Rodney Dalton
The Australian
December 16, 2003

Watchdogs afraid of war crimes show trial   by Rodney Dalton
Saddam Hussein will face war crimes charges in a special Iraqi court, despite international concerns that it will be a show trial leading to a death sentence.

Members of the US-backed Iraq Governing Council appeared adamant yesterday that the deposed leader would face judgment by his own people, not in a United Nations-backed international court on foreign soil.

Without giving details, US President George W.Bush said the former dictator would “face the justice he denied to millions”, foreshadowing the most significant war crimes trial since Adolf Hitler’s Nazi henchmen were prosecuted at Nuremberg after World War II.

Interim council chairman Abdel Aziz al-Hakim said: “Saddam Hussein will be judged by Iraqi judges and the tribunal will work and be situated in Iraq, under the supervision of international experts.”

The US-led administration in Iraq suspended the death penalty in April.

But a new Iraqi government – to be formed by June – would have the power to reinstate it.

Although Hussein’s capture was widely cheered in Europe, the death penalty is banned in the European Union and this may present a sticking point.

However, council member Adnan Pachachi said yesterday “there is no question that the process will be an Iraqi process” – a sentiment shared by Washington, which has little appreciation for UN-backed courts.

US government lawyers helped draft regulations creating a five-member court that has the power to try Hussein over his actions between taking power on July 17, 1968, and May 1 this year, when Mr Bush declared major combat operations over in Iraq.

Despite assurances that Iraq would hold a “just” trial, human rights watchdogs have expressed concern that jurists with war crimes trial experience will be excluded.

And some observers warn that the US and Europe are on another collision course over how to conduct the trial. Members of the international community are likely to argue for a UN-sponsored trial under which Hussein could not be sentenced to death if found guilty.

Although Britain opposes the death penalty, British Prime Minister Tony Blair hailed the “opportunity for Saddam to be tried in Iraqi courts for his crimes against the Iraqi people”.

“It is they who will decide his fate,” Mr Blair said.

The Iraqi tribunal, which is not expected to begin working for at least nine months, drew criticism from human rights groups when it was announced last week.

Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth yesterday warned the council not to conduct a show trial of Hussein.

“It’s important that the Iraqi people feel ownership of his trial, but it’s equally important that the trial not be perceived as vengeful justice,” Mr Roth said. “For that reason, international jurists must be involved in the process.”

Advocates of a UN-sponsored tribunal such as the one trying former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic in the Hague argue that the world body gives the trial credibility and that judges and prosecutors are well versed in international law.

The issue of where to try Hussein also divides US politicians. Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Lieberman argues that Hussein must face the death penalty.

Republican senator John McCain said Hussein should face “a trial in front of his people . . . but also in front of the Hague so you can have an exposition of the crimes his regime committed that transcended the borders of Iraq”.