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PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHMOS
DE RUEHKUK #0039/01 0501843
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P R 191843Z FEB 06
FM REO KIRKUK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0526
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0489
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHKUK/REO KIRKUK 0553

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KIRKUK 000039 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
BAGHDAD FOR POL, ROL COORDINATOR, USAID, PAO, NCT, IRMO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  2/19/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM KISL PINR KWMN IZ
SUBJECT: KRG-E JUSTICE MINISTRY FACES POLITICAL PRESSURE AND LEGAL 
 
REFORM 
 
REF: (A) KIRKUK 22 AND PREVIOUS, (B) KIRKUK 36 
 
KIRKUK 00000039  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Scott Dean, Regional Coordinator (Acting), Reo 
Kirkuk, Department of State . 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1.  (C)  INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY.  The RC(A) met February 16 
with Hadi Ali, the Justice Minister in the Erbil Kurdistan 
Regional Government, and the ministry's Director General, Judge 
'Abdulbassit 'Abdullah Farhad.  Ali is from the Kurdistan 
Islamic Union and has been the KRG-E Justice Minister for 5-6 
years.  Ali said the KDP and PUK had delayed merger of the KRG-E 
and KRG-S justice ministries for a year because they didn't know 
what to do with the ministries' political appointees, not for 
any substantive reason.  The KDP and PUK had put more political 
pressure on the ministry over the last year (the PUK will name 
the minister for the unified KRG).  The "terrorism excuse" had 
weakened the Ministry of Justice in relation to the Ministry of 
Interior.  The KIU aimed to respect Islam while deciding secular 
questions according to democratic procedures.  Asayish were 
handling the investigation and detention of Kamal Qadir Karim 
for criminal defamation of the KRG.  Annually, the KRG files 
about 10-15 criminal defamation cases per year against 
newspapers.  END INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (C)  On KRG unification, Ali made the following points. 
 
 --  It was unnecessary for the Kurdistan Democratic Party and 
the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan to say that it would take a 
year to merge the KRG ministries of justice in Erbil and 
Sulaymaniyah.  The Kurdistan National Assembly's Legal Committee 
could unify the different regulations of the two ministries "in 
one week."  I sent KRG President Barzani a report on this in 
October. 
 
 -- One minor difference is that, before the creation of the 
KNA, the Sulaymaniyah ministry gave itself some powers and 
issued some regulations the Erbil ministry never had.  Since the 
KNA was established, though, both ministries have operated from 
KNA law.  Other differences are requirements for appointment, 
e.g., Erbil requires 10 years' legal experience for appointment 
as a judge or deputy prosecutor.  Sulaymaniyah may require 8-9 
years, and those with less than 10 years' experience worry about 
their jobs. 
 
 -- The real reason for the two parties' delay is they don't 
know where to put some of their political appointees from the 
ministries. 
 
¶3.  (C)  On interparty relations, Ali made the following points. 
 
 -- Since I as minister am from the KIU, rather than either of 
the two dominant parties, the ministry has been able to be more 
independent. 
 
 -- KRG PM Barzani has been supportive, but KDP and PUK have put 
more political pressure on the ministry over the last year. 
 
 -- The "terrorism excuse" has weakened the Ministry of Justice 
in relation to the Ministry of Interior. 
 
(NOTE:  The PUK will name the Justice Minister for the unified 
KRG.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  On the KIU, Ali said the following. 
 
 -- Islam is the source of culture and the law must respect 
religious beliefs. 
 
 -- The KIU works with organizations besides religious ones. 
Islam says the government should be civil rather than religious. 
 Islam confines itself to religious matters; it is not like 
medieval Christianity, trying to dominate all spheres of life. 
 
 -- When people in democratic countries insult Islam, it makes 
Muslims suspect democracy.  Islamic governments are all 
dictatorships and cannot provide their people basic services. 
The KIU has a moderate Islamic vision, but we want to decide 
secular questions according to democratic procedures.  We try to 
convince our people not to be suspicious of democracy.  We try 
to stay away from violence.  (NOTE:  The KIU says it does not 
have a militia, unlike most major Iraqi parties.  END NOTE.) 
 
 -- We would not try to suppress Christians.  When asked whether 
the KNA should ban the sale of alcohol, Ali said that should be 
decided by democratic procedures.  If there were a general law 
banning it, there might be exceptions for Christians and Jews. 
The KIU has a stronger link to Christian parties than it does to 
 
KIRKUK 00000039  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
secular Islamic ones. 
 
¶5.  (C)  On the Kamal Qadir Karim criminal defamation case (ref 
A), Ali said the following. 
 
 -- Much political pressure had been put on the judges. 
 
 -- Qadir sent Ali and others an 11-page memo appealing his 
conviction. 
 
 -- The investigation of Qadir under Article 434 could take six 
months or more. 
 
 -- The Asayish (Kurdish intelligence) had taken control of the 
investigation, rather than the court of investigation, even 
though it was not a security-related case.  Qadir was in Asayish 
rather than police custody. 
 
(COMMENT:  REO will follow up with the KRG-E Interior Ministry. 
END COMMENT.) 
 
¶6.  (C)  On legal reform and Article 434 (criminal defamation), 
DG Farhad said the following. 
 
 -- Annually, about 10-15 cases per year are filed against 
newspapers.  (NOTE: Farhad was probably talking about 
governmental suits; private citizens file "hundreds" of criminal 
defamation suits against each other and against the media.  In 
ref B, a newspaper editor complained about a large number of 
"private" lawsuits by officials.  END NOTE.) 
 
 -- While new laws have been issued in Baghdad, the KRG is still 
operating on the Saddam-era laws it reauthorized for the KRG (in 
the early 1990's).  These Saddam-era laws allow for more 
intervention by political figures, though not in the judge's 
decision itself. 
 
 -- The KNA did reform some aspects of old laws, as on the 
status of women.  A project is underway to review all such laws, 
involving an expert from Quebec. 
 
 -- KRG judges had submitted a reform bill to the KNA last July, 
but because it was not from any of the main parties, it has not 
been acted on.  KRG-E PM Barzani says he supports reform, but 
the Ministry of Finance has not funded it. 
 
 -- The criminal defamation article 433 and 434 of the criminal 
code are not well formulated; they should be reformed as part of 
an overall reform of the entire criminal code after promulgation 
of a new KRG Constitution.  Because there are so few cases, the 
legal committee reviewing the criminal code has not received any 
public comment on Articles 433 and 434. 
DEAN