Sunday, December 25, 2022

Mustafa the War Criminal

January 3rd, Senator Patrick Leahy leaves the Senate after over 48 years in office (first sworn in back in 1975).  Wilson Ring (AP) notes:


One of his first significant votes in 1975 was against continued funding for the Vietnam War. In 2002 he voted against authorizing the use of force in Iraq.

He helped establish what is now the nearly $60 billion organic food industry. He helped bring about the world’s first ban on the export of antipersonnel landmines, and he's helped bring hundreds of jobs to Vermont and millions of dollars to help clean up his beloved Lake Champlain.

Leahy took office when Vermont was still considered a largely Republican bastion. Now it's considered by many to be among the most progressive places in the country.

“We changed. We have become more diverse and that’s better for Vermont,” he said. “What we have to do now is rely not just on rhetoric, but do the hard work to create real jobs, housing for people (so they) can stay in Vermont."


The last statement his office has issued (so far) is below:


12.22.22

Statement On Rana Ayyub

Mr. LEAHY.  Mr. President, we should all be alarmed by the increasing attacks against freedom of the press by governments around the world.  According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, in this year alone at least 38 journalists have been killed, 294 have been imprisoned, and 64 are missing for simply doing their job, not to mention the countless others who faced intimidation, harassment, legal persecution, and threats. Today I want to mention one.

Rana Ayyub is an award-winning Indian journalist who has courageously reported on religious violence, extrajudicial killings, and other matters of public interest in India.  Her important work is driven by a sense of purpose and a love for her country and the ideals for which it stands. Yet she faces online harassment and trolling, death threats, and baseless government retaliation for her reporting.  Despite the immense pressure to silence her by government officials who should be protecting her, she continues to expose the abuses of those in power.

Freedom of expression is the cornerstone of democracy.  Without it, the fundamental differences between a democratic state and an authoritarian regime disappear.  Throughout my 48 years in the Senate, I have often been reminded that we each have a responsibility to defend press freedom and amplify the work of journalists who shine a light on corruption, injustice, discrimination, and impunity.  We must stand up for freedom of expression and the rights of journalists, so Rana Ayyub and her brave colleagues around the world can do their essential work without fear of retribution.

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Mustafa al-Kadhimi was replaced as Prime Minister of Iraq two months ago by Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani,  Last week, Louisa Loveluck and Mustafa Salim (WASHINGTON POST) reported:

Kadhimi, who left office in October, came to power in 2020 after mass anti-corruption demonstrations felled his predecessor. His government’s high-profile campaign to tackle graft in one of the world’s most corrupt countries drew widespread international encouragement.

Central to the effort was a series of highly publicized night raids in late 2020 on the homes of public figures accused of corruption, conducted under the authority of the Permanent Committee to Investigate Corruption and Significant Crimes, better known as Committee 29. The architect of the raids was Lt. Gen. Ahmed Taha Hashim, or Abu Ragheef, who became known in Iraq as the “night visitor.”

But what happened to the men behind closed doors was far darker: a return to the ugly old tactics of a security establishment whose abuses Kadhimi had vowed to address. In more than two dozen interviews — including five men detained by the committee, nine family members who had relatives imprisoned, and 11 Iraqi and Western officials who tracked the committee’s work — a picture emerges of a process marked by abuse and humiliation, more focused on obtaining signatures for pre-written confessions than on accountability for corrupt acts.

Those interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters or, in the case of detainees and their families, to protect their safety.

“It was every kind of torture,” one former detainee recalled. “Electricity, choking me with plastic bags, hanging me from the ceiling by my hands. They stripped us naked and grabbed at the parts of our body underneath.”

In at least one case, a former senior official, Qassim Hamoud Mansour, died in the hospital after being arrested by the committee. Photographs provided to The Post by his family appear to show that a number of teeth had been knocked out, and there were signs of blunt trauma on his forehead.

Allegations that the process was riddled with abuse became an open secret among diplomats in Baghdad last year. But the international community did little to follow up on the claims and the prime minister’s office downplayed the allegations, according to officials with knowledge of the issue. Although a parliamentary committee first revealed the torture allegations in 2021 and Iraqi media have raised the issue sporadically, this is the fullest attempt yet to investigate the claims and document the scale of the abuse.


Mustafa bet on Moqtada al-Sadr.  Had Moqtada been the kingmaker the western press swore he was, Mustafa would still be getting away with it.  They formed their little alliance and they were going to continue their plotting and scheming.  But Moqtada's a loser and always will be.  He goes from one hate mission to another (his current one is persecuting gays in Iraq).  And Mustafa is left on his own.  


Chenar Chalak  (RUDAW) reports:                                                                           

 An advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani announced on Thursday that the complaints and allegations against an anti-corruption committee have been referred to the public prosecution office, following an investigative report that accused the committee of multiple counts of torture and extortion during the tenure of former PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi.

A nine-month investigation by the Washington Post on Wednesday concluded that Iraq’s Permanent Committee to Investigate Corruption and Significant Crimes, also known as Committee 29, had used extreme methods of torture, including sexual violence, to extract pre-written confessions from former Iraqi officials and businessmen. The report relies on interviews with several of the detainees, their family members, as well as Iraqi and Western officials.

Zidane Khalaf, Sudani’s advisor for human rights, said on Thursday that the allegations against the committee have been referred to the public prosecution office “in order to take the appropriate measures in accordance with the applicable laws in force.”

Khalaf stressed that, based on the directives of the premier, all government elements and executively authorized bodies will be held accountable if proven to have implemented these “rejected” methods.


Toby Dodge notes:






The following sites updated:




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