VZCZCXRO4111
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #0511/01 0580453
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 270453Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1903
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000511 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR INL, NEA/I 
JUSTICE PASS TO JOHN EULER, ANDREW NORMAN, PHIL LYNCH 
 
E.O. 12958:   N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL IZ US
SUBJECT:  SHIFT TO IRAQI PRIORITIES IN FIFTH ANNUAL RULE OF LAW 
CONFERENCE 
 
REF: 2008 Baghdad 8208 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  The Embassy Rule of Law Coordinator's Office 
(ROLC) and the Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I) Staff Judge 
Advocate's Office co-hosted the Fifth Annual Rule of Law Conference 
at the New Embassy Compound February 17-18.  The purpose of the 
conference was two-fold.  The first day was intended to facilitate 
coordination of U.S. Government (USG) military and civilian 
initiatives.  The second day was focused on seeking and obtaining 
guidance from the Government of Iraq (GOI) on how the USG and 
international community and visiting forces could best assist in 
Rule of Law efforts.  USG Rule of Law practitioners exchanged 
information regarding joint and parallel Rule of Law efforts across 
Iraq.  Additionally, the USG and international community conveyed to 
our Iraqi guests our intent to support Iraqi Rule of Law priorities 
rather than impose our own and played a listening role as the GOI 
representatives discussed issues of concern to them.  END SUMMARY. 
 
BACKGROUND 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The USG has hosted four previous Rule of Law conferences, 
the most recent on May 19-21, 2008, at the Blackhawk Conference 
Center in the International Zone.  This year's conference built upon 
prior successes but is distinguishable because of the breadth and 
depth of focus on Iraqi priorities and leadership.  The second day 
of the conference was primarily given over to panels of Iraqi 
speakers, and the theme was post-UNSCR Iraqi-led Rule of Law 
initiatives with an emphasis on the support role that the USG and 
international community now play. 
 
DAY 1 - FACILITATING USG COORDINATION 
 
¶3.  (U) The Deputy Commanding General of MNF-I opened the first day 
by emphasizing that time was limited and that everyone needed to 
focus on both transition and sustainability.  He also urged the 
attendees to avoid "stove piping" by coordinating across the Rule of 
Law capacity-building community.  Seventy-five guests were in 
attendance, including Resident Legal Advisors (RLAs) from Provincial 
Reconstruction Teams (PRTs), their military counterparts, senior 
ROLC and MNF-I legal advisors, representatives from the Embassy 
Political and Political-Military Affairs Offices, Office of 
Provincial Affairs (OPA), Bureau of International Narcotics and Law 
Enforcement Affairs (INL), Anti-Corruption Coordinator's Office, and 
representatives from the British and Italian Embassies. 
 
¶4. (U) During the morning sessions, the PRT RLAs and their 
associated military Rule of Law practitioners assessed their areas 
of responsibility.  They discussed the unique challenges faced in 
each area, as well as their innovative approaches and solutions. 
Most notable was the team approach that the civilian and military 
Rule of Law practitioners have developed.  PRT RLAs lead the Rule of 
Law capacity building effort with the military playing a significant 
supporting role.  In areas more challenged by security issues, the 
military continues to play a more prominent role out of necessity. 
Nonetheless, several military representatives and RLAs stated that 
the senior military commanders in their areas of responsibility had 
explicitly directed that the military's role was to support the 
PRT-led Rule of Law efforts. 
 
¶5. (U) The afternoon sessions consisted of a series of subject 
matter focused presentations.  First, Task Force 134 and 
Multi-National Corps-Iraq (MNC-I) presented an update on detention 
operations, and the International Criminal Investigative Training 
Qoperations, and the International Criminal Investigative Training 
Assistance Program (ICITAP) and MNF-I discussed Iraqi detention 
capacity.  Additionally, the Justice Attache provided an update and 
analysis regarding the judicial security plan.  Next, the Law and 
Order Task Force (LAOTF) spoke about its judicial throughput 
initiatives, and INL spoke about its capacity building initiatives. 
Finally, MNF-I and OPA discussed funding and program updates, and 
Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq (MNSTC-I) briefed 
ongoing police training efforts. 
 
