Soldiers help legitimize Iraq’s legal system

23 May 2007
Story by Spc. Mike Alberts
3rd Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs.

KIRKUK - He downloaded chickens as a member of his high school’s Future Farmers of America club. Growing up, he worked the sun-drenched oil fields of southern Arkansas. He’s no stranger to rolling up his shirt sleeves to get a job done, a quality that is serving him well during his mission as a Soldier in northern Iraq.

He’s Capt. Duane Kees, brigade judge advocate, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, who is currently working to instill integrity and legitimacy into a legal system weathered by decades of neglect and distrust in Kirkuk, Iraq.

Kees was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and raised in Pine Bluff. He is the prosecuting attorney on criminal and administrative matters for 3rd Brigade, and advises commanders at all levels on a variety of legal issues. While deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Kees is one of the brigade’s legal experts in areas unique to a war zone.

“I’m constantly giving legal assistance to commanders and Soldiers on all variety of things out here,” explained Kees. “At war, there is an operational aspect of our work that is unique to being deployed,” he said. “We provide training, teaching and advice on things like the rules of engagement, escalation of force and the law of armed conflict [among other things].”

Perhaps most challenging for Kees, however, is his additional responsibility of bringing legitimacy to a dysfunctional legal system. Kees is one of dozens of attorneys country-wide who is involved in helping to improve Iraq’s rule of law.

“Iraq has a foundation for the ‘rule of law’ as it’s called. It has a codified judicial system, and a legislature and government based on that system. Yet, through the Saddam Era, the country lost it, didn’t abide by it and strayed from it when it was in their best interest to do so,” said Kees. “We’re trying to help Iraqi citizens have faith again in their laws by improving a legal system that can be trusted.”

Kees works to provide more accountability in the region’s detainee operations, evaluates infrastructure needs like courthouses and jails and speaks with judges to offer operational recommendations. That said, Kees often works more by “feel” and instinct than he’s accustomed.

“When I practiced law in Arkansas and Hawaii [where I am stationed when not at war] there was always a book that provided guidance. Out here, there’s no book on how to help bestow dignity to a people’s legal system, a system that’s foreign to me. Out here, at times it’s like I’m playing chess in the dark,” he said.

Although he might now know for certain whether he’s making the right move on occasion, in those moments Kees relies on “gut instinct” and with confidence knowing that he’s been taught by the best and raised and educated well.

Growing up in Arkansas, Kees’ parents emphasized learning. His mother holds two masters degrees and works as a librarian at Watson Chapel located in Pine Bluff, Ark. His father is the Superintendent of the White Hall School District also in Pine Bluff.

Kees himself excelled academically, first while a high schooler in small town Stevens, Ark., and later at the University of Arkansas where he attended on an academic scholarship. Form there, all it took was a little back-braking work in the oil fields of southern Arkansas to push the future Army lawyer to law school also in his native Arkansas at the University of Arkansas School of Law.

Of course, Kees understands that the War on Terror will not be resolved by his efforts or those of his legal colleagues. But legitimizing the rule of law in Iraq will be a cornerstone of a better future for its citizens.

“Often, a stable society comes down to the court system. Laws are no good if you can’t enforce them. Laws are no good if you can’t apply them. Laws are no good if you cannot interpret them. All that is accomplished by the rule of law,” Kees emphasized. “If [citizens] don’t view [their] court system as legitimate, you can have the most honorable judge but if he is not seen as such, if the system isn’t viewed as fair, you really don’t have much.”

Photo - Cpt. Duane Kees (right) brigade judge advocate, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, listen's to a Soldier's question during Kees combat rules of engagement class at Forward Operating Base Warrior, Kirkuk, Iraq. Photo by Sgt. Maurice Smith.

Muthanna PRT under Iraqi control

14 May 2007
By Sgt. Chris Keller
U.S. Centcom Public Affairs.

ALI AIR BASE, Iraq - For the citizens in Muthanna Province, living in a secure province that has a government supporting them and their basic needs is all they’ve ever wanted.

Provincial Iraqi Control (PIC) of Muthanna was passed to the Iraqi government in July of 2006 and has been assisted by the Muthanna Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) since September.

Muthanna became the first Iraqi province to take the lead on governing its own province. This step allowed the provincial police and Iraqi Army to be the first responders’ to any crisis in the province. However, the PRT still helps the government in taking further steps to helping its people.

Phillip Egger, Muthanna team leader, has been with his five man crew since February. Egger says he knows that having a focus is essential to being successful in Muthanna.

“Our focus here is on expanding an existing government rather then building something from nothing. The more confidence the Iraqi people have in their government the more secure the province is going to be. If the people know where their money is being spent and know that it is coming from a central government in an effective manner, helps to promote a way forward for a province. The PRT can draw all of these different unrelated activities into a common thread.”

The PRT mission can be divided into two aspects. On one hand you have the “Brick and Mortor” aspect. This involves working with locals to build schools, roads and wells. While on the other hand, each team gathers experts in the fields of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Commerce, Justice and Transportation to assist as liaisons to the local government.

Egger stresses that the PRT is not here to take control of the province, but to assist the people in setting up a governing body that can support its people.

