Human Rights activist threatened by the Iraqi secret service

The Iraqi government and its intelligence apparatus “Al Moukhabarat” have regularly been intimidating and pressuring the family members of their opponents, journalists and human rights activists.

This included: arbitrary detention of family members including women, elderly and children; rape; torture; deportation; confiscation of property; expulsion of family members from their jobs; hindrance of family members from receiving economic assistance from their relatives residing abroad; withdrawal of citizenship; and use of satellite TV and other media outlets by showing family members as hostages begging their relatives to think of their safety. In addition to these practices, they are using threats in the name of tribes and tribal revenge.

The families of several prominent Iraqi opposition activists, human rights campaigners and writers were subjected to these cruel and inhuman practices by the Iraqi regime. People like Bayan Jabr, Dr. Hamid Al Bayati (Representatives of SCIRI opposition Group), Faik Sheikh Ali (lawyer and journalist), Dr. Ghassan Al Attiya (Editor in Chief of Iraqi File), General Najib Al Salihi, Dr. Tariq Ali Salih (The President of Iraqi Jurist Association), Dr. Raqiya Al Qaysi (Researcher), Sheikh Kazim Al Resan (prominent leader of the Iraqi uprising in 1991, his grave was desecrated and destroyed by Iraqi agents in Damascus) and the poets Al Jawahiri and Al Bayati are a clear example of this.

This time, the victim is a well-known Iraqi woman, who is well known for her commitment in favor of the Human Rights, Safia Taleb Al Souhail. She is the publisher of Al Manar Al Arabi newspaper, published in Sulaimaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan, and Advocacy Director for the Arab and Islamic World at our organization the International Alliance for Justice (AIJ). Safia is the daughter of Sheikh Taleb Al Souhail, a prominent Iraqi figure who was assassinated in Beirut in 1994 by four Iraqi diplomats.

Few days ago, threats were carried out by sending a special messenger to Mrs. Al Souhail in Jordan to tell her that they would "do to her what they did to her father”. They also made a number of other death threats against her by telephone calls to family members in Amman and Beirut.

This was in retaliation for a conference organized by Mrs. Al Souhail on March 9th 2002, and hosted by the Jordanian Center for Research and information on “the future of Iraq: Challenges and Perspectives”.

Many Jordanian dignitaries attended the conference and it was held on the same day as the arrival of the Iraqi Vice-President Izzat Ibrahim Al Douri. This conference was unique of its kind, because it was being held in Jordan and was calling for the indictment of Al Douri and the Iraqi leadership. While Izzat Al Douri was in Beirut, the Iraqi government sent an eminent Lebanese personality as an intermediary to Mrs. Al Souhail and offered her the return of her family’s confiscated money and land in Baghdad in exchange for her silence. The emissary also said that her refusal would have serious consequences for Mrs. Al Souhail and her family.

The death threats against Mrs. Al Souhail are also a response to her activities in Cairo and in Beirut prior to the Arab Summit as well as her interviews to the Arab media. Mrs. Al Souhail and the The AIJ denounced in these cities the Iraqi government’s human rights violations and asked the Lebanese authorities to open her father’s file who was assassinated in Beirut, where the Arab Summit took place. The murder of Sheikh Taleb Al Souhail led first to the interruption of diplomatic relations between Lebanon and Iraq. Furthermore, the killers, who admitted that they carried out the crime, were sent back to Iraq under the pretext of diplomatic immunity. The Vienna Convention (1), however, does not provide any immunity for diplomats who turn to become killers. Since 1994, Al Souhail’s family continuously sought justice, but the absence of an independent Judiciary in Lebanon; the lack of any regional legal mechanisms and the laxity of the UN in implementing resolutions such as the UNSCR 687 and UNSCR 688 have encouraged the Iraqi regime to continue its terrorist activities and its crimes remain unpunished.

On April 12, 2002 the London based Arabic newspaper Azzaman published a series of six articles on the assassination of Sheikh Taleb Al Souhail. Safia helped the author by providing him the legal documents on the assassination of her father. On April 24 Azzaman and Al Nahrain website on April 26 published a letter in the name of Beni Tamim tribe, whose Safia’s father was the leader prior to his assassination. The letter was sent from Amman and Netherlands stating that “What ever would happen to the members of Bani Tamim and in particular the Souhail family would be the responsibility of the author of the articles (Mr. Ismail Zayir, whom son was took as an hostage and tortured few years ago) and those responsible behind it…the physical liquidation of Sheikh Taleb Al Souhail and his colleagues was a prevention which is better than curing”.
This is another clear message of intimidation and threat done by the Iraqi intelligence against Safia and her family, the Beni Tamim tribes and any other tribes and opposition members who could think of doing anything against the regime. We believe the author of the letter is the Iraqi intelligence using the name of Bani Tamim tribes.

