US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD3896

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003896 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/20/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, IZ, Elections 
SUBJECT: ELECTION CRIMES PROVISION BACK IN ELECTION LAW 
 
REF: A) BAGHDAD 3828 B) LIM/NEA EMAIL 9/18/05 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Robert Ford for reasons 
1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary.  Article 27 on election crimes reappeared 
in the final version of the election law released by the 
TNA legal committee September 18.  The previous version, 
released on September 14 by the legal committee, did not 
include this provision, even though the TNA had voted on 
September 12 to include it.  PolOff immediately raised this 
inconsistency with the staff of TNA legal committee 
chairman Sadoon.  Sadoon subsequently told PolOff September 
18 that there had been a 'misunderstanding' in the TNA 
legal committee while Sadoon was on holiday and that 
article 27 would be included in the final text of the 
election law.  The reinclusion of Article 27 lends a useful 
tool for the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq 
(IECI) to discourage voter fraud, intimidation against 
electoral officials, and media campaign violations.  End 
Summary. 
 
ELECTION CRIMES PROVISION IS BACK 
--------------------------------- 
 
2. (C) The provision on election crimes (article 27) 
reappeared in the election law as released by the TNA legal 
committee September 18 (Ref A).  Article 27 was among the 
30 articles in the law that was passed by the TNA on 
September 12.   When the TNA legal committee released the 
first final draft on September 14, the electoral crimes 
provision was missing; instead of 30 articles, the law 
contained only 29 (Ref B). 
 
A "Misunderstanding" 
-------------------- 
 
3. (C) A staff member to TNA legal committee chairman 
Mushen Sadoon (Kurd), told PolOff on September 14 that 
during that morning's TNA legal committee meeting, deputy 
legal chairman Hussein Athab (Shia) insisted on deleting 
article 27 from the law, arguing that TNA members had been 
confused about article 27 when they voted to approve the 
law September 12.  The staff member noted that Sadoon was 
away on holiday and therefore absent from the meeting. 
PolOff expressed surprise at the odd disappearance of this 
important provision, noting that he had personally 
witnessed the TNA proceedings approving the law with 
Article 27 included.  On September 18, the staff member 
informed PolOff that TNA Deputy Speaker Shahristani had 
intervened September 17 to demand restoration of the 
electoral crimes provision as passed originally by the TNA. 
In a separate conversation, Sadoon sought to assure PolOff 
that the temporary disappearance had been due to a 
"misunderstanding" in the TNA legal committee. 
 
LIST OF PUNISHABLE ELECTORAL CRIMES 
----------------------------------- 
 
4. (U) Unofficial translation of Article 27 of the election 
law follows: 
 
Begin text. 
 
Chapter Six - The Election Crimes 
 
Article 27 
Any person committing any of the following acts shall be 
punished in accordance with punishments stated in the valid 
laws: 
1. Voting more than once. 
2. Impersonating, or using the name of another person for 
the purpose of voting. 
3. Nominating himself in more than one district or on more 
than one list. 
4. Carrying a firearm, or any other instrument, which 
threatens security in any center of election on the day of 
the election. 
5. Entering an election or tallying centers by force to 
affect the election process or to inflict harm on any of 
the elections officials. 
6. Affecting the freedom of the election or hampering the 
election process. 
7. Tampering with any of the voting boxes or election 
tables or voting ballots or stealing any of these boxes, 
tables or ballots or destroying them or conducting any act 
with the intension of affecting the integrity of and 
secrecy of the election. 
8. Committing any prohibited acts stipulated in Chapter 
Five of this law.  (Note: This refers to media campaign 
rules.  End note.) 
 
End text. 
 
5. (C) Comment.  Lawmaking in the neophyte TNA remains a 
messy process.  Whether or not there was a hidden agenda at 
work behind Article 27's temporary disappearance from the 
election law is a matter of speculation.  Now back in the 
law, Article 27 provides a useful tool for the IECI to 
discourage voter fraud, intimidation against electoral 
officials, and media campaign violations.  It will be 
important for upcoming elections' credibility for the IECI 
to make use of it when warranted.  End Comment. 
Satterfield