ANTI-CORRUPTION DEVELOPMENTS IN IRAQ

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000828

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/26/2019
TAGS: PGOV KCOR KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: ANTI-CORRUPTION DEVELOPMENTS IN IRAQ

REF: BAGHDAD 584

Classified By: ANTI-CORRUPTION COORDINATOR JOSEPH STAFFORD, REASON 1.4
(B AND D)

REQUEST TO JOIN UN/WORLD BANK PROGRAM ON ASSET RECOVERY
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1. (SBU) Per a March 17 letter to the UN Office of Drugs and
Crime (UNODC) from the head of the Commission on Integrity
(COI),Judge Rahim Al-Ugaili, the GOI has submitted a formal
request to join the Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative,
jointly sponsored by the UNODC and the World Bank. This
initiative, unveiled in 2007, is designed to strengthen
developing countries' capability to recover public assets
lost through criminal activities -- corruption, tax evasion,
etc. -- and transferred overseas. The initiative, involving
implementation of relevant provisions of the United Nations
Convention against Corruption (UNCAC),envisages a pilot
program of legal and technical assistance for developing
countries in such areas as investigation, tracing,
prosecution, and repatriation of assets.


2. (SBU) (COMMENT: The COI's request to join the StAR
Initiative is a welcome development and underscores the Iraqi
authorities' concern to recover the funds, estimated in the
billions of dollars, that corrupt senior officials have
shipped abroad, both during and subsequent to Saddam's
regime. The GOI is also keen to arrange extradition of those
corrupt officials residing abroad, e.g., former Defense
Minister Shalaan, who fled Iraq in 2005 after allegedly
stealing $1.3 billion in GOI funds. The GOI is currently
hampered in its efforts at asset recovery by an inadequate
legal framework as well as lack of practical experience; the
StAR initiative holds the prospect of offering the GOI
much-needed capacity-building assistance. END COMMENT)

INTERIOR MINISTER'S HOUSE-CLEANING
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3. (C) The local media replayed Interior Minister Jawad
Al-Bulani's recent piece in the Chicago Tribune claiming to
have dismissed 62,000 MOI employees involved in corruption
and other criminal activities since his appointment in 2006.
He went on to claim success in dismantling sectarian militia
networks that had infiltrated the MOI following Saddam's
removal. (COMMENT: Judging from the local media reports,
Al-Bulani did not elaborate on the dismissals -- e.g.,
whether senior officials were among those dismissed, whether
any removed officials were prosecuted, details on corruption
and other criminal schemes uncovered, etc. Nonetheless, we
regard his claim of 62,000 dismissals as plausible, as our
contacts generally agree that Al-Bulani has indeed made some
headway in eliminating corrupt police officers and other
Ministry employees and in removing the sectarian militia
elements -- e.g. members of the shia Jaysh Al-Mahdi (JAM) and
Badr Corps -- that had installed themselves in the MOI. A key
factor in Al-Bulani's effort is the biometrics program
instituted by the U.S. military; as a result of that program,
thousands of police officers with criminal records were
identified and removed. Also, a considerable number
dismissed were ghost employees uncovered by payroll control
measures also instituted by the U.S. military. At the same
time, we are told that the MOI remains plagued by residual
corrupt practices (such as payment of bribes to secure
appointments as policemen) and that Al-Bulani's
house-cleaning is far from complete. END COMMENT)

UPDATE ON GOI'S ANTI-BRIBERY CAMPAIGN
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4. (SBU) As part of the GOI's recently-announced campaign
against bribery (reftel),the Health Ministry's Inspector
General (IG),Dr. Adil Muhsin, hosted a conference in Baghdad
QGeneral (IG),Dr. Adil Muhsin, hosted a conference in Baghdad
on March 21 that brought together officials from the
principal anti-corruption institutions -- IG corps, COI, and
Board of Supreme Audit (BSA). Staff of the Anti-Corruption
Coordinator's Office (ACCO) were on hand. An array of
speakers acknowledged that bribery was widespread in the GOI
and, to combat it, called for, inter alia, greater
transparency in government operations, a strong commitment
from the GOI leadership to crack down on bribery, and reform
of anti-bribery laws. There were calls for the establishment
of an ombudsman in each Ministry to receive citizens'
complaints. A highlight of the event was the Labor and
Social Affairs Ministry's IG publicly confronting the COI;
the IG claimed that his office had prepared a well-documented
bribery case and submitted it to the COI a year and a half
ago for further investigation and referral to the judiciary
for prosecution. The IG complained that, in the intervening
year and a half since submission of the case, the COI had
failed to take any action on it. (COMMENT: COI
representatives at the conference made no rebuttal -- at

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least publicly -- to the IG's allegation. Other IG's have
also criticized the COI for delays in acting on cases they
submit to it. END COMMENT)


BUTENIS