Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BAGHDAD967
2009-04-08 10:21:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

ANTI-CORRUPTION CONSULTATIONS IN DIYALA PROVINCE

Tags:  PGOV KDEM KCOR IZ 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO2378
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #0967/01 0981021
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 081021Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2604
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 000967 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2019
TAGS: PGOV KDEM KCOR IZ
SUBJECT: ANTI-CORRUPTION CONSULTATIONS IN DIYALA PROVINCE

REF: A. BAGHDAD 482

B. BAGHDAD 845 AND PREVIOUS

C. BAGHDAD 584

Classified By: Anti-Corruption Coordinator Joseph Stafford, reason 1.4
(b and d)

SUMMARY
--------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 000967

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2019
TAGS: PGOV KDEM KCOR IZ
SUBJECT: ANTI-CORRUPTION CONSULTATIONS IN DIYALA PROVINCE

REF: A. BAGHDAD 482

B. BAGHDAD 845 AND PREVIOUS

C. BAGHDAD 584

Classified By: Anti-Corruption Coordinator Joseph Stafford, reason 1.4
(b and d)

SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) During a recent visit to Ba'aquba, capital of Diyala
province, the Anti-Corruption Coordinator and staff (ACCO)
attended a PRT/USAID-organized workshop for the recently
elected provincial council members, giving a presentation on
ways of combatting corruption at the provincial and local
levels. ACCO's program also included meetings with
provincial reps of national anti-corruption (AC)
institutions, the Commission on Integrity (COI),Board of
Supreme Audit (BSA),and Inspector General (IG) corps. The
reps were reluctant to discuss details of corruption cases,
but the COI rep, in particular, acknowledged the severity of
Diyala's corruption problem. The province's senior judicial
official, appelate court chief justice Jado'a, reported that
the High Judicial Council had recently assigned an
investigative judge on his staff to focus specifically on
corruption cases. ACCO met with a group of local NGO reps,
led by Noor Foundation rep Ahmed Jassim Mohammed, who
impressed as an energetic advocate for AC efforts and good
governance generally. The incoming provincial council
members indicated a sincere interest in combatting corruption
-- but it remains to be seen whether they will avoid overly
focussing on alleged abuses by outgoing council members.
ACCO is grateful to PRT Diyala for its excellent support of
this visit. END SUMMARY.


OVERVIEW
--------------


2. (C) ACCO visited Ba'aquba, the capital of Diyala province,
March 30-April 2 to meet with recently elected provincial
council officials and others on corruption issues. ACCO had
previously visited Ba'aquba in mid-January to participate in
a PRT-supported conference on governance (ref a). Amidst the
general nationwide improvement in security conditions, Diyala
remains among the more volatile areas of Iraq. While Arab
sunnis are reckoned to be in the majority, the province also
contains large Arab shia and Kurdish minorities. Per ref b,
the January 31 provincial council elections saw sunni parties
claim a simple majority of the 29 seats, followed by kurdish

and shia parties; the latter had previously been dominant in
the council as a result of the sunni boycott of the 2005
council elections. As elsewhere, corruption is a major
problem in the province. The Labor and Social Affairs
Ministry's Inspector General (IG) recently announced the
uncovering of a major corruption scheme in the Ministry's
social welfare program for Diyala (ref c). Subsequent to the
visit, the local media reported allegations by unnamed
officials that up to 40 percent of GOI funds allocated for
construction projects in Diyala during 2005-07 had been
siphoned off through corruption and had been used, inter
alia, to support unspecified terrorist elements. (COMMENT: We
are attempting to get further information on the reported use
of the stolen funds by terrorists. END COMMENT)

MEETING WITH INCOMING PROVINCIAL COUNCIL MEMBERS
-------------- ---


3. (SBU) ACCO attended a PRT/USAID-organized workshop for the
incoming provincial council members, giving a presentation on
ways of combatting corruption at the provincial and local
levels. In follow-up side meetings, various new council
members asserted that reducing corruption would be among
their priorities. In response to members' requests for
assistance in developing their oversight capability vis-a-vis
anti-corruption institutions (e.g., provincial branch offices
Qanti-corruption institutions (e.g., provincial branch offices
of the national Commission on Integrity (COI),Board of
Supreme Audit (BSA),and Inspectors General (IG) corps),ACCO
noted that its anti-corruption (AC) project being implemented
through UNDP included such assistance. When a few council
members stressed the need to investigate corruption by
members of the outgoing council, ACCO noted the risk of
politicizing the AC dossier through focussing only on alleged
misdeeds by previous incumbents and urged them to make use of
the established AC machinery, i.e.. COI, IG, and BSA while
also working to strengthen their oversight capacity vis-a-vis
these institutions.


