First regional property claims commission office opens in Basra

Former political prisoner Abdel Kazim Abdallah lost his house and land during Saddam's time, but now he is one of hundreds of Iraqis fighting to reclaim his property with the help of the recently opened Iraq Property Claims Commission (IPCC) in the southern city of Basra. Abdallah spent the 1980s in Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad after being arrested for membership of Al-Dawa, a Shiite opposition party. On benefiting from an amnesty in the early 1990s he found that both his home and land had been confiscated by the government. "Most of the political prisoners encountered the same problem while in prison. The government checked to see if a prisoner had property and savings. Then they confiscated his bank account, his land, and even his [food] ration card." Abdallah's case is typical of the hundreds now being dealt with by the Basra IPPC, which opened last month. It is the first regional office to open, following the establishment of a national IPCC for Iraq in January. The staff of 15 will only deal with claims from Basra province, which must be filed by 31 December. So far they have received around 300 applications, of which 100 are ready for court action, IPCC Director Khodeir Abbas told IRIN. Under a new law which came into force in January, with the establishment of the IPCC, the office will deal with "claims by people who had their property confiscated by the former government, who otherwise were deprived of its use, who had their lands seized for purposes unrelated to land reclamation or land reform, or who did not receive proper compensation because either the property was undervalued or else the owner was just not paid," Abbas told IRIN. Claims can be made by anyone who can show that either they or their heirs had legal title to a property which was taken away from them between 17 July 1968 (when the Baath party came to power) and 9 April 2003 (the fall of Saddam's regime) because of their religion, sect or ethnic background, or because of their opposition to the Baathist government. Basra is home to the largest Shiite population in Iraq. The area gave birth to many opposition groups during Saddam's time as the government sought to quash opponents and gain valuable land. Shiites were heavily repressed and prohibited from celebrating particular rituals such as the pilgrimage to the holy shrines in Najaf. Abbas told IRIN that cases such as that of Abdel Amir al-Ali were typical of what happened under Saddam. "He had a big portion of land close to Saddam's palace in Basra and it was worth 600m Iraqi dinars (US $412,371). It was appropriated from him in order to empty the area surrounding the palace. Al-Ali was offered only 450,000 dinars," he said. At the same time, those who have been living in what was confiscated property are also having to deal with how they will resolve disputes with claimants. Karim Al-Rubei'y bought what turned out to be confiscated land in March 2003 but is now hoping that the IPCC can help him. "I bought 300 square metres in the Hakimiya area in Basra to build a house. When I started construction a few months ago, a man approached me and said that the land was actually his during the former regime. It had been confiscated and he had never received compensation for it," he told IRIN while filling in a form at the IPCC office. Abbas said that a judicial committee will be formed to reconcile the different sides in property disputes. "The people who bought land cannot be punished as they didn't know that it was confiscated." A spokesperson for the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in the south said: "Under the former Baathist regime, many people had land and property taken away. The opening of this office in Basra will provide citizens in the southern provinces with a fair and structured method of reclaiming property that was unfairly taken from them." But cases are not expected to be resolved for months or years given the complicated legal processes involved and the sheer weight of claims, which are likely to swell in coming months. Cases where properties have changed hands on several occasions are likely to be particularly difficult, but Abbas stressed that the law will be strictly followed. "If a settlement is not possible, the court will go strictly by the law." A judge will be appointed to head a tribunal with three other assistants from the land registration office to hear the cases.