S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 BAGHDAD 004800
SUBJECT: UPDATED STATUS OF IRAQ DETAINEE ABUSE INVESTIGATIONS
REF: A. BAGHDAD 4745
B. BAGHDAD 4716
C. BAGHDAD 4672
Classified by Evan Reade, Acting Counselor for Political-Military Affairs for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
SUMMARY
¶1. (S/NF) Three committees investigating human rights abuses committed against 168 detainees at the Iraqi Ministry Interior (MOI) Bunker facility and others at similar facilities nationwide are making uneven progress. The mandate of some committees has been overwhelmed by the political agenda of Shi'a politicians close to the PM's office and MOI; others may yet prove productive.
BACKGROUND
¶2. (SBU) In the wake of the November 13 discovery of 168 detainees - many bearing marks of physical abuse - in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions at an unofficial MOI detention facility in the Jadriyah district of Baghdad (the "Bunker"), the Prime Minister appointed two committees to address allegations of detainee abuse by Iraqi authorities: (i) a Bunker Investigation Committee led by Deputy Prime Minister Rowsh Shaways and comprised of assorted Iraqi officials and private citizens, tasked with reporting on Bunker detainees' allegations of abuse; (ii) a National Investigation Committee led by PM military assistant Major General Talib al Kinani and comprised of representatives from the Ministries of Heath, Justice, and Human Rights, tasked with inspecting Iraqi detention facilities nationwide. In addition, a third committee comprised of investigating judges has been established by Judge Medhat al Mahmood, Chief of the Iraqi Higher Juridical Council, to assess the legality of Bunker detainees' imprisonment, recommend their future disposition, investigate allegations of abuse and murder, and consider charges against Iraqi officials involved.
NOVEMBER 27: INTERVIEWS AT ABU GHRAIB
¶3. (SBU) On November 27, members of the Bunker Investigation Committee visited Abu Ghraib to conduct interviews with detainees removed on November 13 from the Jadriyah Bunker (currently housed in a separate detention compound usually reserved for Coalition security internees awaiting release). Embassy Rule of Law (ROL) Coordinator, MNF-I Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, and PolMilOff were present.
¶4. (S/NF) Upon arrival at Abu Ghraib, the committee leader - Rashid Majid Salih Khattab al Nasiri, a medical doctor and prominent Da'wa Party member - selected a small group of detainees from the crowd, seemingly at random, and ordered that they be brought to the tent reserved for interviews and seated in rows of plastic chairs before the committee.
¶5. (S/NF) Committee members watched as Dr. al Nasiri asked selected detainees to unzip their jumpsuits to the waist, then inspected their feet (most were wearing sandals). Dr. al-Nasiri expressed impatience with detainees who interrupted the brief examination to report threatening behavior or other complaints against MOI officials, exclaiming "I am here to see scars, not to talk about bad words!"
¶6. (S/NF) Some committee members who represented the Ministry of Transitional National Assembly (TNA) Affairs and Baghdad City Council, as well as the Ministry of Human Rights (MoHR) showed a keener interest in the cause of detainees' imprisonment than in their physical treatment, repeatedly asking one detainee "why have your put your thumbprint confessing to a crime if you are innocent?".
¶7. (S/NF) After interviewing three groups of detainees, a total of 18 from the 166 present, the committee declared its work done, and packed up. MoHR Prison Inspector Saad Sultan, present at his own behest, expressed frustration with the committee members' performance, saying the they had "no information and no knowledge" of human rights investigations.
¶8. (S/NF) Mr. Sultan was also pessimistic about the value of the Judicial Committee's review of the legality of the MOI Bunker detainees' imprisonment, noting that judges present at the Bunker had failed to report physical abuse and lack of access to counsel. "Iraqi judges are involved in illegal detentions," he said, "and these judges you bring don't have the power to say other judges are wrong".
