Freedom in the World 1999 - Iraq

1999 Scores

Status: Not Free
Freedom Rating: 7.0
Civil Liberties: 7
Political Rights: 7

Overview

Thanks to higher oil prices, illicit oil trade, erosion of the United Nations-imposed air embargo, and international concern over the devastating effects of sanctions on Iraqi citizens, Iraqi president Saddam Hussein appears more firmly entrenched than at any time since the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Despite intermittent bombing by the United States and Britain and ten years of sanctions that have created a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions, he continues to refuse entry to UN weapons inspectors. Instead, he has waged a successful public relations campaign, gaining sympathy and support from the international community for the lifting of sanctions.

Iraq gained formal independence in 1932, though the British maintained influence over the Hashemite monarchy. The monarchy was overthrown in a military coup in 1958. A 1968 coup established a government under the Arab Baath (Renaissance) Socialist Party, which has remained in power since. The frequently amended 1968 provisional constitution designated the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) as the country's highest power, and granted it virtually unlimited and unchecked authority. In 1979, Saddam Hussein, long considered the strongman of the regime, formally assumed the titles of state president and RCC chairman.

Iraq attacked Iran in 1980, touching off an eight-year war of attrition during which Iraq's economy suffered extensively and at least 150,000 Iraqis died. In August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. At least 100,000 Iraqi troops were killed in the Persian Gulf War before a 22-nation coalition liberated Kuwait in February 1991. In April, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 687, which called on Iraq to destroy its weapons of mass destruction, to accept long-term monitoring of its weapons facilities, and to recognize Kuwait's sovereignty. The UN also imposed an oil embargo on Iraq, which may be lifted when the government complies with the terms of Resolution 687. In 1996, the UN initiated an oil-for-food program that allows Iraq to sell a limited amount of oil to pay for food and medicine.

An April 1998 progress report by UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) weapons inspector Richard Butler stated that Iraq had largely complied with Resolution 687 on nuclear and chemical weapons programs, but was less forthcoming about biological weapons. Saddam maintained that Iraq was in compliance with the resolution and demanded an end to sanctions. The June 1998 discovery of traces of a nerve agent in an Iraqi weapons dump prompted a protracted standoff. The UN Security Council voted to suspend sanctions reviews, and by October, Iraq had ended all cooperation with UNSCOM. The U.S. and Britain began bombing military and potential weapons production sites in December.

In December 1999, after a year of air strikes and continuing political deadlock, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1284, which would suspend sanctions for renewable 120-day periods provided Baghdad cooperates with a new UN arms control body, called the UN Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC). The resolution also lifted the ceiling on oil exports, but kept the revenues under strict UN control. Saddam rejected the resolution, pledging to refuse access to weapons inspectors without an unconditional lifting of sanctions. Hans Blix, a Swedish former foreign minister and director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, was chosen in January 2000 to head UNMOVIC. Blix assembled a staff of politically neutral arms experts and technical personnel in order to encourage Iraqi cooperation, but Iraq refused to comply with the commission.

Sanctions have taken a massive toll on the Iraqi population. According to UNICEF, some 500,000 children under age five died between 1991 and 1998. Reportedly, only about 41 percent of the population has regular access to clean water. Contaminated water, deteriorating sewage treatment facilities, and sharp declines in health care services have increased the spread and mortality rate of curable disease. The UN Human Development Index, which ranks countries based on quality of life as measured by various social indicators such as education, health care, and material wealth, rated Iraq 55th in 1990. In 2000, Iraq dropped to 126th of 174 countries. The oil-for-food program was designed to improve conditions for Iraqis, but dilapidated oil production infrastructure and delays in receiving replacement parts have hindered the program's effectiveness. Two chief UN relief officials resigned in February in protest over the humanitarian situation in Iraq. One blamed the U.S. and Britain for using their veto power to hold up contracts, while the other blamed Iraqi officials for failure to distribute humanitarian aid. In 2000, the U.S. agreed to increase its imports of oil industry spare parts and lifted holds on more than $100 million in supply contracts. The UN also approved a list of goods, such as food, soap, and educational materials, that will no longer require committee review for import by Iraq.

Saddam has skillfully exploited divisions among Security Council members over sanctions. While the U.S. and Britain take a hardline approach, China, France, and Russia have pushed for lifting the sanctions in order to restore economic ties with Iraq. Sidestepping a ban on commercial flights to Iraq, both Russia and France began sending relief flights after Iraq reopened its international airport in August. By the end of the year, private flights carrying humanitarian aid and delegations interested in trade links were coming regularly from Europe, Africa, and Arab states. Iraqi officials met with foreign counterparts to discuss economic and political cooperation. Talks with Iran produced agreement to work toward normalization, while Saudi Arabia agreed to open its border with Iraq to facilitate Iraqi exports, and an oil pipeline between Iraq and Syria reopened in November after 18 years. A Baghdad trade fair in November drew 14 ministers and senior officials from Arab countries, as well as representatives from eight non-Arab countries.

As sanctions erode, illicit trade is rife. Iraq continues to smuggle oil through Turkey and the Persian Gulf. Observers estimate that for every legitimate load exported through Turkey, some 200 go illegally. With oil prices high in 2000, clandestine trade is extremely lucrative, even if most Iraqis do not reap the benefits. Considering that Iraq has been able to break free of international isolation and enjoy economic benefits without cooperating with the UN, it seems unlikely that Saddam will allow weapons inspectors to return. In fact, his defiance of the West has only increased; he sent domestic flights to violate no-fly zones in November, and halted oil exports temporarily in December in a dispute with the UN over pricing.

