Page 8 - MEOG Week 21 2021

MEOG POLICY MEOG

Iraq removes MP immunity

in move to tackle graft

IRAQ IRAQ’S political landscape could be about to from the pivotal Common Seawater Supply Pro-
witness a major upheaval as the country’s top ject (CSSP). Speaking to MEOG at the time, a
court this week stripped MPs of their parliamen- source who worked closely with the Iraq govern-
tary immunity in a move that could allow cases ment said that ExxonMobil had baulked at the
against officials to proceed. prospect of having to pay out extensive bribes to
Iraq has long been one of the world’s most middle and high-ranking officials, hidden under
corrupt countries, with MPs having enjoyed various ‘miscellaneous’ headings in the accounts,
immunity which prevented their arrest or pros- to continue to be a part of the project.
ecution without prior parliamentary agreement. “For a US state corporate proxy like Exxon-
This allowed factions to make deals in order to Mobil, the prospect of getting caught out paying
stall the progress of such cases to protect party bribes was too much, however they were dressed
members. up,” he said.
However, earlier this week, President Barham The same ‘miscellaneous’ payments were the
Salih said that “Of the close to [$1 trillion] made reason why Iraq racked up $18bn or so of debt to
from oil since 2003, an estimated $150bn of sto- IOCs over the years, based on very high head-
len money has been smuggled out of Iraq.” line rates of compensation for participation in
The supreme court withdrew the privilege projects, according to research carried out by
of requiring parliamentary approval “in all MEOG at the time.
cases against House of Representatives mem- In many of the basic long-term service con-
bers, whether crimes, misdemeanours or tracts handed out at the time was an ‘infrastruc-
wrongdoing”. ture support payment’ on a per barrel basis of
It added that the issue of arrest warrants for output, said the source.
“crimes with no witnesses” would be the only These related not just to general field main-
exceptions. tenance, but also incorporated the development
Aside from these, “Members of Parliament costs and security of the fields.
have no immunity and legal measures may be These were all billed separately from the
taken against them directly [and] courts may remuneration per barrel fee, were liable for
now rule on corruption cases”. payment by the Iraqi government, and virtually
Salih called “on Parliament to adopt this cru- all of them were highly opaque in their terms
cial piece of legislation, in order to curb this per- of reference. A large proportion of these fees –
vasive practice that has plagued our great nation” which were often at least as great as the headline
and presented the draft Corrupt Funds Recovery per barrel remuneration fee itself – were simply
Act to Parliament to fight corruption, recover appropriated by figures in central and regional
stolen funds and hold perpetrators to account. governments, a practice that was exacerbated as
“The draft law seeks to strengthen the powers so-called Islamic State (IS) increased their activ-
of Iraqi nation in order to recover money stolen ity across the region in 2011.
in corrupt deals, to hold corrupt people account- MEOG estimated at the time that around
able and bring them to justice,” he said. $4bn per year since 2011 disappeared in such a
A 2018 investigation by Middle East Oil & fashion, with slightly less in the preceding years
Gas (MEOG) found that graft was one of the rea- beginning in 2002 when then US President Bush
sons behind the withdrawal of US super-major signed the Iraq War Resolution.™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 21 26•May•2021