1. Summary, arbitrary and extrajudicial executions

12. Acorrding to the information gathered by the Special Rapporteur, there is strong evidence that hundreds of prisoners have been executed in Abu Ghraib and Radwaniyah prisons since August 1997. Moreover, the executions are said to have increased in number in November and december, subsequent to a visit by Qusay Saddam Hussein, head of the Special Security Organization, to Abu Ghraib prison on 18 November 1997. The so-called “Prison Cleansing Campaign” which follewed is said to have involved detainees either sentenced to death or condemned to 15 years of detention and over. It was reported that the executions were carried out by shooting, hanging or electrocution, with relatives of the executed having to pay the valus of the bodies returned to their respective families were said to have presented signs of torture.

13. As previously reported by the Special Rapporteur, membership in certain political parties is specifically outlawed and is punishable by death. Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions of suspected Government opponents continue to b reported, with others living under immediate threat course of the “Prison Cleansing Campaign “ provides the Special Rapporteur with the charges for which the detainees have been executed. Among these are 24 members of the Da’wa Party, 16 members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, 9members of the Iraqi National Council and 7 members of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq.

14. As in previous years, there have been numerous reports that the alleged executions and “ Prison Cleasing Campaign” have involved a number of persons sentenced to death for having made an attempt on an official’s life or to have plotted against the regime. Examples include the following :

1. On 8 october, the Special Rapporteur was informed of the execution of 14 officers and party leaders charged with an attempt on Saddam Hussein’s life;
2. The above-mentioned list of 154 executed prisoners includes 4 persons who were said to have made an attempt on Uday Saddam Hussein’s life and 9 others who attempted a coup d’etat;
3. In another list of 23 detainees allegedly sencented to death, 3 military officers are charged with “ manoeuvring” against the regime.

15. As reported in previous reports, army deserters as well as Islamist activists continue to be subjected to the death penalty. On 12 November, it was reported that six to seven members of the Al-Wahabi Party were executed; the special Rapporteur has received several lists from various sources indicating the names of the persons executed.

16. The Special Rapporteur notes that members of ethnic minorities continue to be especially at risk. Indeed, several lists indicate that the proportion of members of ethnic minorities reportedly executed in the recent mass executions of prisoners is very high compared their numbers in Iraqi society. For example:

1. on 10 September 1997, the Shiite tribe bani Hjeim reported the execution of 10 of their members while many others remain in jail;
2. On the list of 23 prisoners referred to above, 11 persons are Kurds affiliated with Kurdish parties;
3. A third list of 29 Iraqi Turkomans executed by the Government of Iraq in 1997 was also made available to the Special Rapporteur.

1. Forced displacement

19. According to testimonies received, the practice or forced displacement from Kirkuk, Khanaqin and Douz continues to be implement by the Iraqi authorities. Kurds and Turkomans who settled in these placed after the 1950 s are the principal victims of this policy. Kurdish and Turkoman families are required to move either to the southern part of the country, often to the city af al-Ramadi, or to the three northern governorates. At the same time, Arabs are reportedly encouraged to settle in Kirkuk; their proportion is increasing. According to the interviewees, Arabs are given incentives of money and apartments to settle in Kirkuk. As such, the Government’s policy of Arabization, as reported by the Special Rapporteur in the past, is continuing.

20. Families who are perceived to be opposed to the regime, families who have relatives outside Iraq or in southern Iraq and those who have relatives in detention or executed are said to be the first targeted in the process of forced displacement. According to several persons interviewed, Baath Party members from the local offices of the Baath party in the city of Kirkuk are responsible for implemention the decision of lists of people living in the neighbourhood under their “ jurisdiction”. These lists contain information on each household of the neighbourhood. Naath Party members are responsible for implementation of the decisions. Aside from the various human rights which are violated in the process of forced displacement (e.g. the rights to privacy, property, movement and personal integrity), the Special Rappoteur observes that the practice of forced displacement as carried out by the Baath Party is an extralegal use of self-ascribed authority; to the extent that the ostensible authorities permit the prectice to occur, the Baath Party and its members are effectively granted impunity.

