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Viewing cable 10BAGHDAD302, CHAPTER VII: NEGOTIATION OF U.S. VICTIM CLAIMS
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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin |
---|---|---|---|---|
10BAGHDAD302 | 2010-02-05 15:43 | 2011-08-30 01:44 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Baghdad |
VZCZCXYZ0015
OO RUEHWEB
DE RUEHGB #0302/01 0361543
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 051543Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6468
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 000302
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/27/2018
TAGS: IZ KU PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: CHAPTER VII: NEGOTIATION OF U.S. VICTIM CLAIMS
SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
REF: SECSTATE 105413
Classified By: Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Gary A. Grappo for reason
1.4 (b) and (d).
¶1. (C) Summary: On July 16 and 17, 2009 PM Maliki,s top
legal and political advisers and U.S. representatives from
the Department of State, Department of Justice, Department of
Defense, and Department of Treasury reached preliminary
agreement on a draft state-to-state claims settlement text
for resolving both known and unknown Saddam-era claims of
U.S. victims, most of which are asserted by individuals who
were held as human shields or tortured during the 1990 Gulf
War as POWs. On October 12, PM Legal Advisor Dr. Fadel Jawad
Kadhum provided a proposed revision to the draft text that
includes language he asserted would ensure Council of
Representatives (COR) approval, but would not commit the
United States to do anything more than &study8 any claims
submitted by Iraq to the USG pursuant to the agreement,
including a revision to Article V-(2) concerning a
preservation of Iraq,s right to submit claims on behalf of
the Iraqi government and Iraqi nationals to the United States
and establishing a joint commission to address any such
claims. Dr. Fadel asserted this language would help secure
parliamentary approval, but would not commit the United
States to resolve claims submitted to the USG pursuant to
the agreement. The Embassy recommends that, in order to
finalize agreement before the March 7 national parliamentary
election, the Department engage with interagency counterparts
as soon as possible to approve the proposed revisions to
Article V-(2) as amended to exclude the bracketed
language.End summary.
PROPOSED CHANGES TO CONSIDER IRAQI CLAIMS
-----------------------------------------
¶2. (C) On October 12, 2009 PM Legal Advisor Dr. Fadel Jawad
Kadhum provided a proposed revision to the draft text to
Embassy Legal Adviser. Article V-(2) of that draft contains
the following proposal for consideration of potential Iraqi
claims against the United States:
The Government of Iraq retains the right to present its
claims and the claims of its agencies and instrumentalities,
and Iraqi nationals (legal and physical) to the Government of
the United States. For this purpose, the Parties shall
establish a joint commission to study the claims (and decide
the amount of compensation to be paid to the victims).
(NOTE: The language of Article V-(2), as developed in the
July negotiations, provides: &Iraq retains the right to
present claims of natural and juridical Iraqi nationals to
the United States.8 END NOTE)
¶3. (C) Dr. Fadel advised Embassy and State Department
legal advisers on several subsequent occasions that the
language developed in July does not sufficiently address
Iraqi claims, and that the agreement is thus unlikely to be
approved by the Council of Representatives (COR). He
further stated that his proposed language would help ensure
COR approval, but would not commit the United States to pay
claims submitted to the USG pursuant to the agreement. He
reiterated this view to Embassy Legal Advisers and NSC
Director Peter Vrooman on December 10, to Deputy Embassy
Legal Adviser on December 22, and to L/AN Attorney Advisor
Jeremy Sharpe at the Diplomatic Joint Coordination Committee
inaugural meeting on January 24. Fadel preferred that the
United States agree to the full proposed text for Article
V-(2), but indicated it would be acceptable to remove the
bracketed language regarding the determination of
compensation. He believes that the establishment of a
mechanism to &study8 claims would satisfy the COR. Per
Qmechanism to &study8 claims would satisfy the COR. Per
discussions with Dr. Fadel, Article V-(2) is the last
outstanding issue to be resolved before the draft agreement
could be submitted to the Council of Ministers (COM) for
approval.
POLITICAL UNCERTAINTY MAY CHALLENGE PROGRESS ON CLAIMS
--------------------------------------------- ----------
¶4. (C) U.S. claimants and Congress continue to seek
prompt compensation from Iraq through a
government-to-government settlement. If diplomatic progress
toward resolving the high profile cases stalls, the
claimants, Congressional supporters appear ready to
introduce legislation to address the claims, including by
permitting the victims to return these claims to U.S. courts.
¶5. (C) The current Iraqi parliament is set to terminate
on March 15. During the transition to a new Iraqi
government, the powers of the executive likely will be
curtailed and the Council of Ministers (COM) will limit its
functions to those commensurate with a typical caretaker
government. The caretaker COM may not be empowered to
approve the agreement. Thus, if COM approval is not secured
prior to March 15, the agreement,s conclusion may be delayed
by a lengthy government formation period until the new COM is
seated. Likely delays with securing COM approval prior to
March 15, and the political uncertainties of how the new
Iraqi government will view the U.S. victims claims agreement
and how amenable it will be to working with the USG on the
issue, may hinder the ability to make substantive progress on
resolving claims.
EMBASSY RECOMMENDATION
----------------------
¶6. (C) The Embassy recommends that the Department engage
with interagency counterparts as soon as possible to approve
the proposed revisions to Article V-(2) as amended to exclude
the bracketed language. The Embassy assesses that including
the amended Article V-(2) language would aid in securing COM
approval and COR ratification of the agreement without
committing the United States to resolve any potential claims
asserted under that provision, and without cementing any
particular process for their consideration. Closing off this
outstanding issue also may encourage the GOI to deliver a
long awaited counter proposal to the U.S. proposed settlement
amount.
HILL