THE GROWTH OF IRAQ'S HUMAN RIGHTS MINISTER AND HER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 000883 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/31/2019 TAGS: PHUM KJUS IZ SUBJECT: THE GROWTH OF IRAQ'S HUMAN RIGHTS MINISTER AND HER MINISTRY Classified By: PMIN Robert S. Ford for reasons 1.4 (d). ¶1. (U) Summary: The Ministry of Human Rights has grown into a stronger and more independent ministry under the leadership of Minister Wijdan Salim, particularly during the last year. In her almost three years as minister, Salim has increased the capacity of her staff, giving them the resources and training necessary to more effectively address human rights issues. Her ministry is now involved in a variety of human rights issues involving other ministries, including detention operations, women's issue, rights of minorities, mass graves, Mujahedin e-Khalq (MEK) issues, and torture and abuse cases. Through recent public reports and an active media campaign, Salim has raised the public profile of the ministry and Iraq's awareness of human rights issues. However, Salim fears that the GOI may seek to abolish the ministry after the parliamentary elections in order to silence its public and often critical of the GOI human rights advocacy. In addition, a human rights commission may be established, which could lead to other pressure to eliminate the ministry. End Summary. -------------- -- SALIM'S TWO-YEAR STRUGGLE TO RAISE MOHR PROFILE -------------- -- ¶2. (U) When Minister of Human Rights Wijdan Salim began her tenure in May 2006, two years after the ministry's creation by CPA Order 60, the Ministry of Human Rights (MoHR) was seen as an unimportant ministry that was only useful for publicity. Salim came in eager to shake up the status quo. She restructured the ministry by eliminating ineffective departments and removing troublesome staffers and made training her inexperienced staff a priority. Due to a low budget and little ministerial experience of effectively spending a budget, Salim turned to foreign missions for assistance. The U.S. (Embassy and military),UN, Denmark, Australia, Canada, Italy, and Germany all provided critical training in general human rights issues and in specific areas like prison monitoring and mass grave investigations. According to Salim, these programs were essential to increasing the capacity and work of the ministry. ¶3. (C) When Ayad Allawi's Iraqiyya list left the Maliki government in August 2007, Salim decided to leave the party and opted to stay with the government. She told Poloff that this demonstration of loyalty made the Prime Minister an ally, and that Maliki subsequently supported her as she moved to assert herself in the cabinet. She used his backing and support from foreign missions and organizations to raise her profile within the GOI, and she steadily won the respect of other ministers. Salim said that the visible support from the Embassy and MNF-I was critical in creating a powerful and strong reputation. Salim noted however that since Maliki has become stronger and is more assertively centralizing his power, he is less willing to support the MoHR, whose work often criticizes governmental policies or actions. -------------- POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS IN 2008 -------------- ¶4. (U) The MoHR noticeably increased its public profile in 2008 by ramping up reporting and media outreach. Salim told PolOff early in 2008 that she was willing to confront the opposition of other ministers who did not want the MoHR to publicly report on problems within the GOI, particularly with regards to the security ministries. For example, the cabinet discouraged Salim from publishing the ministry's first annual report on detention facilities, which was completed early in Qreport on detention facilities, which was completed early in the year, because they did not want to make public its strong criticisms of the detention system. Salim abided by this decision for a few months but quietly lobbied her colleagues, eventually convincing them that the MoHR had a duty to publicly publish such reports. The report was put on the ministry's website in the summer. ¶5. (U) The MoHR published several other first-ever reports in 2008 on victims of terrorism, minorities, and mass graves. It also tackled politically sensitive issues such as investigating and reporting on the abuse by the PM's forces during the arrest of the "shoe-thrower" Muntather al-Zadi. The ministry continues to push the GOI to address issues of concern relating to the country's detention system. For example, there are currently 277 detainees who are being held in three detention facilities in Ninewa despite having release orders. Salim sent letters to the PM, Minister of Defense, and Minister of Justice raising this problem and demanding that the release orders be executed. (Comment: the Ministry of Justice does not control the specific detention facilities involved in Ninewa. End Comment.) BAGHDAD 00000883 002 OF 003 ¶6. (U) The MoHR has taken active roles in drawing attention to or taking corrective action on a variety of issues, including detention operations, rule of law developments, women's issues, rights of minorities, mass graves and missing persons, Mujahedin e-Khalq (MEK) issues, and torture and abuse cases. Due to the increased work taken