The AIJ would like to alert the international community that the Iraqi intelligence has recently exported many of its agents, disguising as refugees with different professional backgrounds, to intimidate or to possibly assassinate anti-regime activists, as was often done in the 1970s and 1980s when many Iraqi opposition figures were killed. (2)

The AIJ asks the European Union and others to carefully re-examine the files of the Iraqi refugee applicants, members of Iraqi expatriate "Al Mughtaribin" associations that were established in these countries to spy on the genuine Iraqi refugees, whose number exceed 3 millions. Furthermore, members of these "Al Mughtaribin" associations are regularly invited to Iraq for training and new instructions. The AIJ asks the European countries and others to take all necessary measures to protect the real Iraqi refugees and their families from these disguised agents of the Iraqi government.

The AIJ condemn strongly the acts and tactics of the Iraqi regime and will hold the Iraqi government responsible for any harm to Safia, her family and members of the Bani Tamim tribe who have suffered from the loss of Sheikh Taleb; the killing of their family members, the seizure of their removable and non-removable assets, and the lack of justice.

The AIJ calls upon the UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur on Iraq to investigate the case of Sheikh Taleb Al Souhail's assassination and the constant intimidation, harassment and threats of Iraqi opponents, journalists and human rights activists.

(1) Vienna Convention, 21st April, 1961 and 1964
(2) London, Paris, Stockholm, Rome, Geneva, Sofia, Belgrade, Prishtina, Bucharest, Vienna, Berlin, Beirut, Karachi, Aden, Kuwait, Abu Debi, Amman

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Contact: Alliance Internationale pour la Justice
Tél: 33 1 48 00 03 20
Fax: 33 1 48 00 03 30
aij@noos.fr

