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Tuesday, April 17, 2012. Chaos and violence continue,
Nouri gets a press 'award' of sorts, we look at his long history of attacking
the press since he became prime minister in 2006, the White House realizes (at
least somewhat) that keeping Nouri happy won't hold Iraq together, corpses and
bombings and shooting make it appear 2006 is stating a comeback, and more.
In Nouri al-Maliki's Iraq, everyone's targeted and that
includes journalists. Nouri has long been anti-press. As we noted yesterday,
Jane Arraf (Al Jazeera -- link has
video and text) has asked Iraqi President Jalal Talabani about charges that
Prime Minister and thug Nouri al-"Maliki is on the road to becoming a dictator"
and Talabani denied the charge and stated, "There are some shortages -- it is
not only him responsible. I am also responsible. I am responsible for looking
after everything to guard the constitution. I must also speak, so we are all
responsible for the shortages in the government." Yesterday's snapshot didn't
have a working link to Jane Arraf's interview, my apologies. If Talabani agrees
Iraq is his responsibility as well, he's going to have to learn to support and
advocate on behalf of the press -- something he's never done, even before the
Iraq War.
In recent years, the
government has introduced a barrage of legislation relating to the fundamental
freedoms of expression and assembly. In some cases, this legislation appears to
be well intentioned, while in other cases positive interntions are less
apparent. Regardless, all of these new laws, most of which have not yet been
adopted, are problematical from the perspective of constitutional and
international human rights guarantees.
This Report reviews five
pieces of legislation affecting the freedoms of assembly and expression that
have been introduced in recent years in Iraq. Of these, only one, the
Journalistic Rights Law (Journalist Law), has actually been passed into law, in
August 2011. The other four -- the draft Commission of Media and Communication
Law (draft CMC Law), the draft Informatics Crimes Law (draft Internet Law), the
draft Political Parties Law (draft Parties Law) and the draft Law of Expression,
Assembly, and Peaceful Protest (draft Assembly Law) -- have not yet been
formally adopted as laws.
[. . .]
One of the most problematical
features of the five laws is that, taken together, they impose wide-ranging
restrictions on the content of what may be published or broadcast through the
media, during demonstrations, over the Internet and by political parties. These
are in addition to the many content restrictions which are still found int he
old 1969 Penal Code. A few issues receive particular attention in the new laws,
such as public morals and more issues, incitement, in particular to religious
hatred or criticism, and perhaps not surprisingly, public order and terrorism.
Many of these fail to meet the standards of international law regarding
restrictions on freedom of expression.
If a country really needed strong laws to provide a free
press, it would be Iraq. Since becoming prime minister in 2006, Nouri's done
nothing but attack the press. His disregard and hatred for it is well known and
has influenced many incidents, most infamously a New York
Times reporter had a gun aimed at them 'for fun' in the latter half of
2006, a gun aimed a pretend shot taken by one of Nouri's security forces who
found the whole incident hilarious.
Therefore the proposals aren't really that surprising.
Frightening, but not surprising. Of the proposed CMC Law, the Centre For Law
And Democracy notes it is obsessed with "public morals" while the proposed
Internet Law dictates that "moral, family or social values" must not be offended
and similar dictates apply with the proposed Assembly Law. The Centre For Law
And Democracy notes that speech that offends due to ideas can't be legitimately
banned, the speech needs to do "harm to society" -- even so, the paper should be
very clear -- and isn't -- because Nouri calls many things harmful to society
including Iraqi politicians who criticize him.
Furthermore, the prohibited
acts in these laws go well beyond public order and terrorism as normally
understood. They also include undermining the constitution, jeopardising
national interests, sending threatening or insulting messages or fabricated
news, promoting terrorist ideologies (as opposed to terrorism per se) and
publishing information about the manufacture of tools or materials usedd in
terrorists acts.
These broad prohibitions
simply cannot be justified. It is perfectly legitimate to 'undermine' (or
criticise or seek to change) the constitution, as long as this is done through
peaceful means. Otherwise, it would be a crime to seek to achiever any
amendments to the constitution. The concept of 'national interests' is
impossibly flexible. In many countries, it is a crime to make threats, but
sending insulting messages is often perfectly legitimate or at worst may warrant
a civil defamation suit. Similarly, promoting terrorism ideologies, whatever
they may be, is not the same thing as inciting terrorism, and the narrower
offence should be preferred.
Page 27 of the report notes the Journalists Rights
bill. (PDF format warning, click here for that proposed
law.) It was proposed in 2009 and modified in 2011. The modified version
defines a journalist as "Every individual practicing a full time journalism
job." This would leave out stringers, part-timers, freelancers and many other
media workers. That's not an accident. The report doesn't point it out but
Nouri's always attacked the press, always wanted them monitored as well. Let's
drop back to the October 3, 2006
snapshot:
Operation Happy Talkers are
on the move and telling you that Nouri al-Maliki offers a 'four-point' peace
plan. You may have trouble reading of the 'four-point' plan because the third
point isn't about "peace" or "democracy" so reports tend to ignore it. The first
step has already been (rightly) dismissed by Andrew
North (BBC) of the "local security
committees": "In fact, most neighourhoods of Baghdad set up their own local
security bodies some time ago to protect themselves -- because they do not trust
the authorities to look after them." AP reports that
the Iraqi parliament voted in favor of the 'peace' plan (reality
title: "continued carnage plan"). Step three? Let's drop back to the
September 7th snapshot:
["]Switching to the issue of
broadcasting, were they showing episodes of Barney
Miller or NYPD Blue? Who knows but police
pulled the plug on the satellite network al-Arabiya in Baghdad. CNN was
told by a company official (Najib Ben
Cherif) that the offices "is being shut for a month." AP is iffy on
who gave the order but notes that Nouri al-Malike started making
warnings/threats to television stations back in July. CNN
reports: "A news alert on Iraqi State TV
said the office of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered the office closed for a
month."["]
Ah, yes, the puppet's war
with the press. The so-called peace plan is more of the same. The third
'plank' is about the media. Which is why the "brave" US media repeatedly cites
the first two and stays silent while a free media (something a democracy is
dependent upon) walks the plank.
It's disgusting and shameful,
the third 'plank.' The whole 'plan' is a joke. Reuters is one of the few to go beyond the first two 'steps' but even it does a really
poor job and those over coverage of Iraq in the mainstream (producers to suits)
are very concerned about this. (So why don't they report it?) The "plan" isn't
a plan for peace, it's a plan for the puppet to attempt to save his own ass for
a few more months. Lee Keath
(AP) is only
one of many ignoring the third step (possibly AP thinks readers are unable to
count to four?) but does note that al-Maliki took office last May with a
24-point plan that, to this day, "has done little to stem the daily killings."
Nor will this so-called 'peace plan.' The US
military and the American "ambassador" have announced that Nouri al-Maliki better show some results ('after all
we've paid' going unspoken).
So al-Maliki pulls a page
from Paul Bremer's book and decides to go after the media. For those who've
forgotten, on March 28, 2004, al-Hawza was closed
down as a result of running a cartoon of Bremer leading to the violence in
Falluja in April 2004.
The Guardian has won its appeal against an Iraqi court ruling which
judged that the paper had defamed the country's prime minister, Nouri
al-Maliki.
The Iraqi National
Intelligence Service (INIS) brought the libel action after the Guardian reported
criticism of al-Maliki and the INIS in an
article published in April 2009. The
Al-Karakh primary court judged in November 2009 that the report was defamatory
and ordered the Guardian to pay a fine of 100m dinar (£52,000).
However, the Iraqi appeal
court ruled on 28 December that the article did not cause any defamation or harm
to al-Maliki or the INIS, overturning the earlier court ruling.
With the above and so much more, these measures,
largely drafted by Nouri and his inner circle, are anti-press isn't surprising.
The Centre For Law And Democracy notes "we see in the collective approach of the
five laws a dramatic lack of respect for the fundamental human rights to freedom
of assembly and expression. In most cases, these rules seek to impose
unwarranted restrictions on the exercise of these rights. Taken together with
the broad content restrictions, as well as the undue degree of government
control over the exercise of these rights, the five laws would impose very
severe constraints indeed on basic human rights."
The findings are disturbing. What's even more
disturbing is that the findings really aren't new. They've very similar to what
the United Nations Assistance Mission For Iraq (UNAMI) found in the second half
of 2009 [PDF format warning] Human Rights Report. For
example:
Some of the law's provisions,
however, give rise to concern. For example, the law gives broad discretionary
power to govenrment, which could be used to restrict the right to freedom of
expression. Several porvisions of the law clearly inhibit the realization of
the rights of media workers; the prohibition of publishing materials which
"compromise the security and stability of the country" is open to broad
interpretation and may be abused by authorities. The draft law does not provide
a guarantee for the protection of sources: rather, provisions state that the law
requires the source to be revealed.
