The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
1355.
The aim for
“Rule of Law” was to:
“… bring
the Basra police to a ‘good enough’ standard to transition to PIC.
Basra’s
population
have the right to expect more of its police. The police should be
able to
carry out
basic policing tasks; Basrawis should feel that if they report a
crime, it will
be acted
on; the police should not be the home of organised death squads
(although
it is
unrealistic to expect zero corruption); and militia influence
should not be at levels
where it is
the dominant force in police stations.”
1356.
To achieve
those aims, the UK would:
•
support the
DIA, based in a protected compound at Basra Air
Station;
•
encourage
the “pursuit” of the 62 death squad leaders from the SCU and
NIIA
(of which
three had already been arrested);
•
press
Baghdad to replace the weak Provincial Director of Police
(PDoP);
•
improve
co‑operation between the Basra police and the MOI in
Baghdad;
•
continue
intensive mentoring of the PDoP and other senior IPS
officers;
•
continue
monitoring and mentoring police stations to achieve 80 percent
of
police
stations at the level required for PIC;
•
encourage
the removal of unqualified and poor performers;
•
establish a
properly vetted, fully professional Criminal Investigation
Department;
•
mentor the
Basra branch of the NIIA to try and ensure that criminal elements
of
the CIU do
not migrate into the unit; and
•
provide
forensic capability at Basra Police Headquarters.
1357.
The plan
described the judiciary as “weak and unable to prosecute serious
crime”.
The aim was
to “empower Basra’s judges and prosecutors to tackle serious
crime
(particularly
police corruption) in a more secure, less intimidating
environment”. Priorities
for the
next six months were to:
•
build the
capacity of judges and others involved in the judicial
process
through
mentoring, specifically the Prosecution Mentoring Unit (staffed
by
two international
prosecutors funded by the plan);
•
establish
regional training programmes;
•
improve
security measures at the main Basra courthouse;
•
build an
additional courthouse, using US Department of Justice funding,
which
would
include witness protection facilities; and
•
provide
scene of crime and forensic training for investigative judges and
judicial
investigators.
1358.
Basra’s
prisons were described as “old, overcrowded” and said to
“not
meet
minimum international human rights standards”. The aim was to
“support
the
development of an Iraqi Corrections System that complies with Iraqi
law and
370