#US offers Iraq right to prosecute US troops for crimes committed in Iraq. However...
4787 Dead
[Zeppnote: this is meant to mollify al-Sadr, so Baghdad doesn't blow
sky-high right before the election. But if I read this right, in
addition to all the other restrictions and limitations, Iraqi
authorities would have to prove that the soldier accused committed the
crime in a premeditated manner before they would be allowed to try him
for the crime.]
Iraq wins right to prosecute crimes by US troops
Agence France-Presse
Published: Sunday October 19, 2008
BAGHDAD (AFP) – Iraq has secured the right to prosecute US soldiers
and civilians for crimes committed outside their bases and when off
duty, in the latest draft of a security pact that will set the terms
of their deployment beyond this year.
The draft stipulates that the US will have the primary right to
exercise jurisdiction over its soldiers and civilians if they commit a
crime inside their facilities or when on missions, according to a copy
obtained by AFP.
But the arrangement gives Iraqi courts the right to prosecute US
soldiers and civilians if they commit "grave and premeditated felonies
outside their facilities and when not on missions."
The decision is seen as a hard-won concession for Iraqi Prime Minister
Nuri al-Maliki who has taken a tough stand on protecting his country's
sovereignty in the pact.
The so-called Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) will provide the legal
basis for a US troop presence in Iraq after the present UN mandate
expires on December 31.
A failure to agree on the terms would force Baghdad and Washington to
find another legal framework.
If the agreement is signed by the two sides and approved by the Iraqi
parliament, it will become effective from January 1 and last for three
years, during which a phased withdrawal of US forces is outlined.
However, senior leaders of Maliki's ruling alliance, the United Iraqi
Alliance (UIA), who met on Saturday to discuss the current draft with
the prime minister said changes still needed to be made.
"There are positive points and others need more time to be discussed,
and others need modification," said a UIA statement released Sunday.
A senior parliament member told AFP that the draft will be voted on
later on Sunday by the Political Council for National Security, a body
made up of top Iraqi leaders, including the prime minister and
president.
If approved it would then go before the cabinet and then the
parliament for a vote.
US combat forces will withdraw from Iraqi towns and villages by June
2009 and pull out of Iraq completely by December 2011, the document
says.
"By this time the Iraqi forces will take over all the security
responsibility in the country. After June 2009, US forces will stay in
the bases outside the villages and cities," the document says.
The two sides have also agreed that all military operations in Iraq
will be carried out with the approval of Baghdad under the supervision
of a Joint Military Operation Coordination Committee (JMOCC) to be
formed under the pact.
"All these operations must be executed with full respect to the Iraqi
constitution and Iraqi laws," the draft says.
The agreement also restricts US military powers by permitting troops
to detain Iraqis only through an Iraqi order.
"In case they detain, the detainee must be handed over to Iraqi
authorities within 24 hours," the document says.
It also stipulates that any US personnel detained by Iraqis must be
handed over immediately to American authorities.
Iraq will also be in control of its air space once the agreement comes
into effect.
Iraq will also have the primary right to exercise jurisdiction over US
private security contractors.
Iraqi officials had told AFP earlier that this right was conceded to
Baghdad without much opposition following the killing of 17 Iraqis in
broad daylight by guards from the Blackwater security firm in
September 2007.
Maliki said on Sunday that Iraq was keen to negotiate a similar
security pact with Britain to provide for a British military presence
beyond this year.
"If the SOFA with the US is approved by parliament, it will help
signing an agreement with British for their military presence in
Iraq," he said in a statement after talks with visiting British
Defence Secretary John Hutton.
Hutton, 53, who took over the defence portfolio from Des Browne just
over two weeks ago, said that he had brought his team to discuss the
Status of Forces Agreement between Baghdad and London.
"We want, in the first months of next year, to see a fundamental
change in our military mission in Iraq, moving towards an increased
focus on military training and education as part of a broad-based
bilateral partnership," Hutton said in a statement.
Earlier this month, Maliki told a British daily that the more than
4,000 British troops are no longer necessary for the security of Iraq
and should go home.
--
"Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government
talking
about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order.
Nothing has
changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists,
we're
talking about getting a court order before we do so"
-George W. Bush, April 20, 2004
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