The draft law's narrow
definition of a journalist as "one who works for press . . . and who is
affiliated with the Iraqi Journalists' Syndicate" raises concerns about the
ability of other media workers, such as editors, commentators, blogger, and
freelancers to exercise their right to express their views publicly and in
effect imposes a de facto obligation to register journalists. According to the
law, media organizations operating in Iraq must issue contracts to journalists
that have been prepared and authorized by the Iraqi Journalists' Syndicate. Not
only contradicting article 39 of the Constitution which stipulates that no one
shall be compelled to join any party.
It's nearly three years later and the proposed laws
still have the same exact problems. There's been no improvement. In fact, it
has worsened. In January of this year, the
Society for Defending Press Freedom's Oday Hattem told Al Jazeera, "There is
no freedom to workin journalism here -- if we compare the jounalism in Iraq with
the West. [. . .] The political and freedom of speech situations are both
descending. Maliki launched an attack on freedom of speech in February 2010,
when he arrested tens of journalists and human rights activsts after the
beginning of demonstrations in Baghdad."
I believe he's referring to February 2011. February 25, 2011 saw major
protests in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq. It also saw Nouri crackdown on the
press and activists. From February 26, 2011:
Yesterday Iraqis made
their voices heard in multiple demonstrations. Wael Grace and Adam
Youssef (Al Mada)
report the disturbing news that after
the demonstrations, four journalists who had been reporting on the protests were
eating lunch when Iraqi security forces rushed into the restaurant and arrested
them with eye witnesses noting that they brutal attacked the journalists inside
the restaurant, cursing the journalists as they beat them with their rifle
handles. One of the journalists was Hossam Serail who says that they left Tahrir
Square with colleagues including journalists, writers intellectuals, filmmakers.
They went into the restaurant where the Iraqi military barged in, beat and
kicked them, hit them in the face and head with the handles of their rifles,
cursed the press and journalists, put him the trunk of a Hummer. This is Nouri
al-Maliki's Iraq -- the Iraq the US forces prop up at the command of the Barack
Obama. Stephanie McCrummen (Washington Post) adds:{}Four journalists who had been
released described being rounded up well after they had left a protest at
Baghdad's Tahrir Square. They said they were handcuffed, blindfolded, beaten and
threatened with execution by soldiers from an army intelligence unit. "It was
like they were dealing with a bunch of al-Qaeda operatives, not a group of
journalists," said Hussam al-Ssairi, a journalist and poet, who was among a
group and described seeing hundreds of protesters in black hoods at the
detention facility. "Yesterday was like a test, like a picture of the new
democracy in Iraq." {}
Among those arrested and tortured were journalist and
activist Hadi al-Mahdi. NPR's Kelly McEvers interviewed Hadi for
Morning Edition after he had been released and she
noted he had been "beaten in the leg, eyes, and head." He explained that he was
accused of attempting to "topple" Nouri al-Maliki's government -- accused by the
soldiers under Nouri al-Maliki, the soldiers who beat him. Excerpt:
Hadi al-Mahdi: I replied, I
told the guy who was investigating me, I'm pretty sure that your brother is
unemployed and the street in your area is unpaved and you know that this
political regime is a very corrupt one.
Kelly McEvers: Mahdi was
later put in a room with what he says were about 200 detainees, some of them
journalists and intellectuals, many of them young protesters.
Hadi al-Mahdi: I started
hearing voices of other people. So, for instance, one guy was crying, another
was saying, "Where's my brother?" And a third one was saying, "For the sake of
God, help me."
Kelly McEvers: Mahdi was
shown lists of names and asked to reveal people's addresses. He was forced to
sign documents while blindfolded. Eventually he was released. Mahdi says the
experience was worse than the times he was detained under Saddam Hussein. He
says the regime that's taken Sadam's place is no improvement on the past. This,
he says, should serve as a cautionary tale for other Arab countries trying to
oust dictators.
Hadi al-Mahdi: They toppled
the regime, but they brought the worst -- they brought a bunch of thieves,
thugs, killers and corrupt people, stealers.
September 8, 2011, Hadi
al-Mahdi was assassinated in his home. Madhi had filed a complaint with the
courts against the Iraqi security forces for their actions. Mohamed Tawfeeq (CNN)
explains, "Hadi al-Mehdi was inside his apartment on Abu Nawas street in
central Baghdad when gunmen shot him twice with silencer-equipped pistols, said
the ministry official, who did not want to be identified because he is not
authorized to speak to media."
