Summary
1. During the reporting period, the Government of Iraq has continued its efforts aimed at strengthening the administration of justice and building up the rule of law in the country. However, Iraqi justice sector institutions, including prisons, police, the judiciary, and relevant ministries still have significant and urgent needs. Courts require adequate facilities, more investigative judges, computerized and integrated management systems and greater security for all judicial personnel. The Iraqi police, however trained, operate without clear standing orders or effective internal accountability systems. The prisons' administration faces multiple challenges, including the need for adequate physical structures, appropriately trained personnel and internal implementing regulations.
2. Urgent action is needed to strengthen rule of law institutions, in line with the new Constitution, the Government's priorities and Iraq's international obligations. This is central to creating conditions for re-establishing law and order in the country and ensuring the success and sustainability of security, national reconciliation and development efforts. In particular, the ability of new security plans to effect real change in Iraq will depend on a comprehensive reform program that can strengthen the rule of law and deliver justice for all Iraqis.
3. The Ministry of Human Rights has re-organized its internal structure and increased its cooperation and coordination with relevant Ministries, state entities and human rights NGOs. This should result in greater transparency with respect to the work of the Ministry as well as more effective follow up action by the Government in connection with recommendations on urgent human rights concerns, such as those relating to conditions of detention, as regularly made by the Ministry. For the Ministry of Human Rights to meet its responsibilities and fulfil the aspirations of the Iraqi people, it is essential that it enjoys the support of all Government Ministries as well as of civil society organizations, especially the independent national human rights commission which is to be established by the Council of Representatives.
4. Despite these efforts, enormous challenges remain, complicating or undermining the steps taken thus far by the Government to address the deteriorating human rights situation in Iraq. Action by terrorist groups and sectarian killings which are fuelled by the insurgency, continue to be the main source of violence in the country. The root causes of the sectarian violence lie in revenge killings and lack of accountability for past crimes as well as in the growing sense of impunity for on-going human rights violations. This leads people to take the law into their hands and rely on action by militias or criminal gangs.
5. It is essential that the State and the Government of Iraq are seen as united in their efforts to contain and eventually eradicate sectarian violence, to ensure the rule of law and, through that, remove the popular basis of support for the perpetrators of this violence. Indeed, the greater the action in order to fight impunity and seek accountability for crimes, if necessary through criminal prosecution, the greater the ability to restore law and order and re-establish faith in the institutions of the state and in the rule of law. Justice on high visibility cases, such as Al Jadiriya and Site 4, would go a long way to act also as a powerful deterrent against new violations and thus reduce and eventually stop the on-going vicious cycle of violence and retaliatory-violence.
6. Without significant progress on the rule of law, sectarian violence will continue indefinitely and eventually spiral out of control thus thwarting efforts by the Government in the political, security or economic spheres. UNAMI Human Rights Office (HRO) has continued to receive information about a large number of indiscriminate and targeted killings. Unidentified bodies have appeared daily in Baghdad and other cities. According to information made available to UNAMI, 6,376 civilians were violently killed in November and December 2006, with no less than 4,731 in Baghdad, most of them as a result of gunshot wounds. Compared to the number killed in September and October, there has been a slight reduction. It is evident however that violence has not been contained but has continued to claim a very high number of innocent victims. During 2006, a total of 34,452 civilians have been violently killed and 36,685 wounded.
7. The civilian population remains the main victim of the prevailing security situation characterized by terrorist acts, action by armed groups, criminal gangs, religious extremists, militias, as well as operations by security and military forces. The resulting insecurity, sectarian prejudice, and terror negatively and comprehensively affect the enjoyment of basic rights and freedoms by the population at large. In addition, growing unemployment, poverty, various forms of discrimination and increasingly limited access to basic services, prevent most citizens from realizing their economic, social and cultural rights.
