ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – In a parliamentary session on Saturday, the Iraqi Parliament officially passed a bill banning the Baath party from any political activity across the country. “Banning the Baath party is a great success for the nation and families of martyrs in Iraq because this party committed the most vicious crimes,” against civilians when it was in power, said Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in a congratulatory message to the people of Iraq. Abadi continued, “The crimes of this party continue alongside terrorists and their acts have resulted in a large number of victims.” An Iraqi MP said that banning the party is the least that can be done to the party of Saddam Hussein when considering the crimes committed against the people of Iraq under Baath rule. “The passed bill is the least that can be done to the Baath party for its crimes against innocent people,” said Hamam Hamwdi. “July 30, 2016 will become a historic day, in the sense that a new dictator and the ideas of the Baath party will in no way re-emerge in Iraq.” According to the text of the bill, “This decree includes other parties who have similar ideas and political messages to the Baath party.” The bill also states that “anybody caught implementing policies of the Baath party will be put in jail for at least 10 years. And those who have held hands with the party will receive life imprisonment.” The Baath party was previously banned in June 2003 by the Coalition Provisional Authority, the transitional government put into place by the United States and other nations after the ousting of Saddam Hussein. After a purge of Baath supporters removed even low-level supporters of the party who argued that they had joined the party in order to find employment, not out of an ideological sympathy, the Accountability and Justice Act was passed in January 2008 to reform the de-Baathification policies. Earlier this month, Britain’s then Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond criticized de-Baathification and the accompanying dismantling of the Iraqi army, saying, “Many of the problems we see in Iraq today stems from that disastrous decision.” “It is clear a significant number of former Baathist officers have formed the professional core of Daesh [Islamic State] in Syria and Iraq and have given that organization the military capability it has shown in conducting its operations.”
