UK human rights organisation slams nomination of Nouri al-Maliki for Iraq prime minister

In a press statement issued on Monday 26 January the Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) stated that the nomination of Nouri al-Maliki for the post of Prime Minister brings back memories of dark periods marked by crimes and violations committed on sectarian grounds, as well as financial and institutional corruption that caused severe harm to the Iraqi state, tore the country’s social fabric, and entrenched division and hatred among its people.

The AOHR UK added that during Nouri al-Maliki’s eight-year tenure as Prime Minister from 2006, and his retention of sovereign portfolios such as Defence and Interior for periods of his rule, he committed some of the most heinous crimes against the Sunni community and other components of Iraqi society. These crimes included massacres against peaceful demonstrators, large-scale forced displacement aimed at altering the demographic composition, the assassination of political figures, scholars, and military personnel, mass arrests and brutal torture, enforced disappearances, the establishment of secret detention facilities, and arbitrary trials that led to the execution of hundreds of individuals on the basis of fabricated charges.

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These and other corruption cases were documented in Iraqi parliamentary files as well as international records.

The AOHR UK stressed that, despite the gravity of the crimes committed by al-Maliki and senior members of his government, they have escaped accountability. Some fled Iraq, while others remained, including al-Maliki himself, enjoying protection from Iran, the most influential external power in Iraq. Today, instead of being held to account for these crimes, he is being rewarded through his nomination for the post of Prime Minister.

The human rights organisation also noted that Nouri al-Maliki’s criminal activities were not confined to Iraq. They extended to Syria, where, with the outbreak of the Syrian revolution, al-Maliki joined a Russian-Iranian alliance to support Bashar al-Assad by facilitating the passage of militias to fight alongside the Assad regime, in addition to providing funding and weapons to suppress the Syrian uprising.

Additionally, the AOHR UK emphasised the necessity for the Iraqi people, in all their components, to reject this nomination, and that such rejection must not be limited to any single group. The crimes committed by al-Maliki inflicted profound damage on the Iraqi state as a whole, damage from which it has yet to recover. For Iraq to move towards genuine recovery, Nouri al-Maliki and all those implicated with him must be held accountable for the crimes they committed, and the looted public funds must be recovered.

Finally, the AOHR UK called on the international community to put pressure on all parties supporting al-Maliki’s nomination for the post of prime minister to withdraw their support and to seek an alternative figure who enjoys acceptance across all segments of society, has not been involved in crimes against civilians, and is untainted by corruption. 

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