Is Allawi crazy?

I think so.

Starting these trials - the trials of criminals against the Iraqi people by a government not elected by the Iraqi people is a big - big mistake and will cause more unrest in Iraq at a time when stability is essential for the elections...

There are likely supporters of these people who will be angry - because they will not believe they will get a fair trial

And there may be opponents of them who are angry - because they will want the Iraqi people and not the puppet government to try them

Its a stupid move....a very stupid move. It must have been approved by the Bush Administration.

December 14, 2004
Iraqi Premier Says Trials for Ex-Leaders to Start Next Week
By TERENCE NEILAN

War crimes trials against some of Iraq's former Baath Party leaders will begin next week, the interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, said today, although he did not say if Saddam Hussein would be among them.

"I can now tell you clearly and precisely that, God willing, next week the trials of the symbols of the former regime will start, one by one, so that justice can take its path in Iraq," Dr. Allawi told Iraq's interim National Council in a televised address.

Violence continued in Iraq, meanwhile, as a suicide bomber struck a checkpoint at the compound housing the interim Iraqi government and embassies, the second such attack at the same location in two days. The number of fatalities was not immediately confirmed, with reports ranging from one to seven. Nine Iraqis died in Monday's attack.

Two marines were also killed in action on Monday in Anbar Province, the American military said today, bringing the number of marines killed in the region to 10 in three days.

In London, the High Court backed demands for an independent inquiry into claims that a hotel worker in Basra, in southern Iraq, was beaten to death by British soldiers.

"Today is an historic day for human rights," said Phil Shiner, a lawyer for the family of the victim, Baha Mousa, 26, Reuters reported.

Britain's Ministry of Defense said it would seek permission to appeal the ruling. Many accusations of abuse have been made against the American-led occupation forces, most notably involving Iraqis held at Abu Ghraib prison, near Baghdad.

Many members of Iraq's former regime have been in jail for more than a year, and Dr. Allawi had earlier called for trials to begin by November, but it became clear that Iraqi judges and prosecutors would be ill-prepared to hold such hearings.

The judges and prosecutors have undergone special training in London organized by American lawyers, who have assisted them in setting up courtrooms and preparing trials. Britain has also lent its support.

Pressure on the Iraqis to move has been mounting recently. On Monday, the United States military said 8 of Mr. Hussein's top 11 lieutenants went on hunger strikes over the weekend to demand visits in jail from the International Committee of the Red Cross. They began eating again by Monday.

Dr. Allawi also said today that investigators had discovered a new mass grave in northeast Iraq that might contain 500 bodies.

He said the grave was near the city of Sulaimaniya in the autonomous Kurdish region, but he gave no further details.

Evidence from such graves, a number of which have been found in other parts of Iraq, is expected to be used by the prosecution against Mr. Hussein and his top officials, who have been accused of war crimes and other crimes against humanity during their decades in power.

Dr. Allawi also said that a cousin and former aide to Mr. Hussein had been arrested and would face trial with the former dictator and his other deputies.

He said the cousin, Izzeddine al-Majid al-Tikriti, who was not on the American list of 55 most-wanted members of Mr. Hussein's regime, was captured last week. He did not provide any other details.

Mr. Majid was accused by American authorities in July of funding and arming the anti-American insurgency in Iraq, a charge he denied.

I can't believe that no one is speaking out against this.

It is stupid for this to happen at this time.

It will cause more protests against the government by Sunni loyalists - and cause more questions to be raised about the legitimacy of the government conducting the trials.

Saddam belings to the Iraqi people and he should be tried by the people. The people of a free Iraq - by a government installed by the people of Iraq

Does no one else see the insaity of this at this time?

This is from July - the timing is no better now...

http://livefromdc.typepad.com/live_from_dc...ms_trial_a.html

July 01, 2004
Timing of Saddam's trial could be a mistake
We all knew Saddam was not unfortunately dead, but in a cell somewhere and seeing him in court yesterday, alive and kicking, scorning and intimidating as he confronted the charges against him, one was perhaps less reflective of the insanity of the brute and more contemplative of the great and unnecessary dangers that this trial introduces.

First, Saddam's theatrics promise to both embolden his supporters and opponents of the US-supported interim government and inflame confused passions among his victims. As we have seen from his first day on trial, the former tyrant is still the master at propaganda--his labeling George W. Bush the "real criminal" was gleefully disseminated around the Arab world by Al Jazeera. And he is just warming up.

The media knows this which is why it didn't take long for the circus to set up long-term shop: Iraqis, according to this report are "confused" and "proud":

But even Saddam's critics seemed to take some national pride in seeing the man that ruled them for so long looking strong and defiant.
"To see him pathetic when he was caught was a shame on all Iraqis, because we had been so powerfully ruled by a man that seemed to be such a coward," one man said, who would not give his name. "Now this is the Saddam that we knew -- and even if you hated him -- you feel proud to see him act like a man."

Even before the hearing details were announced, the various news outlets were doing retrospective pieces on Saddam's life and much of the reaction to that was nostalgic as people commented on how young he looked in one photo, or how much he loved children as footage showed him swimming along side a group of tykes. Having spent 20-plus years watching Saddam on television every night -- as satellite television was banned -- crowds turned nostalgic for the previous era.

Others immediately seized the grand Iraqi tradition of conspiracy theories ascribed to even the smallest detail. In the lobby of a hotel nearby the UPI bureau, a large group of men gathered around a television. As the first images were broadcast without sound, the immediate reaction was that it must be a hoax. The after quotes from the proceedings began to be read by Arabic language news services, the paranoia turned to pride as it was apparent that Saddam was arguing with his captors. Then after only a small portion of audio was released, the mood changed back to conspiracy.

"Saddam will never really be tried for he knows all the secrets of Bush and America," one said. "He will tell the world about them and they can't let that happen."

...For his part, Saddam, who appeared without an attorney, seemed to have a sense of humor when asked if he could afford an attorney.

..."The Americans say I have millions hidden in Switzerland. How can I not have the money to pay for one?" he said to the judge.

Rights Group: Iraq war crimes trials “unfair”
12/17/2004 1:30:00 PM GMT
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_serv...service_ID=6325

Human Rights Watch said that war crime trials of Saddam and his aides is unfair and discredited.

Iraq’s decision to begin war crime trials of Saddam Hussein and his top lieutenants risks launching a flawed process that is unfair and discredited, Human Rights Watch said on Friday.

The New York-based rights group said that the Iraqi Special Tribunal, designed to gather evidence and try the toppled Iraqi leader and his senior aides, has "serious human rights shortcomings" and lacks “fair-trial protections."

"Trying former Iraqi officials under the current rules could mean a wasted opportunity to put Saddam and his henchmen on trial in a manner that has credibility in the eyes of the world," said Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch.

"Trials for atrocities committed during Ba'ath Party rule could not be more important for the victims and to show that justice works," he said. "But the process must be fair for justice to be done."

Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said this week that war crime trials of some of the senior figures in Saddam’s former regime will begin next week. His announcement came one day before he launched his party's campaign for the national elections, planned for Jan. 30.

Allawi’s critics said that he is using the trials for political benefits ahead of the elections. Salem Chalabi, the tribunal director who was removed in September, accused Allawi of pushing for fake trials to improve his popularity before the polls.

Tribunal lacks “necessary expertise”

Human Rights Watch said that Judges have not been properly trained and that defendants haven’t had full access to lawyers.

The rights group also said that Special Tribunal's statutes do not contain explicit guarantees against using statements obtained under torture, or a requirement that guilt be proven beyond reasonable doubt.

"The tribunal's statute fails to require that judges and prosecutors have relevant experience trying cases of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity - experience readily acknowledged to be lacking among Iraqi judges," it said.

"Given the complexity of prosecuting these types of cases and the current state of the Iraqi justice system, this raises concerns that the tribunal will lack necessary expertise."

The Iraqi Special Tribunal was appointed in December last year by the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority. The Iraqi government has chosen Judge Ammar Al Bzakri to replace Salem Chalabi after he was removed.

In recent months, some Iraqi prosecutors and judges have received training courses in international law in London. However, they say that they are still unfamiliar with prosecuting war crimes trials.

Human Rights Watch also said that it demanded for adjustments to be made in the tribunal's statutes, especially when it comes to defendants' access to attorneys and other basic rights. However, it said that many other amendments are required.

