Al-Maliki’s conditions complicate the passage of the general amnesty law.. Will it pass during the c

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[size=52]Al-Maliki’s conditions complicate the passage of the general amnesty law.. Will it pass during the current session?[/size]

[size=45]The issue of the general amnesty law, which thousands of Iraqi families and prisoners are waiting for parliamentary approval, has become more complicated after new conditions were issued by the head of the State of Law Coalition, Nouri al-Maliki, who drew a red line on those he called “those accused of terrorism and financial corruption” in the expected law, in a statement described as strange, especially since the parties within the ruling Coordination Framework coalition in the country are deliberately diluting the matter, which indicates several possibilities, most notably the differences between al-Maliki and the leaders of the Coordination Framework on the one hand, and electoral exploitation in favor of al-Maliki on the other hand.
The charge of “terrorism” in particular is one of the most common charges for which thousands of Iraqis have been thrown into prison, and the charge itself is open to interpretation, as Sunni leaders are demanding that those accused of it be retried, especially since most of them were accused of malicious denunciations or were forced to confess to terrorist crimes under torture.
Al-Maliki said in a videotaped speech that “security, stability and the continuity of the political process require adherence to the law and the constitution. The current government has developed its political program and presented it to parliament, which approved it and it has become binding on the political process and the forces that approved it,” indicating that “the national interest requires not giving up on those who practiced murder and terrorism, disrupted the country and prevented reconstruction and services.”
Al-Maliki expressed his hope that “there will be a trend towards a general amnesty for ordinary crimes and felonies only,” continuing his speech: “We are in favor of a general amnesty, but we refuse to release terrorists whose hands are stained with the blood of innocents. Crimes of financial and administrative corruption and espionage must be excluded from the general amnesty law, with emphasis on respecting the controls set by the judiciary.”
The period of Al-Maliki’s governments (2006-2014) witnessed a large wave of arrests due to the emergence of the role of the “secret informant,” as one of the most prominent sources of ensnaring innocent civilians, defendants and those involved in acts of violence.
The work of the secret informant was linked to false reports and denunciations that led to hundreds and perhaps thousands of Iraqis being arrested, imprisoned and executed, particularly in the Sunni Arab majority provinces. Al-Maliki pointed out in his speech that “there is no such thing as a secret informant, except for someone who informs the judiciary of a case or information, but does not want to disclose himself for fear of being killed. These were not political arrests as some claim, and these are false and ideological accusations.”
This statement by Al-Maliki may be an attempt to exonerate his government, which relied on the “secret informant,” who are employees with various capacities, whose reports caused major social and security problems in Iraqi society, as they did not only include the provinces of western and northern Iraq, but the cities of central and southern Iraq also had their share of informants, specifically by targeting members of the “Mahdi Army” group.
It is worth noting that Article 47 of the “Iraqi Criminal Procedure Code” stipulates that “the informant in crimes against state security, economic sabotage crimes, and others, has the right not to reveal his identity and not to be considered a witness.”
Based on this article, secret informants were assigned the task of reporting on anyone suspected of belonging to armed groups during the past two decades, even if without evidence.
In the same context, a member of the Progress Party, headed by former Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, said, “All parties that participated in the government of Mohammed Shia al-Sudani agreed before the formation of the government on a set of decisions that serve Iraqi society, including the general amnesty law in Iraq, which is awaiting approval, and there were no objections from the Shiite and Kurdish parties, and some of them even acknowledged its importance.”
He added, on condition of anonymity, that “objections and deportations occurred in the House of Representatives during the past period, for unconvincing reasons and arguments.”
The member of the Progress Party pointed out that “Maliki’s recent talk about his conditions for moving towards approving a general amnesty in Iraq represents an obstacle to its passage, because it coincides with the Shiite political position that rejects the release of thousands of civilians from prisons, a large percentage of whom were victims of false statements by secret informants, not to mention many who confessed under torture,” stressing that “the Sunni parties do not accept the release of terrorists from prisons, and this is a given, but we demand the reinvestigation of a large number of prisoners, because we have evidence of confessions recorded under torture.”
For his part, the member of the House of Representatives for the “Coordination Framework,” Aref al-Hamami, indicated that “the Shiite parties do not oppose the commencement of the general amnesty law in Iraq and the general amnesty, due to its great social importance, but there are serious concerns about releasing terrorists, drug dealers and corrupt people.”
He stressed that “the general amnesty will not only serve the Sunni community, but it also concerns all segments, classes and sects of Iraqi society, and it will reduce overcrowding in prisons. Therefore, the delay in approving it is due to providing guarantees that no social problems will occur if the law is approved.”
In March, the head of the “Sovereignty” Party, Khamis al-Khanjar, the largest Sunni Arab party in Iraq, had previously called for the release of innocent prisoners in Iraqi prisons and the approval of the general amnesty law in Iraq, which is the main part of the political agreement with the Sudanese government. Al
-Khanjar said in an interview broadcast on Iraqi state television that “the government sent the amendment to the general amnesty law in Iraq to parliament and it was delayed there for more than four months, and we are still at the beginning of the road in implementing the political agreement paper to form the government,” indicating that “he believes that the political agreement paper needs a strong push to achieve some of its main clauses to reassure people and move forward.”
In turn, political researcher Salah Al-Kubaisi pointed out that “many of the prisoners from the Sunni component are victims of the infamous secret informant who used to distribute accusations to Iraqis, which caused the prisons to fill with innocent people,” stressing that “there is a need to redefine terrorism, and whether it is represented by affiliation, allegiance, or suspicion only, especially since the people of the western and northern cities fell under the rule and injustice of terrorism and armed groups, and thus they were powerless.”
He asked: “Is it reasonable that all those arrested during that period were terrorists?”
Al-Kubaisi continued, “The past two decades have been marked by great injustice, especially discrimination in punishment. Unfortunately, those who carried weapons from the Sunni community were placed on terrorist lists, while other communities treated those carrying weapons as outlaws, which means that terrorists will not be included in the general amnesty, while others may be released. Unfortunately, the Sunni political parties were preoccupied with their differences, which led to the general amnesty law file in Iraq being postponed more than once.”[/size]
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