The succession issue in Iraq was highlighted in September when several media outlets reported that Saddam was suffering from lymph cancer. Saddam's younger son, Qusay, has consolidated his role as likely successor by taking control of the state military and security apparatus after an assassination attempt against his older brother, Uday, in 1996. However, Uday made a comeback in 2000, winning a parliamentary seat for Baghdad in the March elections. While some saw his election as a move toward regaining a more prominent political role, others suggested that Saddam allowed him a minor role in politics to appease him. Uday has been called an embarrassment to his family because of his reputed brutality and other excesses, and his role in feuds that have undermined Saddam's power base. However, rumors of Saddam's ill-health have circulated for years without verification, so any power struggle between his sons may take years to surface.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Iraqis cannot change their government democratically. Saddam holds supreme power, and relatives and friends from his hometown of Tikrit hold most key positions. Opposition parties are illegal, and the 250-seat National Council (parliament) has no power. Members of the council serve four-year terms. Elections were held on March 27, 2000, for 220 of the seats; 30 seats reserved for Kurds are appointed by presidential decree. All candidates are vetted to ensure their support for the regime, and all are either Baathists or nominal independents loyal to the Baath party. High turnout is typical of Iraqi elections, as failure to vote may be seen as opposition to the government and thus may result in harassment, arrest, torture, or execution.

State control is maintained through the extensive use of intimidation through arrest, torture, and summary execution. Amnesty International reported that people suspected of involvement in opposition activities "can expect to be arrested without a warrant, held in secret detention, without access to family and lawyers, be brutally tortured – including, in one case, having their eyes gouged out – and finally, could face execution." The UN Commission on Human Rights in April adopted a resolution criticizing "all-pervasive repression and oppression sustained by broad-based discrimination and widespread terror." Exiled opposition groups reported the executions of dozens of political prisoners and army officers in 2000 for alleged conspiracy against the regime.

Some safeguards exist in civil cases, but political and "economic" cases are tried in separate security courts with no due process considerations. Theft, corruption, desertion from the army, and currency speculation are punishable by amputation, branding, or execution. Doctors have been executed for refusing to carry out punishments and for attempting reconstructive surgery.

Criticism of local officials and investigation into official corruption are occasionally tolerated, as long as they do not extend to Saddam or to major policy issues. The government makes little effort to block the signal of Radio Free Iraq, which began broadcasting in October 1998. Nonetheless, the government carefully controls most information available to Iraqis. Restricted access to satellite broadcasting was allowed beginning in 1999, but as of November 2000, access to foreign channels had not been made available. Uday Saddam Hussein, the older son of the president, is head of the 702-member Iraqi Journalists' Union, chairman of several weekly newspapers, publisher of the Babel daily, and director of television and radio stations. Iraq set up its first Internet café in July.

Freedom of assembly and association is restricted to pro-Baath gatherings. During the campaign prior to parliamentary elections in March, all rallies were organized by the party. All active opposition groups are in exile, and regime opponents outside Iraq are subject to retaliation by the Iraqi regime. There have been several credible reports of Iraqi defectors receiving videotapes of their female relatives being raped in attempts to coerce them to abandon the opposition. In early 2000, the RCC passed Societies Law 13, which specifies that "the goals, programs, and activities of societies should not conflict with the principles and objectives of the great 17-30 July revolution, the independence of the country, its national unity, and its republican system." The law also prohibits the establishment or funding of any society without government permission.

Islam is the state religion. Shiite Muslims, who constitute more than 60 percent of the population, face severe persecution. For Shia, communal Friday prayer, the loaning of books by mosque libraries, broadcasting, book publishing, and funeral processions and observances are banned. The army has arrested thousands of Shia and executed an undetermined number of these detainees. Security forces have desecrated Shiite mosques and holy sites. The army has indiscriminately targeted civilian Shiite villages, razed homes, and drained southern Amara and Hammar marshes in order to flush out Shiite guerrillas. A Shiite prayer leader was executed in Baghdad in May on charges of inciting unrest in connection with clashes that broke out in several cities after the 1999 assassination of Iraq's top Shiite cleric.

Forced displacement of ethnic Kurds, Turkomans, and other non-Arab minorities continued in 2000. Five Kurdish political parties reported to the UN in June on the ongoing destruction of Kurd villages, expulsions to southern Iraq, and renaming of schools, streets, and districts in the Baghdad-controlled Kirkuk region in northern Iraq as part of a government policy of "Arabization." Meanwhile, the government moved in early 2000 to grant some 60,000 Palestinians living in Iraq the right to limited home ownership.

Although laws exist to protect women from discrimination in employment and education, to include women in security and police forces, to require education for girls, and to grant women rights in family matters such as divorce and property ownership, it is difficult to determine whether these rights are respected in practice. Men are granted immunity for killing female relatives suspected of "immoral deeds." In May, the government announced that thousands of Iraqi schoolboys aged 12 to 17 would undergo military training during summer holidays as part of efforts to "prepare to back up the armed forces in case the need arises."

Independent trade unions do not exist; the state-backed General Federation of Trade Unions is the only legal labor federation. The law does not recognize the right to collective bargaining and places restrictions on the right to strike.