Day 2 - SEEKING GOI GUIDANCE 
 
¶6.  (U) The Charge d'Affaires opened the second day of the 
conference emphasizing that the USG and international community are 
seeking to understand what support the GOI needs and desires in 
order to enhance the Rule of Law in Iraq.  Ninety-four guests were 
in attendance, including 16 Iraqi representatives from the 
Ministries of Interior, Justice, Labor and Social Affairs, Human 
Rights, and Defense, as well as two senior judges.  The Acting 
Minister of Justice and Minister of Human Rights attended the 
morning sessions.  Ten members of the international community 
attended, representing the United Nations Assistance Mission for 
Iraq (UNAMI), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the 
European Union's Integrated Rule of Law Mission for Iraq (EUJUST 
 
BAGHDAD 00000511  002 OF 002 
 
 
LEX), the European Commission (EC), and the British and Italian 
Embassies.  The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was 
invited but unable to attend. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The remainder of the morning was devoted entirely to 
presentations by the GOI.  The first panel focused on the 
development of Rule of Law within the Ministry of the Interior 
(MOI).  The panel consisted of four Ministry representatives, 
including the Inspector General, Director of Internal Affairs, 
General Counsel, and Chief Judge of the MOI courts.  The panelists 
focused primarily on anti-corruption efforts.  Several speakers made 
the point that, since the creation of the internal MOI courts, the 
Ministry has been able to effectively and quickly deal with police 
misconduct, increasing the Iraqi public's trust in police forces by 
ensuring no one is above the law.  According to conference attendee 
Maj. Gen. (Dr.) Saad al Hindawi, Chief Counsel and Legal Advisor for 
the MOI, since the internal courts were created in late July 2008, 
1,047 cases were referred to the Internal Security Forces court 
system, and 6,000 were referred to the civilian system, 4,200 of 
which were corruption cases. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The second morning panel was asked to describe how the 
international community and visiting forces could best support Iraq 
in enhancing the Rule of Law.  The Anti-corruption Coordinator 
facilitated this panel in Arabic.  The speakers were the Minister of 
Human Rights, Ministry of Justice Inspector General, representatives 
from the Ministries of Interior and Defense, and the Chief 
Investigative Judge for the Central Criminal Court of Iraq at Karkh 
(CCCI-Karkh).  Most panelists did not address the question directly 
but spoke broadly about the importance of achieving the Rule of Law 
and how their respective organizations were seeking to achieve that 
goal.  Both the Minister of Human Rights and the Ministry of Justice 
Inspector General spoke of the need for empowered and resourced 
oversight mechanisms that lead to accountability.  The judge spoke 
about the need to consolidate the courts into one judicial system, 
suggesting that the MOI and Ministry of Defense courts should fall 
under Higher Judicial Council supervision. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) The afternoon was divided between the international 
community and the GOI, but the theme throughout was GOI leadership. 
The first panel addressed Rule of Law initiatives within the 
international community.  The panelists included representatives 
from the EC, UNDP, EUJUST LEX, and the British and Italian 
Embassies.  Several panelists identified the need for increased 
synchronization of Rule of Law capacity building efforts.  Speakers 
called upon Iraq to lead the effort because all of these projects 
must ultimately support Iraqi goals. 
 
¶10. (SBU) The final panel was asked to discuss how the international 
community and visiting forces could support Iraq's efforts to 
improve oversight institutions to protect human rights.  The panel 
consisted of representatives from the Ministries of Interior and 
Defense and the Chief Appellate Judge from CCCI-Rusafa.  The 
representatives from the Ministries of Defense and Justice spoke 
about inhumane detention conditions and their respective Ministries' 
efforts to inspect and improve those facilities.  The judicial 
representative discussed challenges encountered in seeking to ensure 
that Ministries respect and enforce judicial orders, particularly 
release orders.  The Ministry representatives highlighted resource 
Qrelease orders.  The Ministry representatives highlighted resource 
challenges unique to the current security environment.  The MOI 
representative pointed out that an Iraqi detective can have more 
than a hundred active cases, which they must pursue without 
vehicles. 
 
CONFERENCE GOALS WERE ACHIEVED 
 
¶11. (SBU) The Rule of Law Conference was successful in achieving its 
primary objectives.  First, USG Rule of Law practitioners, both 
civilian and military, learned about the ongoing efforts of their 
counterparts, the need to coordinate with one another, and the 
resources available to them to accomplish their respective missions. 
 They also gained a better appreciation for diminishing resources, 
particularly time and influence, as well as the need to emphasize 
sustainability.  Second, the USG and international community 
conveyed to the GOI our desire to play a supportive role and 
listened as Iraqi panelists discussed their goals and priorities. 
Finally, the USG expressed to the international community its desire 
to partner with them in supporting Iraq's Rule of Law capacity 
building initiatives. 
 
BUTENIS