The mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) was renewed by Security Council resolution 1770 (2007), which reaffirmed the role of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and UNAMI, at the request of the Government of Iraq, to “...also promote the protection of human rights and judicial and legal reform in order to strengthen the rule of law in Iraq.” The mandate was subsequently extended by Security Council resolutions 1830 (2008) and 1883 (2009).
UNAMI, with OHCHR’s support, continued to engage in the protection and promotion of human rights and the rule of law, in close collaboration with Iraqi governmental and non-governmental actors. In order to fulfill its mandate, the UNAMI Human Rights Office (UNAMI HRO) continued to monitor the human rights situation in Iraq and assist, through capacity development activities and technical assistance projects, in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of state and civil society institutions. UNAMI HRO continued to collaborate closely with national human rights activists and sought to maintain direct contact with victims and witnesses of human rights violations.
In December 2009, UNAMI HRO released the latest of its fifteen public reports, issued on a bi-monthly, quarterly or bi-annual basis since 2005. The report outlined the general human rights and the rule of law situation in the country, focusing, in particular, on the protection of civilians, as well as linguistic, religious, ethnic and sexual minorities, in the context of violence and general insecurity in Iraq. The report also detailed the findings related to the situation in detention and prison facilities throughout the country, noting deficiencies in treatment and incarceration conditions.
In 2008 and 2009, UNAMI HRO continued to provide assistance to the Iraqi government and state authorities, as well as civil society organizations, including those in the Kurdistan Region, regarding the establishment of a national human rights institution, treatment of detainees and prisoners and continued to coordinate donor assistance and the development of assistance strategies in support of four Ministries, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Human Rights. In 2009, at the request of the Iraqi government, UNAMI HRO launched a programme of support on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Human Rights Council and human rights treaty bodies, and together with OHCHR and UNOPS, organized a series of training courses on international human rights mechanisms. In 2009, five-members of the Iraqi inter-ministerial committee on UPR were invited to Geneva for a week-long training on UPR, in preparation for the Universal Periodic Review session on Iraq scheduled to take place on 16 February 2010. UNAMI and OHCHR also supported the participation in UPR processes of a number of national civil society organizations, by providing them with information, organizing consultative sessions and seminars on the UPR and reporting guidelines.
In 2008, the Iraqi Council of Representatives (CoR) adopted a law on the establishment of a National Human Rights Institution, and set up a committee charged with the selection of Commissioners. The Government has also taken a number of concrete steps to resume its reporting obligations to relevant treaty bodies, such as the Human Rights Committee, Committee on the Rights of the Child and others.
As of 2009, UNAMI’s human rights officers are based in Baghdad, Erbil, Kirkuk, Mosul, Basra and Amman, thus enabling the UNAMI Human Rights Office to engage in the protection and promotion of human rights throughout the country, to assist in the development of a transitional justice strategy and to advocate for judicial and legal reform.
OHCHR and UNAMI will continue to assist the Council of Representatives with the establishment of a National Human Rights Institutions in compliance with the Paris Principles and the 2005 Constitution. Cooperation with international human rights mechanisms, especially the special procedures mandate-holders, will continue.