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FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
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INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 004778 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/24/2016 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL PINS KJUS KPAO US IZ
SUBJECT: IRAQI KURDISTAN MINISTER OF HUMAN RIGHTS 
ACKNOWLEDGES ABUSES 
 
 
Classified By: Regional Coordinator James Yellin for reason 1.4 (d). 
 
 This is a Kurdistan Regional Reconstruction Team (RRT) cable. 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) 
Minister of Human Rights, Yousif Mohammad Aziz, admitted an 
imperfect human rights record in a meeting with Regional 
Coordinator and RRTOffs on December 18.  Minister Aziz 
acknowledged physical abuse in prisons, failure to release 
prisoners after the completion of their sentence, and 
intimidation of independent journalists.  He said the 
Ministry of Human Rights performs an advocacy role by 
bringing complaints to the ministries of justice and 
interior, and by raising public awareness of human rights 
protections.  He also requested technical assistance in 
developing laws for the protection of human rights and press 
freedoms.  END SUMMARY. 
 
POLICING AND CORRECTIONS REMAINS DECENTRALIZED 
 
¶2. (SBU) RRTOffs met in Erbil with Yousif Mohammad Aziz, KRG 
Minister of Human Rights, on December 18, who said his 
ministry acts as an advocate for human rights within the 
government and conducts public awareness campaigns.  He added 
that the Ministry of Human Rights investigates complaints 
against other government ministries, such as the Ministry of 
Justice and the Ministry of Interior, but the legal framework 
for the protection of human rights is the domain of the 
Ministry of Justice, while policing and public security fall 
to the Ministry of Interior.  Finally, the Ministries of 
Justice and Interior operate their own prisons. 
 
¶3. (SBU) COMMENT:  The Ministries of Justice and Interior are 
two of four government ministries that were not merged when 
the KDP and PUK parties agreed to form a unified regional 
government in January 2006.  As a result, the parties each 
maintain separate Ministries of Justice and Interior which 
operate in their respective regional strongholds, 
complicating the ability of the KRG to monitor and maintain 
uniform protections for human rights.  END COMMENT. 
 
TORTURE PERSISTS BUT IS NOT SYSTEMIC 
 
¶4. (C) Regional Coordinator inquired about the role of the 
Ministry of Human Rights in supervising conditions in KRG 
prisons.  Aziz explained that Ministry officials visit 
prisons in the region bi-weekly.  ICRC and international NGOs 
such as Human Rights Watch also make periodic visits and are 
welcomed.  According to Aziz, officials have uncovered cases 
of prisoner beatings and torture, but this is limited to 
individual prison guards and is not a systematic government 
or corrections policy.  Aziz avoided answering questions on 
the treatment of prisoners in &clandestine8 secret prisons 
run by KDP and PUK security forces.  He said the Ministry 
only handles prisons that are officially registered. 
 
¶5.  (C) Aziz also said the corrections systems frequently 
keeps prisoners incarcerated beyond the completion of their 
sentence.  Sometimes this is due to an assessment that the 
prisoner is likely to face private retaliation for his crime 
upon release.  In many other cases this is because the system 
lacks personnel and resources (e.g. parole officers) to 
properly administer prisoner release programs. 
 
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS &GOOD, BUT NOT VERY GOOD8 
 
¶6. (C) Regional Coordinator inquired about protections for 
press freedoms, citing the arrest of several prominent 
journalists in the region for criticism of KRG and party 
officials.  The Minister, a PUK member from Dohuk province, 
said KDP officials were responsible for the most severe cases 
and quickly asserted that all the journalists had been 
released.  He said that while press freedom in the region is 
not perfect, it had improved since the Saddam era.  &I 
cannot tell you that it,s very good, but it,s good,8 he 
said.  He added, &We cannot make a switch from Saddam to 
democracy in a matter of days.8 
 
¶7. (U)  Background on Press Freedom:  Kamal Sayed Qadir, an 
Iraqi-Austrian dual national of Kurdish decent was arrested 
and sentenced to 30-years in prison in the fall of 2005 for 
criticizing KRG Prime Minister Masoud Barzani and other KDP 
officials for corruption.  He was released only after the 
Austrian government and UN officials interceded.  Earlier 
this year Sulaimaniyah-based journalist Hawez Hawezi was 
detained for 4-days and beaten by PUK security forces after 
publishing an article pointing to corruption in the PUK. 
After a second detention for a follow-up story, Hawezi left 
Iraq to seek refugee status with the UN in neighboring Syria. 
 
 
¶8. (C) Tawana Osman, editor-in-chief of Sulaimaniyah-based 
 
BAGHDAD 00004778  002 OF 002 
 
 
independent weekly Hawlati (The Citizen) independent daily 
recounted in a meeting with RRT PAO five cases in the last 
year in which he defended his publication for investigative 
reports on topics such as food and vaccination theft by 
public officials and drug abuse by Kurdish celebrities, 
receiving a six-month suspended sentence in one case.  The 
publication has hired a lawyer who does a final editorial 
&scrub8 before publication pointing out stories government 
officials may find objectionable.  End Background. 
 
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ASSISTANCE 
 
¶9. (U) The Minister said he would welcome assistance from the 
United States to improve the legal framework for human rights 
protections in the region, especially in drafting and 
administering human rights codes and a press law.  He 
stressed that this work should be done in conjunction with 
the Kurdistan National Assembly (KNA) committee on Human 
Rights and the Ministries of Justice and Interior.  Regional 
Coordinator replied that he would look into what might be 
done to help. 
SCOBEY