law.
She stressed that the subject is sensitive, involving both
the rehabilitation and follow up of detainees after their
sentences are complete. She said the goal of the MOJ study
was to look at how to ensure that detainees cannot endanger
society. One problem is the lack of a comprehensive
database of detainees, and that rehabilitation programs
currently in place are weak. The GOI needs to address the
economic, health and psychological aspects of
rehabilitation. Prisons are overcrowded, although she
noted that there are plans in place to increase the number
of beds in prisons.


11. (C) She said the MOJ recommends a national program to
follow up on detainees. Participants should include the
Sunni and Shi'a endowments, the MOJ, and Ministry of
QSunni and Shi'a endowments, the MOJ, and Ministry of
Labor. There also needs to be a unified database.

12 (C) The PM asked about the rehabilitation center. He
said that if detainees are not properly rehabilitated but
are released, this will create a serious security problem.
The MOI noted that there is a major problem in that
prisoners identified for release spend 2-3 months in
transfer centers after being in overcrowded prisons. The
MOJ replied that this problem is related to delays with the
police, in that the MOJ is required to check whether
detainees have other charges against them before they are
released and the police fail to respond in a timely
fashion. MOJ stressed the need for a unified database to
remedy this problem. The MOI replied that this is related
to the lack of electricity. The PM told the ministries to
resolve this between themselves, and admonished MOI not to
blame the MOJ.


13. (C) The PM also asked who is responsible for the

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rehabilitation center. MOJ noted that it has not yet been
established, and that it requires involvement of MOJ, MOI,
the Sunni and Shi'a endowments, the Ministry of Health, the
Ministry of Labor (related to employment),and experts in
psychology. The PM suggested that the Council of Ministers
Secretariat take responsibility for overseeing
establishment of the center, given the number of ministries
involved.

BUTENIS
BUTENIS