Importantly, the United Nations urges the Government of Iraq to amend the Anti Terrorism Law to ensure that all due process rights required by international law and the Constitution of Iraq are fully applied; to ensure in particular that the presumption of innocence is respected, and that persons accused have proper access to lawyers and family members, and the full opportunity to present a defence in a court of law. Where it is alleged that a confession has resulted from duress, mistreatment or torture, then the Court must fully investigate such claims before the confession is admitted into evidence. It is only by such reforms that we can be sure that those guilty of committing acts of terrorism are convicted and punished, not the innocent who are made to suffer.
As a matter of priority, the Government of Iraq needs to ensure that ALL detention centres and prisons are brought under the Ministry of Justice. In addition, a professional corrective services department needs to be established, again under the authority of the Ministry of Justice, whose staff will be entirely responsible for every aspect of running prisons and detention centres throughout Iraq. Military and police units should not be responsible for the security of prisons or any other aspects of the Iraqi penal system.
Full respect for the freedoms of expression, opinion, and assembly remains problematic throughout Iraq. While the press may not act at all times with the highest ethical standards, this does not provide an excuse for restricting the rights just mentioned. Democracy only exists where there is plurality of opinion and where such plurality is respected and protected. Sections of the Iraqi Criminal Code make libel and slander in some circumstances criminal offences, and the United Nations would urge the Government to repeal such provisions. There is a draft law on crimes of the internet currently before the Parliament – the bill contains a number of provisions which unduly restrict the freedom of Iraqi citizens to receive and to impart information, and which are not in conformity with international conventions to which Iraq is a Party. Furthermore, the government needs to carry out public education to ensure that Iraqi citizens will exercise the freedoms of opinion, expression, and assembly responsibly, respectfully, peacefully and in compliance with the law.
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