Democracy and liberation haven't taken hold in Iraq but
targeting the press certainly did. And today Nouri al-Maliki's Iraq can boast
of one 'accomplishment' under his six years of leadership: Number one on the Committee to Protect Journalists' Impunity
Index. Rachel McAthy (CPJ)
explains:
Iraq remains at the top of the
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Impunity Index for the fifth year in a
row, with the press freedom group reporting
that the cases of 93 journalists killed in the past 10 years remain unsolved.
The latest index, published annually by the
group, lists the 12 countries that have seen at least five reporters killed with
no resulting convictions from 2002 to 2011.
The CPJ
reports that Iraq's rating for impunity "dwarfs that of every other nation" with
a rating of 2.906 unsolved cases per million inhabitants.Nouri was first named prime
minister-designate April 22, 2006. It's been six years of stalling ever since.
And it took a lot of stalling to ensure that 93 murders would go unsolved.
That's the sort of 'leadership' Nouri's provided. What a proud day for him.
What a sad day for Iraq and the press.
Staying with the topic of violence, Xinhua counts 13 dead in yesterday's violence and
nine injured. Alsumaria reports a Kirkuk
roadside bombing injured two people. And they note 1 police officer was
shot dead outisde Mosul and a small child was left injured, 1 corpse was
discovered in Dohak Province, 1 suspect was shot dead outside of Tikrit and 1
man apparently hanged himself in Basra. Sameer N. Yacoub (AP) reports Iraqiya MP
Falah al-Naqeeb reports he escaped an assassination attempt last night in Taji.
Iraqiya is headed by Ayad Allawi and is the political slate that came in first
in the March 7, 2010 parliamentary elections. Nouri al-Maliki's State of Law
came in second. Since December, Nouri's been demanding Deputy Prime Minister
Saleh al-Mutlaq be stripped of his post and that Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi
be arrested for 'terrorism.' Both al-Mutlaq and al-Hashemi are members of
Iraqiya and Sunni. al-Hashmi tells Ipek Yezdani (Hurriyet Daily News), "We are facing a highly
sensitive political crisis for the first time in nine years. If we cannot solve
this crisis through the constitution and by sitting around a table, the future
of my country will be gloomy and really worrying, and all options will be on the
table. I hope none of them splits Iraq.' Sevil Kucukkosum (Hurriyet) adds, "Meanwhile, al-Hashemi has said he
will stay in Istanbul for 'however long is
necessary' and that Iraq needs Turkey's help in solving its political crisis.
Al-Hashemi is currently residing with his family and guards at an apartment in
Istanbul's Başakşehir district. In his temporary residence, al-Hashemi told
Turkish daily Milliyet that his country needed him and that he would not allow
his opponents to push him aside."
Nouri stomped his feet over the 2010 election results
and demanded a recount and then wasn't happy with the recount. Ben Van Heuvelen (Washington Post) reminds today, "As the head of the
Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), Haidari clashed with Maliki after
the contested elections of March 2010, in which the prime minister's coalition
placed a close second to the rival Iraqiya bloc, led by former prime minister
Ayad Allawi. In one of the most significant disputes, Haidari rejected Maliki's
petition to throw out thousands of votes for Iraqiya." Thursday he had the
Independent High Electoral Commission's chair Farah al-Haidari and commission
member Karim al-Tamimi arrested (they were released Sunday). Aswat al-Iraq reports: A
political analyst described the arrest of head of Election Commission Faraj
al-Haidari as "a price for objecting the desires of Premier Nouri al-Maliki to
control it".Sarmad al-Ta'I told Aswat al-Iraq that "the arrest is a
matter of vendetta and accounts settlements".He added that "the case is grave
with greater sensitivity due to the nearness of provincial elections that Maliki
hopes to get a majority".Ta'I added that Haidari was one of
three who objected Maliki's policies.The other two were the Governor of
the Central Bank of Iraq Sinan al-Shibibi and ex-Chairman of Integrity
Commission Raheem Ikaili.Ayad al-Tamimi (Al Mada) reports plans
to vote for the Electoral Commission to continue their work. But there appears
to be some confusion over whether or not Faraj al-Haidari and Karim al-Tamimi
could continue serving according to MP Mahmoud Hassan. Parliament needs to look
at the files agains them to determine that issue and Hassan is calling for the
formation of a parliamentary committee to examine the files and reach a
conclusion so that the matter can be resolved quickly. If that seems helpful,
remember it's a State of Law MP that brought the charges against the two men and
remember that Hassan is State of Law.
