US embassy cable - 05BASRAH147

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BASRAH 000147 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  12/13/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, EPET, KDEM, IZ, Petrolium, Human Rights, Elections 
SUBJECT: DEMONSTRATING FOR THE VOTE - SOUTH OIL COMPANY WORKERS VOICE 
THEIR COMPLAINTS 
 
REF: BASRAH 146 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Alan B.C. Latimer, Regional Coordinator, REO 
Basrah, State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
Summary 
----------- 
 
1.  (C)  In a December 12 meeting with the Basrah Regional 
Embassy Office, Basrah Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq 
(IECI) Manager Hazim Joda said that approximately 100 South Oil 
Company (SOC) workers held a demonstration at the Basrah 
Governorate because no arrangements have been made to allow them 
to vote on December 15.  Hazim identified security issues as his 
greatest concern in the lead-up to the December 15 elections. 
Intimidation campaigns and violence targeting Ayid Allawi's 
Iraqi National Accord party have been reported to the Basrah 
IECI, but no mechanisms are in place to take action to halt this 
behavior.  End Summary. 
 
Hungry for Democracy 
---------------------------- 
 
2.  (U)  In a December 12 meeting with the Basrah Regional 
Embassy Office, Basrah IECI Manager Hazim Joda said that about 
100 SOC guards were holding a demonstration at the Basrah 
Governorate because they were not permitted to vote on December 
12 and no arrangements have been made to allow them to vote on 
December 15.  Hazim stated that he had sent a letter to the IECI 
in Baghdad on behalf of the SOC requesting permission for these 
workers to travel on election day to vote at the nearest polling 
stations to their oil stations, but had not yet received a 
reply.  The petroleum workers have threatened to strike on 
election day in order to assert their right to vote.  (Note: 
About 8000 SOC guards and 6000 petroleum workers in the Basrah 
area work 12-hour shifts that prevent them from leaving work 
during voting hours without special permission.  Although the 
SOC has indicated its willingness to make special arrangements 
to enable workers to leave their posts on election day, they 
would not be able to reach the polling stations where they are 
registered because of election day travel restrictions.  End 
Note.) 
 
3.  (U)  According to Hazim, the SOC guards consider themselves 
part of the Iraqi military, and many of them are ex-soldiers. 
They desired to vote on December 12 along with special 
provisions made for hospital invalids, prisoners, police and 
military who are unable to travel on election day.  However, 
these guards are not technically members of the military or 
police and have not been granted the right to vote early. 
 
4.  (SBU)  Hazim said that he advised the SOC Deputy, Abdul 
Kareem Kazeem, to work through the Director General of Oil to 
bring national attention to the issue.  Hazim said that he also 
placed phone calls to the Baghdad IECI operation manager, but 
has not received a response.  Without intervention from the 
central government, Hazim stated that the IECI would not make an 
exception to allow oil station workers to vote on election day. 
Hazim said it was his opinion that the IECI in Baghdad had not 
responded to his suggestion to allow the SOC workers the right 
to vote at the nearest poll station to their place of work 
because it does not intend to approve his suggestion. 
 
Security Still the Main Concern 
-------------------------------------- 
 
5.  (SBU)  Hazim identified security issues as his greatest 
concern in the lead-up to the December 15 elections.  Another 
large demonstration took place in the Al Gurma area in the 
northern part of Basrah on December 12 to protest recent British 
military arrests. Hazim said that luckily his office had decided 
earlier, at the suggestion of Chief of Police General Hassan 
Sewadi, to postpone the distribution of election materials until 
December 13, or else the angry crowds could have interfered with 
the distribution.  He gave his assurances that the election 
materials could still be delivered in time despite the one-day 
delay.  He expects no major security problems on December 15 in 
Basrah, though if disruptions do occur he believes they would be 
in the form of attacks on water and power lines.  The protection 
of polling stations is his main concern, and police, military, 
and Iraqi intelligence circles of defense will be deployed 
around each center. 
 
6.  (C)  The Basrah IECI has received many complaints about 
intimidation of political parties, Hazim said, including reports 
of individuals killed for hanging Allawi campaign posters (see 
reftel).  Hazim said he has followed procedure by reviewing 
these complaints in a special committee and forwarding those 
complaints that are substantiated to the central IECI office in 
Baghdad, but that "Baghdad does nothing."  He said that the IECI 
cannot remove people from the party lists on the basis of 
complaints alone, and that most people, himself included, are 
too scared to do something about the problem.  Those suspected 
of the transgressions, he said, are the ones who are currently 
in power. 
Comment 
------------ 
 
7. (C)  The meeting with Hazim highlighted his serious concerns 
with security on the day of the elections.  However, it also 
provided a glimpse of how passionate Iraqis feel about 
participating in the electoral process.  The SOC workers staged 
a demonstration to voice their complaints about not being 
allowed to exercise their right to vote on the same day as other 
Iraqi citizens who are either incapacitated, in prison or unable 
to leave their posts unattended.  In fact, during the meeting, 
Hazim received a telephone call from the Deputy Director of SOC 
stating that if oil workers were not allowed to vote, they would 
refuse to pump oil on election day in order to travel to their 
polling stations and vote.  Hazim's proposed solution of the 
Baghdad IECI giving special permission to SOC workers to vote at 
the nearest polling station to their work posts appears to be 
the only viable solution to the dilemma at this late date.  End 
comment. 
LATIMER