VZCZCXRO9086
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #2520/01 2611315
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181315Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4755
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002520 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KCOR KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: ANTI-CORRUPTION UPDATE FOR SEPTEMBER 18 
 
REF: A. BAGHDAD 2313 
     ¶B. BAGHDAD 1401 
     ¶C. BAGHDAD 1161 
 
SUMMARY 
-------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) GOI anti-corruption officials finalized a new 
anti-corruption strategy at an UN-organized gathering and 
plan to unveil it in October; they expressed appreciation for 
USG as well as UN assistance in devising the strategy, 
focused on achieving compliance with the UN Convention 
Against Corruption.  Iraq's lead anti-corruption agency, the 
Commission on Integrity (COI), has mounted an active public 
relations campaign, with COI head Judge Raheem Al-Ugaili 
announcing, inter alia, the COI's submission of 500 
corruption cases to the judiciary so far this year and 
providing an update on GOI officials' submission of financial 
disclosure reports.  The COI recently issued its first-ever 
"black list" of public employees who allegedly submitted 
fraudulent educational and other documents to obtain  their 
jobs. END SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
FINALIZATION OF THE GOI'S ANTI-CORRUPTION STRATEGY 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) Ref A contained an update on Iraqis' efforts, with 
UN assistance under an ACCO-financed project, to prepare a 
new national anti-corruption strategy to replace the 18-point 
plan issued by the GOI in January 2008. Subsequently, during 
September 7-10, UNDP/UNODC officials hosted meetings in Amman 
of Iraqi anti-corruption officials to put the final touches 
on the strategy.  The event culminated in a gathering, 
chaired by the head of the GOI's Joint Anti-Corruption 
Council (JACC), Ali Alaq, who gave his endorsement to the 
finalized version, which is focused on Iraq's achieving 
compliance with the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). 
 Besides Alaq, who also serves as Secretary General of the 
Council of Ministers and is Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki's 
point-person on anti-corruption efforts,  the head of the 
Commission on Integrity (COI), Judge Raheem,  played a 
prominent role in the proceedings. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The event culminated in Alaq's announcement that the 
GOI would formally release the new strategy in October. He 
acknowledged, though, that some specifics of the strategy's 
implementation plan had yet to be fully elaborated and would 
be released later.  In side conversations with ACCO reps in 
attendance, both Alaq and Raheem praised the UNDP/UNODC 
officials involved in the months-long process of formulating 
the strategy, asserting that their guidance and expertise had 
been crucial. (NOTE: UNDP/UNODC officials' assistance began 
in earnest in January, when they organized the first of an 
ongoing series of workshops and other events to orient Iraqi 
anti-corruption officials to the UNCAC requirements and 
assist them in identifying reforms required for Iraq's 
existing anti-corruption regime in order to fulfill those 
requirements. END NOTE)  Alaq and Judge Raheem also made a 
point of expressing appreciation for the USG support that had 
made possible the UNDP/UNODC project. 
 
¶4. (SBU) A detailed report on the strategy follows via septel. 
 
 
PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFENSIVE BY THE COI 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) The COI has been active of late on the public 
relations front, with Raheem issuing an array of media 
statements on his organization's achievements and other 
issues.  Among his utterances, he announced earlier this 
month that the COI had submitted 500 corruption cases to the 
judiciary so far in 2009, compared to 398 over all of last 
year. (COMMENT: Per Ref B, our sources had previously 
reported stepped-up activity by the COI this year, compared 
to 2008, in terms of the number of persons arrested and 
prosecuted on corruption charges.  We also note,  per ref C, 
Qprosecuted on corruption charges.  We also note,  per ref C, 
the judiciary's recent claim that it had received 445 
corruption cases since the beginning of 2009 and that this 
represented an increase over 2008. However, in comparing 
figures for 2008-09, we note that many corruption-related and 
other criminal cases in 2008 were not prosecuted as the 
defendants benefitted from the February 2008 Amnesty Law. END 
COMMENT). 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Providing an update on the submission of financial 
disclosure reports required of senior officials at national 
and provincial levels, Raheem told the media that only 35 
percent of parliamentarians (Council of Representatives) had 
filed reports, while all Ministers as well as the President 
and his two Vice Presidents had done so.   He went on to cite 
 
BAGHDAD 00002520  002 OF 002 
 
 
two provincial governors, those of Al-Anbar and Ninewa, for 
failure to submit the reports. (COMMENT: As previously 
reported -- Ref B -- the legal requirement for senior members 
of all branches of government to submit the annual financial 
disclosure statements has been widely ignored in the past. 
The parliamentarians' spotty record notwithstanding, our 
sense is that overall the number of officials submitting 
statements for 2008 has substantially increased over prior 
years.  END COMMENT) 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) The COI, in an effort to demonstrate vigilance over 
the honesty of public officials,  issued this week its first 
ever "black list" of public employees who were hired based on 
educational and other documents that COI determined were 
forged.  In releasing its "black list," the COI said that it 
had evidence that at least 100 individuals working at the 
Journalism Faculty at Baghdad University had gotten their 
jobs based on submission of false credentials.  All names 
were listed on COI's website.  The story received wide 
coverage in the local media. 
 
 
 
HILL