Speech of the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General at the MOHR Conference, National Centre for Human Rights, Baghdad 19 December 2012.
Minister for Human Rights, Engineer Shiya Al Sudaani, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am honoured to be here with you today for the publication of the Ministry of Human Rights’ report on implementation of the National Action Plan for Human Rights.
Making human rights a reality, instead of just a distant dream, is indeed a challenge that faces all Governments, just as it confronts the Government and people of Iraq. Human Rights is above politics. The National Action Plan for Human Rights, implementing the recommendations made by the United Nations resulting from the Universal Periodic Review of Iraq’s compliance with its international human rights obligations, is something for which the Government and people of Iraq are to be congratulated, representing as it does a concrete step along the path to making the promise of human rights a reality for all Iraq’s citizens.
The Iraqi people know only too well from bitter experience what it means to suffer from violations of their basic human rights. They have suffered decades of despotic regimes, war, invasion, occupation and armed conflicts. While there has been improvement in recent years – significant challenges remain that must be overcome if Iraq is to achieve its goal of becoming a truly democratic State, where respect for rule of law and human rights are a reality for all its citizens.
Among the challenges, the United Nations is deeply concerned that the Iraqi people continue to suffer the effects of violence, both direct and indirect, at the hands of terrorists, including loss of life and injury, destruction of infrastructure, and the negative impact such acts have on economic and social development. While the victims of the previous regime receive compensation and other forms of social and economic support, the same cannot be said for those who have been the victims of violence perpetrated during the past 9 years. The Government needs to do more to ensure that medical, social and other forms of support are provided to all Iraqis who are the victims of terrorism, irrespective of who the perpetrators might be or when such acts were committed.
The rule of law, due process and fair trial rights are not yet universally understood or respected in Iraq. While it is incumbent on the Government to ensure that any person accused of committing a crime is held accountable, such accountability must be in full conformity with international law and the requirements of the Constitution and laws of Iraq to ensure that it is only the guilty who are punished, not the innocent who are unjustly made to suffer.
Police, investigative judges, and prosecutors suffer from lack of resources – including up-to-date forensic techniques that aid in the investigation of crimes. Law reform is desperately needed. The Anti Terrorism law permits detention of individuals for prolonged periods without access to lawyers or family members. The Courts rarely implement bail provisions – preferring instead to detain people while awaiting trial – thereby significantly adding to the overcrowding in detention facilities and placing greater strains on prisons, prosecutors and courts. Corruption has also been reported to UNAMI, including allegations that court decisions sometimes go unimplemented or persons are wrongly detained until sums of money are paid to prison, police or other officials.
The poor physical conditions of many of Iraq’s prisons remain of concern – many thousands of individuals awaiting trial are kept in conditions where their mental and physical health are at risk – despite the fact that they have not been convicted by a court of law and still enjoy the presumption of innocence.
While Iraqi law holds that confessions are not to be admitted by judges in trials where it is alleged that such confessions have been made under duress, or as a result of ill-treatment or torture, monitoring of court proceedings by the United Nations indicates that judges routinely accept such confessions without examination.
Unfortunately, such factors contribute to an environment where abuse and torture of detainees can take place, impairing the development of a culture wherein the rights of accused persons and those convicted of crimes, as guaranteed under international law and the Constitution of Iraq, are respected and protected. The same factors also mean there is a very real risk that on occasion innocent persons may be wrongly arrested and convicted for crimes they may not have committed, with the consequence that they may face years of imprisonment or more severe penalties.
Democracy can be judged by the quality of justice it dispenses to the poor, the weak, and the vulnerable. And Justice is no justice, and democracy does not exist, if innocent people are punished. In relation to this, it is said that the murder of an innocent man is to murder all of humanity. Sadly in Iraq there are few guarantees that innocent people on occasion may not have been wrongly convicted and have not been executed as a result. This is among the reasons that the United Nations continues to call on the Government of Iraq to implement a moratorium on the implementation of the death penalty in accordance with relevant United Nations General Assembly resolutions. We would also urge the Government to embark on an official review of the use of the death penalty, including repeal of the 48 laws that still exist on the statute books for which the death penalty is mandated.
While the challenges just mentioned are significant, they are not insurmountable – and there have been a number of positive developments in recent years. The Government and people of Iraq have shown their firm intention and commitment to finding solutions to the challenges the country faces – to build an Iraq that is democratic and founded on the rule of law and respect for human rights. In finding solutions, it is essential that those in authority hear and act on the voices of all Iraq’s people – in particular, the voices of the weak, the disempowered, and those whose voices we often do not hear.
The National Action Plan on Human Rights, which we celebrate today, exemplifies what can be achieved through consultation and consensus. In drafting the plan, the Ministry of Human Rights consulted with all sectors of Iraqi society: representatives of the Government, the Parliament, the Judiciary, and diverse members of civil society – to discuss the recommendations of the Human Rights Council and to decide on the key legislative, institutional and policy reforms that Iraq needed to undertake to implement those recommendations. As such it is a landmark achievement.
Therefore, I congratulate the Minister for Human Rights for the commitment and hard work that he and his Ministry have shown in tackling the serious human rights challenges facing Iraq – as exemplified by the adoption and implementation of the National Action Plan for Human Rights. Rest assured the United Nations stands by your side in assisting you reach your goals of ensuring that human rights is not just some distant dream, but that it becomes a reality for every Iraqi citizen.
