Cablegate: President's Human Rights Roundtable at 2007 Unga

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SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PASS TO G, DRL/SEA, AND NSC/DEMOC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV IZ
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT'S HUMAN RIGHTS ROUNDTABLE AT 2007 UNGA

REF: STATE 125456

1. As requested in reftel, Post is submitting input for the
President's September 25 Human Rights Roundtable at 2007
UNGA.

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POST ACTIVITIES
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2. Post supports human rights development in Iraq by
maintaining dialogues with key Iraqi officials on human
rights principles and legislation, building the Ministry of
Human Rights' public administration and management capacity,
and assisting non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Where
possible, Post coordinates these efforts with international
partners. Post also provides humanitarian assistance relief
to refugees and internally displaced persons.

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USG-FUNDED HUMAN RIGHTS PROGRAMS
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3. USG-funded programs conducted with NGO and host
government partners in Iraq have provided assistance in the
following areas:

-- Carrying out human rights monitoring and advocacy training
for NGOs whose mandates include the protection of the rights
of women, children, and religious and ethnic minorities, and
establishing a Human Rights Defenders Network (HRDN) through
the Free Iraq Foundation.

-- Collecting and cataloguing oral testimonies to gain a full
record of atrocities inflicted against Marsh Arab community
during the period 1991 to 2003 through the AMAR Charitable
Foundation.

-- Providing treatment and assistance to torture victims from
Saddam's regime to enable them to play an active and
meaningful role in a post-totalitarian society through the
Berlin Center for the Treatment of Torture Victims.

-- Preventing torture by training legal and health
professionals to participate in anti-impunity legal actions
to monitor the occurrence of torture through the Heartland
Alliance.

-- Developing the Government of Iraq's efforts to establish a
National Center for Missing and Disappeared Persons through
the International Commission on Missing Persons.

-- Teaching human rights principles to a wide segment of
Iraqi society in cooperation with the Ministry of Human
Rights and the Ministry of Education through the Free Iraq
Foundation.

-- Working with the Ministry of Human Rights to train Iraqi
investigators to gather and analyze oral histories of human
rights abuse victims through DePaul University.

-- Offering direct support for the Iraqi Constitutional
Process, supporting Iraqi NGOs in public education and
participation in constitutional development through the
United States Institute of Peace.

-- Providing specialized research and training that expands
and deepens the general population's understanding of the
historical context, scope, legal underpinnings, and practical
functions of a proposed Human Rights Commission through
American University.

-- Fostering the emergence of independent media within Iraq
by supporting the Iraqi Media Network, which oversees public
broadcasting.

-- Highlighting Iraq's achievements in rule of law
initiatives and progress in developing a transparent, modern
justice system through engaging major Western print,
broadcast, and radio stations.

-- Training women in the media to stimulate political
dialogue to help galvanize support for women's human rights
through the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR).

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-- Developing the Ministry of Human Rights' public
administration and management capacity through USAID's
Tatweer program.

-- Providing humanitarian assistance to refugees and
internally displaced persons with programs in sectors such as
public health, water and sanitation and shelter through
partnership with NGOs and international organizations. This
assistance indirectly supports the rights of individuals.

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IRAQ'S STRATEGIC DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS PRIORITIES
--------------------------------------------- ---------

4. The Iraqi National Security Strategy for 2007-2010
identifies promoting human rights as a political component
for overcoming threats and realizing the GOI's interests.
Toward that end, the GOI strategy includes adopting
international human rights criteria within the national
judiciary, including human rights education in the cultural
and educational sectors, and reinforcing the role of civil
society institutions by supporting their development and
independence.

5. The Ministry of Human Rights has articulated strategic
human rights priorities to establish an adequate
infrastructure to protect human rights and fundamental
freedoms. Its priorities include:

-- Enabling Iraqi citizens to enjoy civil, political,
economic, social and cultural rights without any
discrimination on the basis of race, sex, or religion.

-- Bringing Iraqi laws into compliance with Iraq's human
rights obligations and amending articles in legislation that
contradict human rights.

-- Spreading and disseminating the culture of human rights as
an alternative to the culture of violence, dictatorship and
persecution that existed under the previous regime.

-- Establishing an integrated database on the status of human
rights in Iraq by adopting the human development indicators
that are used by the United Nations.

-- Establishing mechanisms for coordinating with the Ministry
of the Environment and Ministry of Displacement and Migration
to enhance the GOI's work in humanitarian assistance.

-- Establishing effective mechanisms for coordination with
civil society organizations and human rights activists to
achieve shared objectives.

-- Promoting relationships with international human rights
organizations, especially the United Nations and its
different bodies, as well as regional organizations, such as
the League of Arab States, the Islamic Labor Organization,
and others.

-- Enhancing the Ministry of Human Rights' role in writing
special reports on human rights, such as those related to the
status of human rights in Iraq or those submitted to
international organizations and committees overseeing the
implementation of the conventions that Iraq has joined or
ratified.

-- Working for the accession of Iraq as a signatory State to
all international human rights conventions and treaties, with
particular priority given to Iraq's accession to the
Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

-- Seeking to establish the rules and requirements of
peaceful coexistence and dialogue and to reject violence.

-- Archiving and documenting, by modern and scientific means
violations suffered by Iraqi citizens under the former regime
and afterwards, and publishing these documents as a record of
an important period of Iraq's history and a lesson for future
generations.
BUTENIS

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