		Druckversion
	Alliance Internationale pour la Justice, May 02, 2002 Human Rights activist threatened by the Iraqi secret service The Iraqi government and its intelligence apparatus “Al Moukhabarat” have regularly been intimidating and pressuring the family members of their opponents, journalists and human rights activists. This included: arbitrary detention of family members including women, elderly and children; rape; torture; deportation; confiscation of property; expulsion of family members from their jobs; hindrance of family members from receiving economic assistance from their relatives residing abroad; withdrawal of citizenship; and use of satellite TV and other media outlets by showing family members as hostages begging their relatives to think of their safety. In addition to these practices, they are using threats in the name of tribes and tribal revenge. The families of several prominent Iraqi opposition activists, human rights campaigners and writers were subjected to these cruel and inhuman practices by the Iraqi regime. People like Bayan Jabr, Dr. Hamid Al Bayati (Representatives of SCIRI opposition Group), Faik Sheikh Ali (lawyer and journalist), Dr. Ghassan Al Attiya (Editor in Chief of Iraqi File), General Najib Al Salihi, Dr. Tariq Ali Salih (The President of Iraqi Jurist Association), Dr. Raqiya Al Qaysi (Researcher), Sheikh Kazim Al Resan (prominent leader of the Iraqi uprising in 1991, his grave was desecrated and destroyed by Iraqi agents in Damascus) and the poets Al Jawahiri and Al Bayati are a clear example of this. This time, the victim is a well-known Iraqi woman, who is well known for her commitment in favor of the Human Rights, Safia Taleb Al Souhail. She is the publisher of Al Manar Al Arabi newspaper, published in Sulaimaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan, and Advocacy Director for the Arab and Islamic World at our organization the International Alliance for Justice (AIJ). Safia is the daughter of Sheikh Taleb Al Souhail, a prominent Iraqi figure who was assassinated in Beirut in 1994 by four Iraqi diplomats. Few days ago, threats were carried out by sending a special messenger to Mrs. Al Souhail in Jordan to tell her that they would "do to her what they did to her father”. They also made a number of other death threats against her by telephone calls to family members in Amman and Beirut. This was in retaliation for a conference organized by Mrs. Al Souhail on March 9th 2002, and hosted by the Jordanian Center for Research and information on “the future of Iraq: Challenges and Perspectives”. Many Jordanian dignitaries attended the conference and it was held on the same day as the arrival of the Iraqi Vice-President Izzat Ibrahim Al Douri. This conference was unique of its kind, because it was being held in Jordan and was calling for the indictment of Al Douri and the Iraqi leadership. While Izzat Al Douri was in Beirut, the Iraqi government sent an eminent Lebanese personality as an intermediary to Mrs. Al Souhail and offered her the return of her family’s confiscated money and land in Baghdad in exchange for her silence. The emissary also said that her refusal would have serious consequences for Mrs. Al Souhail and her family. The death threats against Mrs. Al Souhail are also a response to her activities in Cairo and in Beirut prior to the Arab Summit as well as her interviews to the Arab media. Mrs. Al Souhail and the The AIJ denounced in these cities the Iraqi government’s human rights violations and asked the Lebanese authorities to open her father’s file who was assassinated in Beirut, where the Arab Summit took place. The murder of Sheikh Taleb Al Souhail led first to the interruption of diplomatic relations between Lebanon and Iraq. Furthermore, the killers, who admitted that they carried out the crime, were sent back to Iraq under the pretext of diplomatic immunity. The Vienna Convention (1), however, does not provide any immunity for diplomats who turn to become killers. Since 1994, Al Souhail’s family continuously sought justice, but the absence of an independent Judiciary in Lebanon; the lack of any regional legal mechanisms and the laxity of the UN in implementing resolutions such as the UNSCR 687 and UNSCR 688 have encouraged the Iraqi regime to continue its terrorist activities and its crimes remain unpunished. On April 12, 2002 the London based Arabic newspaper Azzaman published a series of six articles on the assassination of Sheikh Taleb Al Souhail. Safia helped the author by providing him the legal documents on the assassination of her father. On April 24 Azzaman and Al Nahrain website on April 26 published a letter in the name of Beni Tamim tribe, whose Safia’s father was the leader prior to his assassination. The letter was sent from Amman and Netherlands stating that “What ever would happen to the members of Bani Tamim and in particular the Souhail family would be the responsibility of the author of the articles (Mr. Ismail Zayir, whom son was took as an hostage and tortured few years ago) and those responsible behind it…the physical liquidation of Sheikh Taleb Al Souhail and his colleagues was a prevention which is better than curing”. This is another clear message of intimidation and threat done by the Iraqi intelligence against Safia and her family, the Beni Tamim tribes and any other tribes and opposition members who could think of doing anything against the regime. We believe the author of the letter is the Iraqi intelligence using the name of Bani Tamim tribes. The AIJ would like to alert the international community that the Iraqi intelligence has recently exported many of its agents, disguising as refugees with different professional backgrounds, to intimidate or to possibly assassinate anti-regime activists, as was often done in the 1970s and 1980s when many Iraqi opposition figures were killed. (2) The AIJ asks the European Union and others to carefully re-examine the files of the Iraqi refugee applicants, members of Iraqi expatriate "Al Mughtaribin" associations that were established in these countries to spy on the genuine Iraqi refugees, whose number exceed 3 millions. Furthermore, members of these "Al Mughtaribin" associations are regularly invited to Iraq for training and new instructions. The AIJ asks the European countries and others to take all necessary measures to protect the real Iraqi refugees and their families from these disguised agents of the Iraqi government. The AIJ condemn strongly the acts and tactics of the Iraqi regime and will hold the Iraqi government responsible for any harm to Safia, her family and members of the Bani Tamim tribe who have suffered from the loss of Sheikh Taleb; the killing of their family members, the seizure of their removable and non-removable assets, and the lack of justice. The AIJ calls upon the UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur on Iraq to investigate the case of Sheikh Taleb Al Souhail's assassination and the constant intimidation, harassment and threats of Iraqi opponents, journalists and human rights activists. (1) Vienna Convention, 21st April, 1961 and 1964 (2) London, Paris, Stockholm, Rome, Geneva, Sofia, Belgrade, Prishtina, Bucharest, Vienna, Berlin, Beirut, Karachi, Aden, Kuwait, Abu Debi, Amman ----------------- Contact: Alliance Internationale pour la Justice Tél: 33 1 48 00 03 20 Fax: 33 1 48 00 03 30 aij@noos.fr WADI e.V. \| tel.: (+49) 069-57002440 \| fax (+49) 069-57002444 http://www.wadinet.de \| e-mail: