ICTJ in the News

November 8, 2005

Defending defenders now key to Saddam trial

Reuters

By Alastair Macdonald, Reuters

BAGHDAD, Nov 8 (Reuters) - With Tuesday's killing of a second lawyer in under three weeks, defending the defence team must now be a priority for the Iraqi and U.S. authorities if the trial of Saddam Hussein is to be fair, legal experts said.

Saddam's personal lead attorney called for the former president and his co-accused to be sent abroad, accusing the U.S. and Iraqi authorities of failing to protect his colleagues and asking the United Nations to intervene and investigate.

"This second killing ... heightens the concerns that we've had all along," said Richard Dicker, who is monitoring the trial process for New York-based Human Rights Watch.

"It's urgent if this trial is to go forward that effective measures are put in place to protect the defence lawyers ...

"We think the Iraqi government and U.S. advisers need to go the extra mile and see that those at risk are protected."

The entire series of trials would clearly be in jeopardy if defence counsel continue to suffer as they have.

A key issue is the gulf of sectarian mistrust between the defence team, drawn heavily from the Sunni Arab minority dominant under Saddam, and the U.S.-backed authorities dominated by majority Shi'ites eager to make up for decades of oppression.

"What is absolutely clear is this has to be the point where both the Tribunal and the defence begin meaningful interaction," said Miranda Sissons of the International Center for Transitional Justice, noting that by her count at least seven people connected with the tribunal had now been killed.

"There are no easy answers but there is no alternative to providing adequate security for everyone involved," she said.

"It clearly has to be addressed seriously before proceedings can go ahead," she said, saying both sides had to make efforts.

Despite the abduction and killing of Saadoun al-Janabi, another defence lawyer, the day after the trial opened three weeks ago, the defence team has expressed reluctance to accept government offers of greater police protection.

Witnesses said Janabi's killers identified themselves as being from the Interior Ministry. Though the government denies condoning Shi'ite militia hit squads, there is evidence enough that they exist to make many Sunnis beware of the police.

LITTLE PROTECTION

When gunmen in a car caught up with Adil al-Zubeidi as he drove with fellow defence attorney Thamer Hamoud al-Khuzaie, it was clear the lawyers had little in the way of protection.

Zubeidi, who had confessed his fears for his personal safety over the case the day before, was killed and Khuzaie wounded.

Lead attorney Khalil al-Dulaimi said the killers used "government cars" although witnesses spoke only of plain vehicles.

"A maximum good-faith effort needs to be made especially in the wake of today's killing to provide effective protection," Human Rights Watch's Dicker said.

"If the defence attorneys say Ministry of Interior forces are not acceptable, then viable alternatives need to be looked at in good faith by both sides."

White House spokesman Scott McClellan acknowledged: "We've got to work to make sure that the security is in place for those trials to proceed in a fair and impartial and safe way."

A spokesman for Amnesty International, Nicole Choueiry, said: "The most important thing for the next session to go ahead unhindered is people should have maximum security because these people are risking their lives."

"There can be no fair trial without providing security for witnesses, judges and lawyers on an equal footing. No trial can take place in such conditions," Issam Ghazzawi, a spokesman for Saddam's Jordan-based defence team, told Reuters in Amman.

Prominent Baghdad criminal defence lawyer Tareq Harb played down the effect of the latest killing might have, however:

"This is a horrible crime ... but it will not affect the trial and the issue of transferring it to an international court," he said. Both the Iraqi and U.S. governments have voiced a firm determination to hold the trials in Iraq rather than turn to any international tribunal overseen by the United Nations.

(Additional reporting by Mariam Karouny)