The move to lift the ban on the Baath party was passed at the urging by the United States as a means to reach out to the Sunni Arabs that are the minority in Iraq. This move will allow the former party members to apply for reinstatement in Iraq’s civil service and the military.
George W. Bush said that hope was returning to Iraq when the new law was passed. He is currently in the Gulf for his visit to the Middle East.
The party leader and former dictator Saddam Hussein was executed after a special tribunal found him guilty of crimes against humanity. Most of the figures in his regime were Sunni. Many of those figures were removed after Saddam was overthrown in the United States led invasion in 2003.
While the army was disbanded, many people were sacked such as: teachers, civil servants, and university lecturers.
The Accountability and Justice Law was passed which is the legislation that lifted the ban on Saddam’s Baath party. There will be a three-month period in which ex-members could be challenged. After that, they will be immune from prosecution of what happened during the Saddam era.
However, excluded are the former Baath members charged with crimes.
This will grant state pensions to former Baathist employees even if they are not given new posts after application for reinstatement.
However, it is still unclear on how many Baathists will take up the offer.
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