Minutes of the Transitional Justice Working Group Meeting

Minutes of the Transitional Justice Working Group Meeting July 8, 2003 The first meeting of the Office of Human Rights and Transitional Justice (OHRTJ) was held on July 8, 2003. Representatives from the following organizations were in attendance: the Iraqi Jurists Association, the Iraqi Lawyers Union, Task Force Justice (Marine investigators), Criminal Investigative Division (CID), the Iraqi Human Rights Society, and CPA representatives. The agenda for the meeting is included. Some time was taken to clarify the scope of the Geneva Conventions and other aspects of international law as they apply to transitional justice. The Iraqi Lawyers Union described their involvement in processing cases that relate to human rights abuses committed by the previous regime. This includes the formation of a High Committee to help guide and advise on the process of addressing past human rights violations, to include mass graves and missing persons. In addition, the High Committee has done surveys on mass graves and will share this information with the CPA. CID and Task Force Justice gave a brief overview of their investigations into war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Iraqi Lawyers Union and CID agreed to cooperate in sharing evidence in developing cases. The Human Rights Society voiced concerns about the use of DNA. The process is very expensive and time consuming. The concern revolving around whether this is the right approach in Iraq, since there are more than 10 times the body count in Iraq than in Southeast Europe. The Human Rights Society is looking at different strategies for accountability. The Human Rights Society in conjunction with the OHRTJ has been successful in getting the word out to Iraq that it is vital to a proper investigation and accountability to wait to dig up mass graves until proper equipment and teams can be sent in. So far, the digging has stopped. The principles for the transitional justice system in Iraq were also discussed. Initial principles include: 1. Those suspected of committing crimes against humanity in the previous regime must be judged; 2. The process must promote national reconciliation; and 3. the process needs to be victim focused with compensation as a key priority. Nest week, we will begin more formal discussions on the work of the Future of Iraq Transitional Justice Working Group. TJWG Meeting, OHRTJ 8 July 2003 Agenda: Introduction of Transitional Justice Working Group members Introduction of OHRTJ What is Transitional Justice What is not Transitional Justice Role of CPA in Transitional Justice: Iraqi led, Iraqi run Efforts of CPA to Date: Initiatives of CPA that are being considered Actions to be taken by TJWG Proposal by ILA and HRO to defend Mass Graves Commitment of ILA for subcommittee and proposal on collecting evidence and building case Visit missing persons and victims and listen to suggestions, and do same in the governates on Thursday. Go to ILU at 9:00 on Thursday. Look at compensation report from UN. Tom work with HRO to develop standards. Sam will provide a copy of the report of the TFWG (IJA) and UN report on compensation. TJWG members discuss role of Transitional Justice in Iraq. Set Agenda for next meeting