Published on 25 Oct 2016
I. Introduction
1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 2299 (2016), in which I was requested to report every three months on the progress made towards the fulfilment of the responsibilities of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). It covers key developments relating to Iraq and provides an update on the activities of the United Nations in Iraq since the issuance of my report dated 5 July 2016 (S/2016/592).
A. Political situation
2. On 15 August, the Council of Representatives confirmed five new ministers to head the Ministry of Oil, the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the Ministry of Construction and Housing. Nominations are yet to be made to fill key posts, including that of Minister of the Interior, after Mohammed al-Ghabban resigned on 5 July, Minister of Defence, after the Council withdrew confidence in Khaled al-Obeidi on 25 August, and Minister of Finance, after the Council withdrew confidence in Hoshyar Zebari on 21 September. The endorsement by the Council of An Nafi‘ Awsi as Minister of Construction and Housing brings the number of female ministers to 2 out of a total of 17 ministers currently endorsed by the Council.
3. On 30 July and 25 August, respectively, the Council of Representatives passed two important pieces of legislation, a law to ban the Baath Party and a general amnesty law, both part of the national political accord of 2014 and the programme of the Government. The former prohibits the Baath Party and any other party or entity that incites, glorifies or promotes racism, terrorism, takfirist ideology or sectarian cleansing. The latter grants amnesty for a number of lesser crimes and establishes a judicial review mechanism that, upon request, can allow for retrial and reinvestigation if criminal procedures were initiated on basis of testimony by secret informers or in cases in which confessions were extracted by force. The passage of the General Amnesty Law, in particular, proved controversial, with significant disagreements among political parties over the exemption of terrorist crimes and additional restrictions on the option of reinvestigation under the judicial review mechanism. Last-minute compromises between the National Alliance and the Iraqi Forces Coalition led to the adoption of the law with amendments to the more contentious articles. A number of parties within the National Alliance continue to criticize the law, which they argue will lead to the release of convicted terrorists.
4. The Council of Representatives continued to focus on allegations of corruption and mismanagement against senior members of the Government. The then Minister of Defence, Khaled al-Obeidi, was questioned by parliamentarians on 1 August regarding allegations of corrupt practices and graft, specifically in relation to defence contracts. During the questioning, he countered the accusations against him by accusing several senior legislators, including the Speaker, Salim al-Jubouri, of corruption relating to military contracts. The Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, instructed the Commission of Integrity to investigate the allegations on 2 August. For his part, the Speaker requested on 9 August that his immunity be lifted by the Council to allow him to appear before the investigative court charged with examining the accusations against him. The case was dropped by the court after his appearance before it. Following the withdrawal of confidence in the Minister of Defence on 25 August, the acting Army Chief of Staff, Othman al-Ghanimi, was appointed as Minister of Defence ad interim on 29 August.
5. On 25 August, the then Minister of Finance, Hoshyar Zebari, was questioned by the Council of Representatives regarding allegations of mismanagement of State funds for personal use and release of funds to the Kurdistan region of Iraq in contravention of the Federal General Budget Law of 2015. On 27 August, the Council declared that his answers had been insufficient. The Prime Minister stated on 6 September that the Council had overstepped its scrutinizing role in its attempt to impeach the Minister. On 21 September, however, the Council adopted, through a secret ballot, a motion of no confidence in Mr. Zebari, who announced that he would challenge the decision before the Supreme Court.
6. Recent pro-reform and anti-corruption protests were muted compared with earlier in 2016, probably owing to fatigue within the protest movement and record high temperatures. All eyes were on Baghdad on 15 July, given that Muqtada al-Sadr had called for a “peaceful, popular million-man demonstration” at the end of Ramadan. With estimated numbers of protestors ranging between 50,000 and 70,000, however, the turnout was lower than anticipated.
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