on by the ministry, Salim said her ministry is now invited to be on interministerial committees and included in almost all politically important meetings. ¶7. (C) Salim believes that as a political independent and a religious minority (Chaldean Catholic),she has more freedom to be critical of the government. Although she has received several offers to join political parties since she left Iraqiyya in 2007, such as Minister of Interior Bulani's Constitutional party, she thinks she and the ministry are stronger if they remain independent. However, Salim recognizes that without any political party backing, her tenure as a Minister, and her ministry's influence, is uncertain. There were several cabinet meetings in 2008 where ministers questioned the necessity of a MoHR and threatened to eliminate it. -------------- THE NEXT NINE MONTHS -------------- ¶8. (U) Salim (and all other ministers) will resign when a new government is formed following the parliamentary elections in late 2009/early 2010. She does not expect to be asked to continue as Minister. In the next nine months before, Salim is determined to build her Ministry's capacity and strengthen its intergovernmental influence. She told her staff they need to increase the quality of their work for the rest of the year and ensure that the ministry's reports are widely publicized. She will work hard to increase the ministry's public profile in order to try to create a sustainable human rights culture within the government and the country. One of her projects related to this goal is the completion of a national human rights strategy. (Comment: DRL is funding a program to assist her staff with the drafting of this plan, and Australia is providing training to the interministerial drafting team. End Comment.) ¶9. (C) Salim fears that some might seek to abolish the MoHR after the national elections. Since the MoHR was created by a CPA order and does not have its own law, Salim thinks it will be seen as expendable by the GOI. She told PolOff on March 29 that most ministers, and even the general population, do not have an appreciation or respect for human rights. Although she has been trying to spread a culture of human rights awareness throughout Iraq, mainly in schools, she does not think it is widespread yet. Salim believes the population is still receiving the message of violence and abuse, generally from Iraqi Security Forces. -------------- RELATIONSHIP WITH HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION -------------- ¶10. (U) The constitutionally mandated High Commission on Human Rights law was passed by the Parliament in December but the Commission has yet to be established. The Parliament did not provide an allocation for it in the recent budget, and the international community does not have the funds or willingness to completely fund the new body. UNAMI will assist the Parliament to select commissioners, but this process will likely take several months. Due to these delays, the commission will not be fully established for quite some time. ¶11. (C) Salim has always been apprehensive about the establishment of the commission because it could lead to the Qestablishment of the commission because it could lead to the dissolution of the MoHR. Several Parliamentarians and ministers have questioned whether it is necessary to have two human rights bodies and advocated for abolishing the ministry. Salim believes there is a role for two bodies if their roles are clearly differentiated. For example, she sees her ministry as being the lead on shaping human rights policy or ensuring that GOI policies protect human rights, continuing to investigate mass graves, playing a role in improving detention policies, interacting with foreign governments and international organizations, and providing training for NGOs. She sees the role of the commission as monitoring human rights issues, reporting on violations, and opening investigations. However, she suspects that once the commission is active and effective, the MoHR could be dissolved. -------------- COMMENT -------------- BAGHDAD 00000883 003 OF 003 ¶12. (C) When Minister Salim first came into office in 2006, she told us that she would focus on issues like child abuse and spousal abuse. We gently reminded her that Iraq faced huge problems with extrajudicial killings, persons imprisoned for years without trial, torture in detention facilities and persons who simply disappeared after being detained. Over time she came to focus much more - but not exclusively - on torture and prisons. Her engagement on such issues has helped but it will take years to really change mentalities here. Our training programs with the Iraqi Corrections Service are one element in the efforts to change those mentalities. The Human Rights Ministry is another. The Human Rights Commission has finally been established, but by UNAMI's estimates, it will take at least two years before it is a fully independent body that effectively addresses the problems, investigates human rights violations, and publicly reports on its findings. At least until this time, the MoHR likely will be the GOI's lead advocate for human rights. There is no other reasonable alternative. We should, therefore, be prepared to speak out in favor of maintaining the ministry, at least until the commission is functioning. BUTENIS