Alsumaria reports the Kurdish
Alliance is calling out Nouri's attempts to split them and rebuking his claim
that they are dissatisfied with KRG President Massoud Barzani. (See yesterday's
" Continued violence and chaos and
Nouri gets catty.") As Mohammad Akef Jamal (Gulf News) observed
yesterday of the ongoing political crisis, "The disagreements between the Al
Iraqiya List and the State of Law Coalition has taken a back seat lately. The
escalating differences between the central government and Arbil signal a
breakdown of the biggest strategic alliance that was built outside Iraq prior to
2003, and one that worked on toppling Saddam Hussain's regime and has led the
political process in the country ever since. The tension surrounding the Iraqi
political process indicates it could be pushed towards the point of no
return." KRG President Massoud Barzani visited DC two weeks ago and met with
US President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. He made it very clear
that the KRG needs friends and that the KRG isn't interested in one-way
streets. He noted the history between the KRG and the US and how that history
had built a relationship of trust which had been put into jeopardy with requests
from the US repeatedly to back off this or compromise on this -- requests that
come with promises from the US about what Nouri will do in exchange but the
promises never emerge. He pointed to the US-brokered Erbil Agreement which
ended the eight month Political Stalemate I which followed the 2010 elections.
The US wanted Nouri to have a second term as prime minister. The Kurds ended up
backing that but they were supposed to get -- and this is written into the
agreement -- certain things in exchange. Nouri gladly grabbed a second term as
prime minister and then refused to honor the Erbil Agreement.
Not only that but the KRG considers Kirkuk to be their
province. The 2005 Constitution explains how the issue will be resolved: Census
and referendum And, per the Constitution, Article 140, this is supposed to be
taken care of by the end of 2007. Nouri's ignored it since 2006. And the Kurds
were asked to make nice. April 5th, in DC, KRG
President Massoud Barzani gave a speech and took questions. In reply to a
question, he declared:
We have been waiting for the
last six years for promises that were not delivered, for agreements that were
not honored. We have waited and everytime they give us an excuse. Once they say
that there are elections in Baghdad, another time, elections in the region.
Once there is election in the United States. Then there is the Arab Summit,
etc., etc. We have found out that we have passed six years waiting for these
promises to be delivered. We cannot anymore wait for unfulfilled promises and
undelivered promises. There has to be a specific and determined timeline for
this to be delivered. We got tired of this and we are fed up with that.
Therefore, what we will do is that we will work on the preferred option to
work with the other Iraqi groups to find a solution. If not, then we go back to
our people and to put all of these realities inf ront of our people for the
people to be free to make their own decision. As far as the issue of the oil is
concerned, in 2007, when we were working and we reached an agreement on a draft
oil hydrocarbons law, we both agreed that if that law did not pass in the
Parliament until May that same year that both sides -- the KRG and the federal
government -- are free to continuing signing contracts with international oil
companies. Therefore, whatever we have done in the region, we have not violated
the Constitution. We have acted legally and Constitutionally within the
framework of the Constitution.
As we noted then, "This speech was a declaration of
independence on the part of the Kurds. The basic premise Massoud Barzani has
outlined is: We will not be bound by empty words no matter who speaks them." In
what is probably today's most important report, Alister Bull (Reuters) explains:
President Barack Obama,
facing a damaging election-year problem if Iraq's political crisis worsens, has
launched an urgent behind-the-scenes push to ease tensions between the Baghdad
central government and the Kurds.
[. . .]
Reuters has learned that to
demonstrate U.S. support, the White House and Congress agreed to lift a
designation that treats Kurdistan's two main political parties as if they were
terrorist groups, complicating members' travel to the United States. In
addition, the U.S. consulate in Arbil will begin issuing U.S. visas before the
end of 2012.
Meanwhile
Al Rafidayn reports that the Ministry of the
Interior (which still has no legal minister to run it so Nouri runs it -- and
wants to, that's why he's refused to nominate a head for it all this time) is
stating the cause of continued violence ("terrorism") in Iraq is due to the
duplication of security -- there are too many security forces! Yes, that is illogical. But carry it
out, as Nouri no doubt will, and you've got Nouri eliminating or restricting all
forces he doesn't control throughout Iraq. Throughout -- even in the three
provinces that make up the KRG.
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