IRAQ in TRANSITION Post-Conflict Challenges and Opportunities
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IRAQ IN TRANSITION Post-conflict challenges and opportunities A joint publication of the Open Society Institute and the United Nations Foundation The Open Society Institute (OSI), a private operating and grantmaking foundation based in New York City, implements a range of initiatives to promote open society by advocating for changes in government policy and supporting education, media, public health, and human and women's rights, as well as social, legal, and economic reform. This publication is a co-product of OSI's Cooperative Global Engagement Project and its Iraq Revenue Watch. The Cooperative Global Engagement Project is building a broad-based coalition of support for a U.S. foreign policy based on a collaborative approach to problem solving with the international community. The initiative aims to shift popular discourse in order to prompt U.S. policymakers and other Americans to make foreign policy decisions in the context of U.S. citizenship in a global community. Iraq Revenue Watch monitors Iraq’s oil industry to ensure that it is managed with the highest standards of transparency and that the benefits of national oil wealth flow to the people of Iraq. Iraq Revenue Watch complements existing Open Society Institute initiatives that monitor revenues produced by the extractive industries. Iraq Revenue Watch is a program of the Middle East and North Africa Initiatives of the Open Society Institute, which is a largely grantmaking program that develops OSI’s activities in the MENA region. Its grantmaking program supports efforts on behalf of women’s rights, human rights and freedom expression, arts and culture. Created in 1998 with a $1 billion gift from entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner, the United Nations Foundation enables others to support United Nations causes and activities. The UN Foundation is a public charity that builds and implements public-private partnerships in support of the UN's efforts to address the most pressing humanitarian, socioeconomic, and environmental challenges facing the world today. The UN Foundation also broadens support for the UN and global cooperation through advocacy and public outreach. Project Team Project Chair Primary Researchers Mimi Ghez Alison Giffen Director, Cooperative Global Program Associate Engagement Project Open Society Institute, Open Society Institute, Washington Office Washington Office Twyla Robinson Project Directors Program Assistant Julie McCarthy Open Society Institute, Program Associate Washington Office Open Society Institute, Washington Office Additional Researchers Amy DiElsi Johanna Mendelson-Forman Communications and Media Associate Senior Program Officer, Peace, Security, United Nations Foundation and Human Rights Program United Nations Foundation Anton Ghosh Research Intern Anthony Richter United Nations Foundation Director, Middle East and North Africa Initiatives/Central Eurasia Project, Heather Ignatius and Research Intern Associate Director United Nations Foundation Open Society Institute Susan Myers Editors Legislative Director Robert Boorstin Better World Campaign Consultant Open Society Institute, Hilary Sinnamon Washington Office Research Intern United Nations Foundation Sudie Nolan Communications Liaison Officer Open Society Institute, Washington Office IRAQ IN TRANSITION: POST-CONFLICT CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES 1 Acknowledgments The project team would like to thank a number of individuals for their tireless help throughout the process of writing and producing this report. From the Open Society Insti- tute, many thanks for the expert advice and careful reviews of Aryeh Neier, Stephen Rickard, Isam al Khafaji, Svetlana Tsalik, Robert Yarbrough, Laura Silber, Sarah Miller- Davenport, Rachel Goldbrenner, Laura Witkins, Ari Korpivaara, and William Kramer. Their contributions were critical at every stage in strengthening the final product. We extend special thanks, as well, to the Open Society Policy Center’s Morton H. Halperin for his insightful comments and careful readings of both early and subsequent drafts. From the United Nations Foundation, many thanks for the advice, guidance and sup- port of Senator Timothy Wirth, Kathy Bushkin, Kristin Alford, Melinda Kimble, Amy Weiss and Caroline Maloney. Thanks, too, to Lucy Pope and Mike Heffner at 202design for their elegant design work. The project team would also like to give a special thanks to Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni, Walid Khadduri, Karin Lissakers, Bathsheba Crocker, Joseph Stork, and Eugene R. Fidell for their invaluable reviews of this document. And finally, we are deeply indebted to Professor Robert K. Goldman for his careful comments on the complexities of the human rights and international legal issues at play in Iraq as discussed in the report. This report would not have been possible without all of these indi- viduals’ enormous contributions. 2 IRAQ IN TRANSITION: POST-CONFLICT CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES Table of Contents I. Introduction . 5 II. History of International Obligations in Iraq . 9 a. Legacy of Saddam Hussein and the International Community in Iraq . 9 b. International Humanitarian Law and Occupation . 10 c. UN Resolutions and Occupation . 12 III. Security . 21 a. International Commitments and Obligations . 21 b. International Contributors of Military Force . 23 c. U.S. Forces in Iraq . 25 d. Iraqi Security Forces. 29 e. Armed Actors in Iraq . 32 f. Weapons of Mass Destruction . 39 IV. Political Process . 43 a. International Commitments and Obligations . 43 b. Political Authorities During Occupation . 45 c. Political Agreements During Occupation. 47 d. Selection of Interim Iraqi Government . 50 e. National Elections . 52 V. Reconstruction . 55 A. Financial and Economic Reconstruction . 55 a. International Commitments and Obligations . 55 b. International Assistance. 56 c. Contracting . 61 d. Iraq’s Economic Conditions . 66 e. Iraq’s Oil Industry . 72 f. Oil-for-Food Program Investigation. 74 B. Rebuilding Iraq’s Infrastructure and Social Services . 75 a. International Commitments and Obligations . 75 c. Employment. 76 d. Electricity . 78 e. Water. 79 f. Health . 80 g. Education . 81 IRAQ IN TRANSITION: POST-CONFLICT CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES 3 VI. Justice . 83 a. Overview . 83 b. Iraq’s Judicial System. 84 c. Iraqi Special Tribunal . 85 d. Armed Actors and Requirements to Protect Civilians . 87 e. Abuse of Detainees by U.S. Military Personnel and Civilians. 88 VII. Appendices . 91 1. Relevant Actors and Institutions . 91 2. Timeline of Weapons Inspections in Iraq . 97 3. List of Experts . 98 4. Extended Bibliography . 100 5. Links to Key UN Security Council Resolutions on Iraq’s Reconstruction . 103 6. Links to Other Key Websites . 104 7. Key Acronyms . 105 VII. Notes. 106 Table of Charts and Boxes A. Key Obligations of Occupying Powers under the Geneva and Hague Conventions . 11 B. Highlights of UNSC Resolution 1483 . 13 C. Highlights of UNSC Resolution 1511. 15 D. Highlights of UNSC Resolution 1546. 17 E. Edicts Issued by CPA Administrator Bremer in May/June 2004. 20 F. Total Number of Fatalities and Wounded (Coalition and Iraqi soldiers, Iraqi civilians) . 24 G. Private Military Contractors . 27 H. Iraqi Security Forces . ..