VZCZCXRO0215
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #2582/01 2270802
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P 140802Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8845
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002582 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/14/2018 
TAGS: ICRC PHUM KJUS PINS IR IZ
SUBJECT: ICRC TO INCREASE GOI DETENTION INSPECTIONS AND 
ENGAGE IN MEK TRANSFER OF AUTHORITY 
 
REF: A. BAGHDAD 2304 
     ¶B. BAGHDAD 2519 
 
Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Steve Walker for reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (S)  SUMMARY:  In separate meetings with PolOff and 
Embassy Legal Adviser on August 5, ICRC Iraq delegation 
members discussed their increased access to GOI detention 
facilities, ICRC support for USG efforts to obtain humane 
treatment assurances before transferring third country 
national detainees, and willingness to help facilitate the 
transfer of authority over the Mujahedin e-Khalq (MEK) from 
the USG to the GOI.  Due to the improving security situation, 
the ICRC is now able to increase inspections of GOI detention 
facilities; it conducted its first Baghdad visit in July, a 
limited-scale inspection at the Rusafa Rule of Law Complex. 
The team has previously only inspected Ft. Suse prison in 
Sulaymaniyah in December 2007.  ICRC said it would monitor 
and advise the GOI, USG, and MEK leadership with regard to 
the upcoming transfer of responsibility for the MEK from the 
USG to the GOI, including a visit to Camp Ashraf to conduct a 
humanitarian assessment of each MEK member.  END SUMMARY. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
DETENTION FACILITY INSPECTIONS INCREASING 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C)  In a meeting with PolOff on August 5, ICRC Iraq 
delegation members discussed their increased access to GOI 
detention facilities.  Protection Coordinator Laurent Saugy 
and Legal Advisor Larry Maybee said that the improved 
security situation has enabled ICRC to increase its 
inspections of GOI detention facilities.  An ICRC team 
conducted its first Baghdad visit in July, a limited-scale 
inspection at the Rusafa Rule of Law Complex.  The team had 
previously only been able to inspect only one facility due to 
security concerns for ICRC teams, Ft. Suse prison in 
Sulaymaniyah, in December 2007.  The delegation expressed 
hope that with the security improvements in Iraq and a formal 
agreement with the GOI, ICRC could expand its operations and 
have a strong, positive impact on the treatment of detainees 
and the conditions of detention facilities. 
 
¶3.  (C)  Since 1992, the ICRC has had a formal agreement with 
the KRG to inspect KRG and Asayish detention facilities, but 
it had not been active in the rest of Iraq until 2007.  In 
2007, the ICRC Iraq delegation made a verbal agreement with 
Deputy Minister of Justice Posho to inspect Ministry of 
Justice (MoJ) detention facilities.  The ICRC also engaged 
with the Ministry of Interior (MoI), Ministry of Defense 
(MoD), and Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MoLSA) on 
inspecting their detention facilities; each agreed "in 
principle" to ICRC inspections.  The ICRC is currently in 
discussions with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) to 
negotiate a formal agreement that would give the ICRC access 
to all detention facilities in Iraq.  The team hopes to 
complete this agreement in 2009. 
 
---------------- 
TRANSFER OF TCNS 
---------------- 
 
¶4.  (C)   The ICRC team discussed with Embassy Legal Adviser 
on August 5 USG efforts to protect third country national 
(TCN) detainees following their transfer from MNF-I custody 
to their home countries.  The ICRC team expressed support for 
USG efforts to vet TCNs for persecution fears, and to obtain 
humane treatment assurances from receiving states prior to 
transferring TCNs.  The team encouraged the USG to inform 
detainees of any assurances the USG may receive from states 
to which they will be transferred.  More generally, the ICRC 
team asked that MNF-I stop returning released detainees to 
their points of capture.  Many such detainees, they noted, 
are rearrested and tortured by MoI.  They urged MNF-I to work 
with appropriate GOI officials, including the Minister of 
Human Rights, to return released detainees directly to their 
families (ref A). 
 
------------------------------ 
MEK TRANSFER OF RESPONSIBILITY 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (S)  The ICRC delegation told PolOff that it would be 
actively involved in the upcoming transfer of security 
responsibility for the MEK from the USG to the GOI, including 
a visit to Camp Ashraf in the near future to conduct a 
humanitarian assessment and interview residents.  They 
emphasized that this visit would occur after MNF-I conducts a 
risk assessment by conducting a census and interviewing each 
MEK member (ref A).  (Note:  MNF-I completed the census on 
August 10.  End Note.)  Once the transfer took place, ICRC 
 
BAGHDAD 00002582  002 OF 002 
 
 
would continue to facilitate repatriations to Iran for 
willing MEK members.  The team also noted ICRC's intention 
soon to designate two ICRC employees to work full-time at 
Camp Ashraf.  The ICRC will make an initial reconnaissance 
visit to Camp Ashraf on August 19, and the head of the ICRC 
Iraq delegation, Juan-Pedro Schaerer, will lead a delegation 
to visit Ashraf a week later. 
 
¶6.  (S)  The ICRC delegation noted to Embassy Legal Adviser 
that it shares the USG's interpretation of the legal status 
of the MEK at Camp Ashraf, i.e., that because the 
international armed conflict in Iraq ended in 2004, and 
because the United States is not an "occupying power" in 
Iraq, the MEK have no legal right to claim protected persons 
status under the Fourth Geneva Convention.  However, ICRC 
observed that MNF-I bears responsibility for protecting the 
MEK at Camp Ashraf for as long as MNF-I controls the camp. 
 
¶7.  (S)  ICRC supports the USG strategy for a phased 
transition of authority over Camp Ashraf from the USG to the 
GOI.  The team highlighted the importance of receiving 
written assurances from the GOI that it will not forcibly 
expel, torture, or otherwise mistreat the Camp Ashraf 
residents following a transfer of authority.  ICRC also 
supported the USG's request to the GOI that the USG, or a 
mutually agreed third party, have access to the MEK at Camp 
Ashraf for as long as it remains open, in order to verify the 
GOI's humane treatment assurances. 
 
¶8.  (S)  The ICRC delegation emphasized the need for the USG 
to respect its independence and limited mandate.  The team 
noted, for example, that it could not, without consent, share 
interview results from ICRC interviews, and thus urged the 
USG independently to interview individual MEK members about 
their fears of persecution, and independently assess their 
wishes to remain at Ashraf, reside elsewhere in Iraq, return 
to Iran, or resettle in a third state.  The ICRC also asked 
the USG to coordinate closely with ICRC before making public 
statements about the organization's involvement with the MEK, 
so as not to compromise its independence or mandate.  The GOI 
also should be encouraged not to unilaterally broadcast 
ICRC's role at Camp Ashraf. 
 
¶9.  (C)  COMMENT:  ICRC's increased access to GOI detention 
operations and the upcoming transfer of security authority 
for Camp Ashraf is a positive step in the ICRC increasing its 
engagement in Iraq beyond its extensive humanitarian 
assistance activities.  A larger ICRC presence will support 
USG efforts in promoting rule of law and will increase 
pressure on the GOI to improve detention operation standards 
and respect humanitarian assurances.  Although ICRC will not 
relocate its Iraq delegation from Amman to Baghdad in the 
near future, it will continue to step up its presence around 
the country, including at Camp Ashraf.  Post will coordinate 
and share information on our detention facility inspections 
with the ICRC and encourage the teams to expand their scope 
of work.  We will also encourage ICRC's efforts in ensuring 
humane treatment of the MEK during and after the transfer of 
security authority. 
CROCKER