4. (C) ACCO met separately with recently elected council
member, Abdullah al Jabouri, a sunni who formerly served as
governor and was rumored to be among leading candidates to
succeed the outgoing governor, Ra'ad Al-Tamimi, a shia. He
lamented what he saw as flourishing corruption in Diyala

BAGHDAD 00000967 002 OF 003


during the outgoing council's tenure and stated that the new
members would give priority to combatting abuses -- and
recovering funds previously siphoned off by corrupt
officials. As an example of past corruption, he maintained
that many citizens of Diyala who had fled to other areas of
the country or abroad and were now returning were unable to
benefit from GOI-mandated assistance as, he alleged, the bulk
of the funds had simply been divided up among the province's
outgoing governor and other political leaders. (COMMENT: In
fact, there are persisting allegations of corruption
surrounding Governor Al-Tamimi. END COMMENT)


AC INSTITUTIONS
--------------


5. (C) ACCO's program featured meetings with provincial COI,
BSA, and Interior Ministry IG reps. COI rep Mohamed Abas, who
said he had arrived in Ba'aquba February 12 to set up the
provincial COI office, portrayed himself as a newcomer who
was still settling into his duties. He expressed concern
that his staff of eleven persons was too small to adequately
conduct investigations and said he would press COI
headquarters in Baghdad for additional personnel as well as
for a security detail for his and his staff's protection.
Abas indicated that he had so far received good cooperation
from the provincial authorities in pursuing corruption cases.
He acknowledged the severity of the corruption problem in
Diyala -- including the abuses in the social welfare program
cited by the Labor and Social Affairs IG. However, the COI
official declined to discuss details of cases being
investigated by his office, saying the COI headquarters would
provide this information.


6. (C) The BSA and MOI IG reps were similarly reluctant to
provide specifics on the results of their respective audits
and inspections. BSA rep Abdul Aziz said his office was
divided into three teams that visited GOI provincial offices
and GOI-funded project sites to conduct performance as well
as financial audits. He explained that his office's reports
were treated as confidential and submitted to BSA
headquarters in Baghdad as well as to the governor of Diyala.
Aziz claimed that, based on his office's audits, media
reports of "ghost" projects in the province were exaggerated.
The MOI IG, LT COL Salim al-Bahadeli, asserted that his
office was actively investigating corruption cases and, if
warranted by the evidence, forwarding them directly to the
judiciary -- bypassing the COI, mandated by law to serve as
the country's principal investigating agency for corruption.
Asked about reports of payment of bribes to obtain
appointments as police officers and to obtain release of
detainees, he claimed, unconvincingly, that his office had so
far not found clear evidence of such bribery.

THE JUDICIARY
--------------


7. (C) ACCO called on the province's senior judicial
official, Diyala appelate court chief justice Jado'a Jassim
Muhammad. In familiar GOI terms, he described as
"exaggerated" Transparency International's (TI) ranking of
Iraq as tied for second with Myanmar as the world's most
corrupt country, asserting that TI had failed to consider the
progress achieved by the GOI in terms of laying the
foundation for a national anti-corruption regime. He stated
that the High Judicial Council in Baghdad had recently
designated an investigative judge on his staff to focus
specifically on corruption cases. Judge Jado'a pleaded
ignorance when asked about the number and kinds of corruption
cases being handled by the Diyala judiciary, but maintained
that the overall level of corruption in the province was
declining. (COMMENT: He gave no evidence to support his
Qdeclining. (COMMENT: He gave no evidence to support his
view, and we are skeptical about the accuracy of his
assertion. END COMMENT) In response to query about the
judiciary's plans to uphold the new Provincial Powers Law
(PPL) -- including the requirement that provincial
authorities promote transparency through establishment of an
official gazette -- Judge Jado'a indicated that he was not
familiar as yet with the Law's specific provisions. He added
that he would rely on guidance from the High Judicial Council
in deciding how to proceed regarding application of the PPL.

CIVIL SOCIETY
--------------


8. (SBU) ACCO met with a group of local NGO reps, led by Noor
Foundation head Ahmed Jassim Mohammed, who described at
length his and other NGO's AC efforts, ranging from public
awareness campaigns to presentations on AC topics at
gatherings of provincial officials. He observed that the
perilous security conditions in the province were a major
factor in the spread of corruption, as officials were
reluctant to properly oversee government-funded projects or

BAGHDAD 00000967 003 OF 003


blow the whistle on those suspected of corruption out of fear
for their safety. Ahmed went on to express optimism that the
improved security atmosphere of late in Diyala would result
in greater willingess by provincial officials to perform
oversight functions. (COMMENT: Predictably, the
anti-corruption officials cited above denied that security
concerns had limited investigations by their offices. END
COMMENT) Ahmed stated that the outgoing provincial council
had authorized his NGO to attend council sessions and that
he hoped to obtain authorization from the incoming council as
well. As the meeting drew to a close, Ahmed urged USG
support for efforts by provincial NGO's to strengthen their
watchdog capacity vis-a-vis the provincial authorities; ACCO
responded that we would consult with PRT Diyala on ways that
we might be helpful.

COMMENT
--------------


9. (C) The incoming provincial council members that we met
indicated sincere interest in combating corruption, but it
remains to be seen whether they will avoid overly focusing on
alleged abuses by outgoing incumbents and instead look ahead
to develop the council's oversight capability so as to limit
future abuses. It also remains to be seen how actively the
provincial COI rep will pursue corruption cases once he
settles further into his job. The limited awareness of
corruption issues displayed by Judge Jado'a was noteworthy;
we surmise that his responsibilities are primarily
administrative and that hence his knowledge of actual cases
before the provincial judiciary is also limited. A highlight
of the consultations was the meeting with the NGO reps; the
Noor Foundation rep, in particular, impressed as an energetic
advocate for anti-corruption efforts and good governance
generally.
BUTENIS