Iraqi politicians talk security as militias thrive

By Michael Georgy

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Unfazed by accusations of killings and
torture made against them, Iraq’s heavily armed militias speed
along streets in police vehicles as the political parties they
are tied to negotiate a new government.

It is a reality that has human rights groups and Iraqis
wondering how Iraqi leaders who promise better security can
ever stabilize the country while sectarian and ethnic militias
rule the streets.

Sunni Arab politicians have accused the Shi’ite-led
government of sanctioning militia death squads.

Shi’ite leaders, who run the Interior Ministry and will
remain powerful in the next government, have denied the
accusations and promised to investigate abuses.

The militias, which developed from groups fighting against
different factions of Iraq’s sectarian society, have thousands
of members and are accused of infiltrating the police and
security forces, as well as carrying out killings and
kidnappings.

The militia rule has been overshadowed by a Sunni Arab
insurgency of suicide bombings and shootings that has killed
thousands of mostly Shi’ite security forces and civilians.

But Sunnis who boycotted January 2005 polls are now in a
stronger position to raise the issue after contesting December
15 polls and winning 58 seats in the 275-seat parliament.

“This will be one of the hottest issues. We will press this
in the negotiations, and if the Shi’ites are not flexible on
this it will be a problem,” said Sunni politician Hussein al-
Falluji.

Militias have proliferated since the fall of Saddam Hussein
in 2003. Their loyalties lie with their political parties, not
the state, complicating Iraq’s violent chaos.

“They have been responsible for serious crimes like illegal
detentions, torture, and killings, and they appear to be
operating with complete impunity,” said Joe Stork of New York-
based rights group Human Rights Watch.

“The parties involved in negotiating the new government
should make sure that key posts like Ministry of Interior go to
individuals who are completely independent of such groups.”

Purging security forces of militias would be an explosive
task that cuts across volatile sectarian and ethnic lines
entrenched in strategic ministries such as interior and
defense.

DOMINATION OF MINISTRIES

“Shi’ite militias completely dominate the Interior
Ministry. They have the power to get anyone fired. I want to
quit,” said a police lieutenant colonel in Baghdad who asked
not to be named.

One of the most powerful militias is the pro-Iranian Badr
Organization, which is tied to the Supreme Council for Islamic
Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), part of the main Islamist Shi’ite
alliance that won the most seats in parliament.

Badr officials say they are only a political group, but
they can be seen riding police trucks in Baghdad wearing green
military uniforms and clutching AK-47 rifles.

Its Shi’ite rival Mehdi Army, which staged two uprisings
against U.S. troops, belongs to the same alliance. The Kurds
also have their own militia, the peshmerga.

The scale of the problem is evident in Iraq’s second city
Basra, where the Badr Organization and Mehdi Army are active. A
Reuters reporter tried to interview Basra residents about the
militias but they said they were too scared to talk.

In December, Britain’s military commander in Iraq, Major
General Jim Dutton, said Basra police had been infiltrated by
sectarian militia.

Hundreds of British and Danish troops staged raids on the
homes of Iraqi policemen in Basra on Tuesday to root out rogue
elements of the police force in connection with corruption and
a number of unsolved murders in the city.

“Corruption has become so bad that policemen rent their
cars out to anyone for $3,000 an hour. Suicide bombers rent
them. Insurgents rent them. And the militias run the force,”
said a police major in Baghdad.