“Our role is to over see a providence that is already governing itself. Their government is carrying out its day to day operations with little to no assistance. Our primary function is to move Muthana forward to enhance its day to day operations,” adds Egger.

Duty Team Leader Wade Weens has served on active duty with the Marines for seven years as a Civil Affairs Officer and brings his Civil Affairs expertise to the team. Wade says the process of rebuilding a country that has been run by a centralized government for centuries is some what of a challenge but it also has its rewards.

“Working in Iraq is full of challenges. It is just a challenge to move in and out of Muthanna to meet with officials. We could do more if we were able to travel more. However, we have made significant strides,” said Weens.

By the middle of June, Muthana province will have published its provincial budget followed by a provincial development strategy. This is a sector by sector plan on where the province plans to go in the next few years and what they need to accomplish to serve the needs of their people over the next three years. Muthanna is the second province in Iraq to accomplish this goal.

That goal, along with capacity development, will allow the government to support its people and their needs

“We encourage the governance to take steps to good governance practice. The essential building blocks for a good governance is the ability to plan, the ability to identify the needs of your citizens and then be able to develop a path from where you are and where you need to go. That is the process that we encourage the provincial governance to take,” adds Weens.

The PRT also encourages the publication of a budget so that all can know the allocation of the provincial money. The province is then rewarded for completing certain steps in the reconstruction process.

“We are something of an investor,” continued Weens. “We ask the government to implement certain basic reforms and publish a budget and the basic fundamental building blocks of governance. We then reward them by funding projects to help them rebuild. We involve Iraqis at every step. It has to be an Iraqi identified need and there should be Iraqi involvement at every step so the Iraqis feel invested in all we do.”

Although the PRT program falls under the Department of State for funding, it relies on the joint efforts of coalition forces to reach its ultimate goal of leaving a province that can support itself and its people, but the concept of working with coalition forces is unique to the Southern edge of Iraq.

“They (Australians) have “over watch” of the territory. They provide us our secure transportation in and out of the province, but more then that, they have been here for several years and they know the leadership of the province. Our coalition partners have worked with the Muthana province for a long time. We rely on them for their expertise advice about the province. We draw on their knowledge and they draw on our knowledge…It is very much a team effort,” said Weens.

As the governance take these steps, they become effective at taking care of their own people and providing for their own needs and that brings them one step closer to governing themselves.

The PRT and its coalition partners will continue their dedicated work to ensure that the people of Muthanna province are able to support and secure themselves for generations to come.

Egger adds that Provincial Iraqi Control is not an end state, but a starting point. It is a point of departure. “Our primary objective is to move Muthanna forward into its future. That is our mission.”

Photo: Australian and American Soldiers have tea with local Iraqis while on mission May 3. Muthanna's PRT conducted a on site visit and assenstment of a bridge project funded by the Australians. The teams’ thirteen approved projects for 2007 total $8.8 million. These projects include infrastructure, essential services and communications projects. Photo by Sgt Chris Keller.

Long-Term Iraqi Stability Requires Rule of Law, Officials Say

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service.

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2007 – Security progress in Baghdad requires more than military success; it also requires advances in Iraq’s institutions, including its criminal justice system, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman said today.

“We can and will win every battle, but we cannot win the peace alone,” Navy Adm. Mark Fox said during a media roundtable in Baghdad. “Even-handed justice is an essential part of every democratic society.”

After decades under Saddam Hussein’s repressive regime, “the Iraqi government is creating an independent judicial system to ensure that the rule of law applies to everyone,” he said.

James Santelle, Justice attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, joined Fox in sharing perceptions after a visit yesterday to the Central Criminal Court of Iraq and speaking about steps under way to continue advances being made.

“Rule of law is a critically important part of the united Iraqi-coalition force effort to preserve the peace and to ensure the safety and security for all Iraqis,” Santelle said.

Rule of law requires confidence in the institutions of government, provincial and city governments, elected officials and police. That is a tall order, Santelle acknowledged, because Saddam’s brutal police force left widespread, lingering fear and distrust.

As they look toward the future, the Iraqi government and coalition are focusing on what Santelle called the three touchstones of a good rule of law operation: courts, prisons and police.

He said his visit to the Central Criminal Court gave him optimism that it’s possible to break beyond past wrongs.

“If there is any illustration of rule of law in operation here today in Iraq, it is just that,” he said, citing the CCCI’s operations and its combined staff of police, law enforcement agents and officers, judicial officers, and corrections officers. All are working together in Baghdad and other Iraqi providences to ensure rule of law is promoted, he said.

Santelle cited the facts that crimes are being investigated fairly and that courageous judges are hearing evidence of crimes as examples of positive strides.

“That is a reflection of a civilized society,” he said. “That is a reflection of a rule-of-law operation that does, in fact, work.”

Joint training programs are ensuring that the principles of rule of law go to all levels of the criminal justice system, and new courthouses and other facilities are being built or renovated to support this system, he said.

As these efforts take shape, Santelle said he’s been impressed by the many courageous Iraqi leaders -- judges, prison officials, police officers, non-governmental organizations and entities among them --pursuing rule-of-law principles while operating in the midst of violence.

“That is a sign of tremendous promise and future for this country … (that) speaks well, not only for the present generation, but also those to come,” he said.