21. According to testimony received, the following is the typical experience of those families subject to forced displacement. Once the decision is taken to expal a family, Baath Party members present themselves at the residence of that particular family and order them to leave the area within 24 to 48 hours. In order to ensure that the family will effectively move, Baath Party members usually withhold the identification cards of the members of the family. In some cases a member of the family is put in detention in order to accelerate the process.Once the family is ready to leave, their home, they need to pas by the local police station and fill in a form stating that they are voluntarily changing their residence. Their identification cards are only then returned to them and if a member of the family was detained, only then is he or she released.

22. Before moving, families have the possibility to sell their belongings. But very often, due to the very short notice, they leave all their properties behind. Most of the families move to the northern governorates either because thay have relatives there or because of the similarity of the languages, cultures and traditions prevailing in that area. Even though families who move to the southern governorates are entitled to take their belongings or to sell them, very few settle in the southern part or the country due to the different culture.

2. Iraq’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rigths

40. The Special Rappoteur notes that the Human Rights Committee also expressed reghet that so many of their questios remained unanswered by the Government of Iraq notwithstanding the seriousness of the allegations and issues. In particular, the high incidence of summary executions,arbitrary arrests and detention, torture and ill-treatment by members of security and people in the Southern Marshes and forced relocations were matters which went unanswered by the Government of Iraq. The Special Rapporteur recalls that this, too, was his experience prior to the Government of Iraq simply cutting Special Rapporteur.

41. As concerns the establishment of a non-governmental committee dealing with disappearances, no information was given on its functioning. The Human Rights Committee, sharing the Special Rapporteur’s request, recommended that all allegations ve fully, publicly and impartially investigated. In the above-mentioned official response to the latest interim report of the Special Rapporteur, the Government of Iraq attributed its rejection of the proposal of assigning human rights monitors to a purported and nebulous infringement of the security, sovereignty and independence of Iraq. However, the Special Rapporteur notes that, given the continuous allegations of repeated human rights violations in Iraq despite Iraq’s numerous international obligations, the above recommendation of full, public and impartial investigation expressed by the human rights Committee could only be carried out by independent, impartial and secure United Nations human rights monitors as recommended by the Special Rapporteur in his previous reports.

61. The Committee expressed concern about reports of discrimination against members of certain minorities, especially the Kurds, Marsh people, Assyrians, Shi’a Muslims and Turkomans.

1. Conclusions

78. During 1997, the situation of human rights in Iraq did not improve. To the contrary, based on the numerous ans serious allegations of human rights violations received throughout this last year, the Special Rapporteur concludes that the situation of human rights haas rather deteriorated. Summary and extrajudicial executions continue to take place in Iraqi prisons at a reportedly increased pace. The policy of forced diplacements of civilians of Kirkuk, Khanakin and Douz. Basic civil and political rights such as freedom of assembly, expression and movement are severely restricted when not forbidden.

79. During the last year, the Human Committee and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights considered the reports of Iraq on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, respectivale.

80. The human Rights Committee remained deeply concerned that in Iraq there was no clear separation between the executive, legislative and judicial powers. This confusion between the three instutional powers is at the root of violations of civil and political rights in Iraq. In this regard the Committee reached the same conclusions as already expessed by the Special Rapporteur on numerous occasions, i. E. that all government power in Iraq is concenrated in the hands of one executive, namely President Saddam Hussein, who is not subject to scruting or accountability and who operates without safeguards or checks and balances designed to ensure the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

81. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights expressed concerns about the deteriorating situation of economic, social and cultural rights in Iraq. The Committee noted, inter alia, reports of discriminations against members of certain minorities (the Kurds, the Marsh people, the Assyrians, the Shi’a Muslims and the Turkomans) with respect to their enjoyment of fundamental rights as reflected in the Covenant. With regard to gender equality, the Committee expressed concern about discrimination against women, both in law and in practice. Here again, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights reached the conclusion already expressed by the Special Rapporteur, i.e. that sufficient measures had not been taken to date by the authorities to alleviate the extremely difficult living conditions of the Iraqi population and the deprivation of their basic economic, social and cultural rights.

2. Recommendations