ICTJ in the News

February 4, 2008

Hussein officials to get back to work: But law may not soothe tensions as hoped

Associated Press

BY Steve Lannen and Leila Fadel

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A new law intended to reverse the firing of thousands of former Saddam Hussein-era officials during the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq has taken effect, Iraq's presidency council announced Sunday.

But what was uncertain was whether the law would promote reconciliation between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims, as the Bush administration hopes, or make matters worse.

The law would allow most former Baathists to return to their jobs, but it would prohibit those who had held the top four ranks of the Baath party's 10 membership levels from working in the government. Those people would be allowed to collect a pension under the new law, however.

An analysis of the legislation by the International Center for Transitional Justice, a New York-based organization that monitors countries' efforts to deal with past human rights violations, said several high-ranking Iraqi officials who held positions under Hussein probably would be forced from their jobs.

Those could include the current head of the national police and the head of the Iraqi military in Baghdad. Both were members of Hussein's Baath party.

The Bush administration described passage of the law as one of a series of key benchmarks necessary to bring about reconciliation between rival Sunni and Shi'ite factions.

The new law passed parliament last month only over the protest of Sunni political parties, which said the legislation would remove Sunni officials from key posts in the heavily Shi'ite police and military.

The International Center for Transitional Justice analysis said the law is likely to force out about 7,000 people who used to work for Hussein-era security agencies and now work for the country's Interior Ministry, which oversees Iraq's police force.

CIVILIAN DEATHS: The U.S. military said today that it accidentally killed nine Iraqi civilians during an operation Saturday targeting Al Qaeda in Iraq. Three more civilians were wounded in the incident near Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of Baghdad.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.