8. Law enforcement agencies do not provide effective protection to the population of Iraq and increasingly militias and criminal gangs act in collusion with, or have infiltrated the security forces. Operations by security and military forces, including by MNF I, continued to result in growing numbers of individuals detained and without access to judicial oversight. According to the Ministry of Human Rights, the total number of detainees for the entire country was 30,842 on 31 December of whom 14,534 in MNF I detention facilities.
9. Armed operations by MNF-I continued to restrict the enjoyment of human rights and to cause severe suffering to the local population. Continued limitations of freedom of movement and lack of access to basic services, such as health and education, are affecting a larger percentage of the population and depriving it of basic rights for extended periods of time. HRO reiterates its call to security and military forces to respect fully international law and to refrain from any excessive use of force.
10. Attacks on professional groups continued unabated during the reporting period. Freedom of expression has continued to be challenged as an increasing number of journalists and media workers were killed or threatened or otherwise intimidated with impunity simply because of their work. The condition of women has generally continued to deteriorate with erosion of their enjoyment of basic rights and freedoms and repeated instances of honour crimes. Minorities also continued to be targeted, with threats and attacks against Christians still on the rise. Armed groups or militias have continued to threaten and forcibly evict Palestinians from their homes and have repeatedly attacked them with mortars and armed fire.
11. The independence of the judiciary has been negatively affected by consistent attacks on and killings of judges and lawyers, often working in appalling security conditions, as well as by unresolved questions concerning the leadership of the Iraqi Bar Association.
12. Targeting of members of the security forces has continued. On 24 December, the Minister of Interior indicated that 12,000 police officers had been killed since 2003: that represents an average of 10 police officers killed every single day. The effect of violence has also affected education, with many schools and universities closed or with their schedules disrupted as educators, professors and students are unable to attend course and continue to leave the country.
13. At the same time, at least 470,094 people have been forcibly internally displaced since the bombing in Samarra on 22 February 2006. Baghdad alone has 38,766 displaced individuals. In its Emergency Assessment on 11 December 2006, IOM noted that extreme violence has prevented access to IDP communities and made the provision of aid assistance very difficult. This takes place at a critical time with winter temperatures now increasingly affecting the health and well being of the most vulnerable IDPs.
14. The Iraqi High Tribunal (IHT) pronounced its verdict on the Dujail case on 5 November while the decision of the appeal court of the IHT to uphold the death sentence for Saddam Hussein and two other co-defendants was unveiled on 26 December. The execution of the head of the former regime took place on 30 December yet raised international and national concerns, highlighting the imperative need at all times for due process and full respect of the Constitution and international law.
15. Not all of Iraq, however, faces the same human rights situation. Certain areas in the South and the North, and the Region of Kurdistan in particular, are relatively safer and therefore record better human rights conditions. Nevertheless, minority and women rights, as well as administrative corruption are of concern in Kurdistan and in the rest of the country. The rise in religious extremism continues to affect education, women's and minority rights in the Southern and Central Iraq.
16. A major concern from a human rights point of view is the deterioration of the situation in Kirkuk, particularly with respect to the rights of minorities, both Arab and Turkmen. They face increasing threats, intimidations and detentions, often in KRG facilities run by Kurdish intelligence and security forces. This has particular implications for the overall stability of the city, especially in the course of 2007.
17. In the reporting period, HRO engaged Iraqi governmental and non-governmental partners as well as international donors in a series of activities in support of strengthening the rule of law and for the establishment of a strong and effective national human rights protection system. HRO supported activities by the Ministry of Human Rights also in connection with Human Rights Day on and around 10 December and continued with its support to the Rule of Law Sectoral Working Group Core Teams. HRO also ensured specialized training in the area of human rights for members of the Government, regional authorities and NGOs.
18. Monitoring human rights in Iraq remains challenging because the security situation makes it difficult to independently verify the allegations received, also in connection with individual cases. However, individual accounts received by UNAMI, as well as information obtained through the Authorities, reports by local human rights organizations, private security firms and the press, all provide indicators pointing to clear patterns.