BAGHDAD – The Iraqi government's plan to offer cash rewards for information that leads to preventing bomb attacks has fuelled fears among many that innocent people might be framed just for the money.
"The announcement was done without specific details so anyone could frame a person or place even without evidence," Moussa Kalil al-Jumairi, a political analyst and sociology teacher at Baghdad University, told IslamOnline.net.
"Officers won't think twice before arresting people and taking them to jail or interrogation detentions."
Iraq has been ravaged by a series of bomb attacks in the capital Baghdad, with more than 280 killed in the past two months.
The government blames the recent car bombs in Baghdad and Mosul on the Al-Qaeda group and Baathists.
It has since announced the creation of a new committee for intelligence and security, which will work with citizens to uncover terrorist cells.
Cash rewards to the tune of US $85,000 will be offered to anonymous informants who lead security forces to the places where bombs were being assembled.
Currently only people who give their names and addresses could receive such payment.
"In many neighbourhoods, residents might take advantage of this reward to force people who have a different sect out as was the case in Dora where 90 percent of the accusations proved ungrounded," al-Jumairi fears.
Khalid Ali Abdul-Kareem, a senior Defence Ministry officer, defend the cash rewards.
"People are scared and will never give information if they aren’t sure that their anonymity will be kept," he told IOL.
"Under this situation we believe that more information will come and soon we will have control over bomb attacks in Iraq."
On August 19, a double suicide attack against the Foreign and Finance ministries killed 106 people and wounded some 600 others.
On October 25, a similar attack killed 153 people and wounded more than 500 others.
Five consecutive attacks rocked Baghdad on December 8, killing 127 people and wounding 448 others.
Framed
There are also fears that some people might exploit the new system to frame innocent civilians for personal vendetta.
"A couple of months ago a friend of mine was arrested after an anonymous informant claimed he was working with terrorists," Firas Mohammad Abu Issa, an aid worker and human rights activist, he told IOL.
"After investigations they found out that his neighbour was trying to force him out from the district because of a dispute over a backyard area."
The friend, an aid worker himself, had to stay in jail for more than two weeks until authorities found out the truth.
"It is just an example of what can happen when the reward becomes part of our reality. Innocent people will be arrested and the delay in Iraq’s justice will make people suffer because of misinformation."
Some experts say the recent attacks might affect the voting choices of many Iraqis in the upcoming general elections, scheduled for March.
"Many Iraqis who voted for Maliki in previous elections are thinking whether keeping the same party in power will help them or worse the situation," Sami Zuhair, a political analyst and teacher at Mustansiriyah University, told IOL.
After weeks of wrangling that led to the postponing of the elections, originally scheduled for January, lawmakers approved a compromise election law earlier in December.
Maliki will be contesting the polls, scheduled for March 6, with a new coalition, The State of Law Coalition, which comprises 40 political parties as well as Sunni tribal leaders, Kurds and independents.
But his government has come under increasing fire in recent months over failure to stop car bomb attacks in Baghdad that destroyed many government buildings, killing and injuring hundreds of civilians.
"The recent attacks have been changing the way that Iraqis are looking at the future and might directly affect the final results of the upcoming elections," says Zuhair.
"The announcement was done without specific details so anyone could frame a person or place even without evidence," Moussa Kalil al-Jumairi, a political analyst and sociology teacher at Baghdad University, told IslamOnline.net.
"Officers won't think twice before arresting people and taking them to jail or interrogation detentions."
Iraq has been ravaged by a series of bomb attacks in the capital Baghdad, with more than 280 killed in the past two months.
The government blames the recent car bombs in Baghdad and Mosul on the Al-Qaeda group and Baathists.
It has since announced the creation of a new committee for intelligence and security, which will work with citizens to uncover terrorist cells.
Cash rewards to the tune of US $85,000 will be offered to anonymous informants who lead security forces to the places where bombs were being assembled.
Currently only people who give their names and addresses could receive such payment.
"In many neighbourhoods, residents might take advantage of this reward to force people who have a different sect out as was the case in Dora where 90 percent of the accusations proved ungrounded," al-Jumairi fears.
Khalid Ali Abdul-Kareem, a senior Defence Ministry officer, defend the cash rewards.
"People are scared and will never give information if they aren’t sure that their anonymity will be kept," he told IOL.
"Under this situation we believe that more information will come and soon we will have control over bomb attacks in Iraq."
On August 19, a double suicide attack against the Foreign and Finance ministries killed 106 people and wounded some 600 others.
On October 25, a similar attack killed 153 people and wounded more than 500 others.
Five consecutive attacks rocked Baghdad on December 8, killing 127 people and wounding 448 others.
Framed
There are also fears that some people might exploit the new system to frame innocent civilians for personal vendetta.
"A couple of months ago a friend of mine was arrested after an anonymous informant claimed he was working with terrorists," Firas Mohammad Abu Issa, an aid worker and human rights activist, he told IOL.
"After investigations they found out that his neighbour was trying to force him out from the district because of a dispute over a backyard area."
The friend, an aid worker himself, had to stay in jail for more than two weeks until authorities found out the truth.
"It is just an example of what can happen when the reward becomes part of our reality. Innocent people will be arrested and the delay in Iraq’s justice will make people suffer because of misinformation."
Some experts say the recent attacks might affect the voting choices of many Iraqis in the upcoming general elections, scheduled for March.
"Many Iraqis who voted for Maliki in previous elections are thinking whether keeping the same party in power will help them or worse the situation," Sami Zuhair, a political analyst and teacher at Mustansiriyah University, told IOL.
After weeks of wrangling that led to the postponing of the elections, originally scheduled for January, lawmakers approved a compromise election law earlier in December.
Maliki will be contesting the polls, scheduled for March 6, with a new coalition, The State of Law Coalition, which comprises 40 political parties as well as Sunni tribal leaders, Kurds and independents.
But his government has come under increasing fire in recent months over failure to stop car bomb attacks in Baghdad that destroyed many government buildings, killing and injuring hundreds of civilians.
"The recent attacks have been changing the way that Iraqis are looking at the future and might directly affect the final results of the upcoming elections," says Zuhair.
