30 June

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I am very happy to welcome you all to the first national human rights workshop to take place in Baghdad: the Expert Consultation on International Principles to Support Justice for Past Human Rights Violations Committed in Iraq. May I welcome, in particular, those participants who traveled from afar, both from within Iraq and from abroad.

I am also, on a personal level, proud that this meeting was arranged by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva - my other home. I am grateful to my colleagues back there for helping to put this together and particularly to Mona Rishmawi and her team in Baghdad for enabling this meeting to happen in far from straightforward circumstances.

Today marks an important first: for now, in Iraq, there is the opportunity for us all - Iraqi lawyers and human rights activists, international experts, and representatives of the Coalition - to discuss and identify guiding international principles and policy options to ensure accountability and justice for past human rights violations committed in this country. This need has, shamefully only belatedly, been acknowledged by the international community. Security Council resolution 1483 affirms, as you know, the need for accountability for past crimes and atrocities.

For more than a decade, the UN human rights system and human rights NGOs documented the gross violations of human rights suffered by the Iraqi people. The policies, laws and institutional structures in place for decades contributed to political repression; the suppression of freedoms of expression, association and religion; the practice of ethnic cleansing and deprivation of property; and widespread discrimination against ethnic and religious groups.

Thousands of men, women and children from all walks of life, religions, ethnic groups, political affiliations, class, and professions were often targeted simply because they disagreed - or were thought to disagree - with those in power. They were held in secret detention centers, silence, tortured, disappeared, raped and killed. All communities suffered: no-one was spared. The only non-discriminatory policy of Saddam was the systematic, across the board violation of human rights. The mass graves that are being unearthed as we speak are a witness to some of the most egregious of violations of our most fundamental right: the right to life.

Friends and Colleagues,

I wish us to use this meeting as the first opportunity where we can sit together, and have the Iraqi people lead us in our thinking on comprehensive approaches to address the terrible injustices wrought upon the people of Iraq.

Communities the length and breadth of Iraq, suffer because they do not know the fate of their loved ones. They too are victims.

When I meet them, they tell me and my colleagues that they would like to bury their dead in a dignified manner and in accordance with their faith. They tell us, simply, that they want to know what happened. They tell us that they want justice. They ask about reparation and restitution for past violations.

The sheer scale of the problem facing us is daunting. Conservative estimates suggest that the number of missing persons is 300,000. Others talk about much more. So many atrocities were committed. Some have been documented. Some of these records have fallen into private hands; others have now been looted, burnt or vanished. But there is still a wealth of evidence scattered throughout the country.

Though this is the first national consultative process on this issue, work has already begun both inside and outside Iraq in trying to address these issues. Indeed, there is a marked contrast between those who have dedicated so much to seeking to record the crimes of the past regime, preparing for the time when justice would become a possibility, with those governments - including my own - who contrived to turn a blind eye to that which was occurring in Iraq for so many years, out of economic or geopolitical self-interest.

During our discussions over the coming two days, I advise you to share with us what you have done to date and build upon this work in developing your approaches for the future.

The aim of our consultation is to arrive at a common understanding of the present challenges we face in addressing this issue and to articulate a common approach in addressing them. It is obvious - but I will recall it - that central to our thinking must be an understanding of the needs of the families of the victims. We must respond to what it is they want.

I am particularly pleased to see that lawyers from Basra, Erbil, and Mosul have been able to join us here today, in addition to lawyers, human rights experts, and other specialists from Baghdad. I trust that you will be able to represent some of the priorities, concerns and desires of the families of victims.

However, having understood what it is that the families of victims want, we then need to reflect upon Iraq's capacity to tackle these serious challenges. We need to think of its legal, judicial, and forensic capacity.

Friends and Colleagues,

The United Nations has had the somber privilege to assist many other States as they too have gone through similar periods of turbulence in their history. I would like you to reflect on how these experiences may be relevant to Iraq. I would like those colleagues who have traveled from abroad to share with us their various perspectives, with a view to understanding how these may be applicable, useful and constructive in addressing the situation facing Iraqis today. This will, I hope, assist the Iraqis in making informed and enlightened decisions.

I would like to share with you a number of questions that we must seek to answer if we wish to address the quest for justice and accountability for past crimes.

• How do we ensure that the Iraqi people, particularly the victims and their families, are at the center of developing and implementing an approach towards dealing with past crimes?
  
• Is there value in establishing a commission of experts - as we did in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and East Timor - to conduct an overall assessment of the situation with recommendations on how to go forward?
  
• How can the families right to know what happened be achieved?
  
• Is a center for missing persons - as has been set up elsewhere - needed here?
  
• How can the gravesites and documents be better preserved?
  
• What role can a future, independent national human rights commission play in addressing past violations - if any? Should such a commission be established soon?
  
• Is a truth and reconciliation process relevant in Iraq's context?
  
• How can we address reparation and restitution for the victims of gross violations of human rights and their families?
  
• Can the Iraqi legal system in its present shape address these serious challenges?
  
• Is an ad-hoc international court for Iraq an option?
  
• Is a hybrid court with Iraqi and international elements possible? Or is an Iraqi jurisdiction with international support preferable?
  
• What is the timeframe within which to address these issues? Should we wait until a transitional Iraqi government is in place before the question of justice can be fully addressed?