US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD4870

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 004870 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/06/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, IZ, Ba'ath, Elections 
SUBJECT: IECI POSTS COMPLETE CANDIDATE LISTS WITHOUT 
REMOVING DE-BA'ATH NAMES; RESERVES RIGHT TO DISQUALIFY LATER 
 
REF: A. BAGHDAD 4857 (AND PREVIOUS) 
 
     B. BAGHDAD 4626 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROBERT S. FORD, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) 
AND (D). 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY: The IECI posted complete candidate lists the 
evening of December 6 after Commissioners reportedly failed 
to reach consensus on whether to strike any of the names 
identified by the de-Ba'athification Commission (DBC). 
According to International Commissioner Jenness, no names 
have been removed in response to the DBC list of 181 
candidates (excluding approximately 40 whose candidacies were 
withdrawn by either themselves or their parties).  Jenness 
noted that the IECI reserved the right to disqualify 
candidates even after publishing candidate lists.  However, 
he told us in a subsequent phone call that the posting of the 
lists would make it technically much harder for the IECI to 
remove candidates prior to the December 15 election.  As such 
removal is nonetheless still possible, we will continue to 
follow-up with the IECI on this issue.  END SUMMARY 
 
2. (C) As reported ref A, Emboffs have continued to meet on a 
daily basis with IECI International Commissioner Jenness and 
his Iraqi colleagues to reaffirm our concerns over 
politicized, non-transparent use of the de-Ba'athification 
process during the election season.  We have noted the weak 
evidentiary standard reflected in the list of names sent by 
the DBC to the IECI.  We have also pointed to the 
inconsistency between the IECI's readiness to consider 
disqualifying candidates identified as Ba'athists without 
supporting evidence, with the IECI's reluctance to take 
action against parties/candidates linked to armed groups -- 
or in the case of one party, terrorist organizations (ref B). 
 We have cautioned that the IECI's current approach could 
undermine its credibility, especially among Sunnis Arabs. 
 
3. (C) On December 4, US and UK Embassy emboffs met again 
with Jenness to reiterate concerns about the opaqueness of 
IECI proceedings on de-Ba'athification as well as the 
double-standard the IECI was creating by not investigating 
other candidate criteria, namely links to armed militias. 
Pol and Legoffs also argued that the paucity of evidence 
before the IECI, coupled with the short period of time before 
the elections, made it more likely that the IECI could 
mistakenly disqualify candidates, possibly causing them 
irreparable harm by depriving them of the right to run in 
these elections.  Emboffs reaffirmed that disqualifying 
candidates without a credible and transparent process could 
undermine the credibility of both the IECI and the election 
outcome. Jenness noted that the IECI Commissioners had still 
not decided formally whether or not to disqualify candidates, 
especially with regard to those who had not responded 
formally in writing.  Poloffs urged Jenness to find a 
resolution which did not include improper removal of 
candidate names. 
 
4. (C) The evening of December 5, Jenness told poloff that 
the Commission had moved to post the complete candidate lists 
for the election.  Jenness said the Commission reserved the 
right to disqualify candidates at a later date. 
 
5. (C) COMMENT: In a subsequent telephone conversation with 
poloff, Jenness acknowledged  that the publication of the 
lists would make it technically much harder to remove names 
on de-Ba'ath grounds.  He said this increased the likelihood 
of no pre-election removal of names.  However, the IECI 
clearly feels political pressure on this issue and we cannot 
rule out a last minute effort to remove at least some of the 
DBC-identified names from candidate lists.  We will continue 
to emphasize to Jenness and other IECI contacts that such a 
move would threaten to undermine the electoral commission's 
credibility as an unbiased institution.  We will continue to 
work to ensure there are no improper removal of names from 
the now publicly posted candidate lists. 
KHALILZAD