"The Iraqi Special Tribunal has serious human rights shortcomings," Dicker said. "The Iraqi government will need to change the process and make sure that trials are fair."

Iraq trials should start after elections

Meanwhile, Iraq’s justice minister said that the Iraqi government is rushing too quickly with the war crimes trials.

Malik Dohan al-Hassan said in an interview published today that the trials should start after the elections and after the formulation of the new constitution. "Trials as symbolic as those against the dignitaries of the former regime should only start after the establishment of an Iraqi government with ballot-box legitimacy," al-Hassan said.

Al-Hassan also said that he believes that the elections should be held later. "I supported a postponement of the elections," he said. "I base that on the principle that we can't vote calmly in such a climate of fear. This poll will be marked by blood, and that's unacceptable."

We are going to regret this - it is going to spark more of a revolt than anything else we could like putting out a fire with gasoline...


Channel: Top NewsWorldBusinessEditor's ChoiceScience/TechnologyHealthSportsEntertainmentOddly EnoughMotoringTelevisionPictures Home Investing YOU ARE HERE: Home > News > World > Article


Iraq war crimes trials "a wasted opportunity"
Fri Dec 17, 2004 07:23 AM GMT
Printer Friendly | Email Article | RSS
By Luke Baker
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's plan to push ahead with early trials of Saddam Hussein's deputies risks launching an unfair process that is flawed and discredited in the eyes of the world, a leading human rights group says.

New York-based Human Rights Watch described the Iraqi Special Tribunal, set up to gather evidence against and try Saddam and his top lieutenants, as having "serious human rights shortcomings" and lacking "fair-trial protections".

"Trying former Iraqi officials under the current rules could mean a wasted opportunity to put Saddam and his henchmen on trial in a manner that has credibility in the eyes of the world," Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement on Friday.

"Trials for atrocities committed during Ba'ath Party rule could not be more important for the victims and to show that justice works," he said. "But the process must be fair for justice to be done."

Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi announced this week that trials would begin, a day before he launched his party's campaign to contest Iraq's first post-Saddam elections, scheduled for January 30.

Iraq's defence minister, a close ally of Allawi's, said the next day that Ali Hassan al-Majid, a feared cousin of Saddam's better known as "Chemical Ali", would be the first to be tried. He is accused of using poison gas against the Kurds in northern Iraq during the 1980s, killing as many as 5,000 in one day.

While the government described them as trials, foreign diplomats and other Iraqi officials said they would be more akin to preliminary, investigative hearings. A full-blown war crimes trial is not expected to begin for some time.

TRAINING NEEDED

That apart, Human Rights Watch said provisions so far put in place, including for preliminary hearings, were insufficient. Judges have not been properly trained, it said, and defendants have not had full access to lawyers.

Saddam saw a lawyer for four hours on Thursday, the first time he has seen one since his capture a year ago.

The Special Tribunal's statutes also don't contain explicit guarantees against the use of confessions extracted under torture, or a requirement that guilt be proven beyond reasonable doubt, the rights organisation said.

"The tribunal's statute fails to require that judges and prosecutors have relevant experience trying cases of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity - experience readily acknowledged to be lacking among Iraqi judges," it said.

"Given the complexity of prosecuting these types of cases and the current state of the Iraqi justice system, this raises concerns that the tribunal will lack necessary expertise."

The Iraqi Special Tribunal was set up in December last year by the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority, the body that ran Iraq after Saddam's overthrow until June this year.

U.S.-trained lawyer Salem Chalabi was appointed to head it, but was removed in September following implication in murder charges that were later dismissed. The Iraqi government has since appointed a judge, Ammar al-Bakri, to take over.

In recent months, groups of Iraqi prosecutors and judges have attended training courses in London on international law, but have admitted themselves that they are unfamiliar with the intricacies of prosecuting war crimes trials.

Human Rights Watch said it had urged for amendments to be made in the tribunal's statutes, particularly when it comes to defendants' access to lawyers and other basic rights. But it said many changes still needed to be made.

"The Iraqi Special Tribunal has serious human rights shortcomings," Dicker said. "The Iraqi government will need to change the process and make sure that trials are fair."