Administrator’s Weekly Report Governance
March 6 - 12, 2004

HIGHLIGHTS

-- The Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) signed the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) on March 8. The TAL will serve as the supreme law of Iraq until a new government is elected, which will occur no later than December 31, 2005. The TAL provides a framework for an Iraqi government that will be republican, federal, democratic, and pluralistic.

-- The Iraqi people celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8. Among the events marking the celebration was the grand opening of the Mansour Women’s Center in Baghdad.

I. Support Transition to Iraqi Sovereignty

• The Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) signed the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) on March 8. The TAL will serve as the supreme law of Iraq until a new government is elected, which will occur no later than December 31, 2005. The TAL provides a framework for an Iraqi government that will be republican, federal, democratic, and pluralistic. Federalism will be based on geography, history, and the separation of powers, not on ethnicity or sect. Among the significant provisions in the TAL are: 1) Iraq’s civilian political leadership will control the Iraqi Armed Forces; 2) Islam will be the official religion of the State and will be considered a source of legislation, not the only source; 3) the Law respects the Islamic identity of the majority of the Iraqi people and guarantees the freedom of religious belief and practice; 4) Arabic and Kurdish are the official languages of Iraq; and 5) Iraqi election law “shall aim to achieve the goal of having women constitute no less than one-quarter of the members of the National Assembly and of having fair representation for all communities in Iraq, including the Turcomans, ChaldoAssyrians, and others.”

• Following the loss of several members in recent months, the Ba'qubah Municipal Council conducted new elections in which approximately 5,000 registered voters selected 11 new council members (including the first woman) from a list of 30 candidates.

• The Baghdad City Advisory Council finalized the selection process for Mayor of Baghdad. The mayor will be selected on March 31.

• A Baghdad focus group organized by the International Republican Institute (IRI) found the following: 1) as a whole, the participants wanted a diversely composed election commission comprised of religious leaders, sheikhs, academics, judges, lawyers and the like; 2) the group wanted the United Nations (UN) to oversee the commission, and most participants would like to see the commission independent from the interim government; 3) the group believed that UN involvement would increase trust in the elections; and 4) the men in the group believed that clerics would increase trust by the Iraqi people in the elections.
 

II. Develop Civic Participation in Governance
Develop indigenous polling capacity; Provide women and youth with the skills necessary to become important participants in the political process; Develop local civil society capacity to conduct advocacy and participate in political life; Develop civic education programs promoting electoral participation and democratic ideals; Build capacity for civil society conflict prevention and mitigation

• A March 8 "People's Convention" in Ba’qubah gathered provincial and local government officials, academics, professionals, tribal leaders, and representatives from various civic action groups to discuss the political future of Iraq and the province of Diyala. The announcement during the meeting that the TAL had just been signed in Baghdad was greeted with enthusiasm and approval.

• The CPA Local Governance Program (LGP) facilitated the third of six forums on March 6, on the Arbil Economic Development Strategy, an initiative sponsored by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and hosted by Salah ad Din University. The agenda focused on Arbil’s potential role in the global economy.

• The CPA LGP held their first democracy training in Najaf at the Said Bin Jubair school hall on March 7. Training topics included the promise and challenge of democracy, democracy’s historic origins, and the importance of awareness in the democratic process.

• Approximately 150 women of all ages and ethnic and religious backgrounds attended Mosul’s first Women’s Day Celebration on March 8, at the newly announced Center for Iraqi Women.

• The Iraqi people celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8. Among the events marking the celebration was the grand opening of the Mansour Women’s Center in Baghdad. The opening activities included the opening of the computer training center, an art exhibit by Iraqi women artists, and performances by an all-female band that formed after the war. The Center, which will be managed by Women for Women International, will serve as the coordination point to involve women in the dialogue on the transition and participation in the political process.

• The CPA hosted a democracy workshop on March 8, in Basrah to coincide with International Women’s Day. Research Triangle Institute (RTI) democracy specialists facilitated the workshop in which women from a variety of background participated in exercises on elections, democratic processes, and the role of women in the future of Iraq. The session included a question and answer session with the CPA Regional Coordinator during which discussion focused on the TAL and the threat of foreign terrorists entering Iraq.

• The CPA LGP provided training in Basrah for Democracy Dialogue Activity (DDA) facilitators, who further disseminate the democracy message to high school teachers and students, university students, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). University students and human rights lawyers attended this first session. Ann Clywd, the Special Envoy of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair for Human Rights in Iraq, and a member of the British Parliament were also present as the participants presented “Road to Democracy” maps and conducted a variety of interactive exercises on topics including democracy, elections, human rights and accountability and transparency.
 

III. Support Development of Sustainable Political Parties/Associations
Support development of political associations

• The National Democratic Institute (NDI) held its first political party workshop outside of Baghdad on March 4-6 in Tikrit. The three-day event provided participants the basics of demographic profiles, message development, and winning elections. The participants were interested in building national level political parties and understood the significant work required to build political agendas.

• NDI facilitated a coalition-building workshop for political parties on March 8 and 9 in Hillah. Approximately 25 representatives of parties in the South Central Region participated in the event.

• NDI provided training to the Iraqi National Gathering, a coalition of predominantly Sunni political parties, on March 8-9 in Baghdad. The training consisted of an individual party training sessions for fifty grassroots members in Baghdad and surrounding area.

• The International Republican Institute (IRI) conducted focus groups near Hillah and Ba'qubah on March 6. The IRI believes these efforts are among the first to analyze public opinion among the rural 30 percent of Iraq's population.

• CPA staff and representatives of 13 political parties attended a coordination meeting of major political parties in Mosul on March 7. The event included representatives of the Arab Socialist Party, Al Wifaq Arab Movement, PDK and PUK. Major discussion topics were the inability of the group to find reliable answers from either the Provincial Council or IGC representatives in Baghdad regarding electricity distribution and reasons for the increase in the price of cement in Mosul.

• The CPA co-sponsored a meeting of democracy and human rights activists from the South Central Region on March 9 in Hillah to discuss political party building. At the group’s request, the meeting also included discussion of how the upcoming elections might affect the Shi'a community.

IV. Promote Respect for Human Rights
Educate on Human Rights Issues; Preserve documentation of past atrocities, raise awareness, and promote reconciliation; Strengthen local capacity to investigate and address past atrocities; Iraqi Special Tribunal (IST) for past atrocities; Human Rights Incorporated into Laws; Develop Role of Independent Human Rights NGOs and Media; Establish a Human Rights Ministry

• A team of experts from Finland arrived to assess ten reported Iraqi mass grave sites. The team brought ground-penetrating radar for testing, trenching and conducting partial exhumations of the grave sites.

• A team of U.S. officials arrived in Baghdad this week and will assess the need for a Justice Department/Federal Bureau of Investigation team to assist the Human Rights Ministry with past atrocity investigations.

V. Promote Durable Solutions for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)
Facilitate the Return of Refugees and IDPs; Build Local and National Capacity to Protect and assist Refugees and IDPs; Develop and Implement a Process to Resolve Property Disputes

• Approximately 30 refugees returned to various destinations in Iraq in the 18th convoy from the Rafha camp in Saudi Arabia on March 7. The UN High Commission on Refugees supported this effort, nearly completing the repatriations of Iraqis from the Rafha camp.