ICTJ in the News

October 19, 2005

Watchdog: Saddam's trial should be fair

United Press International

BAGHDAD, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- An international judicial watchdog Wednesday praised the Baghdad court's decision to adjourn for 40 days the trial of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as an "encouraging" sign of a fair trial.

But Saddam Hussein's lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, told reporters after the hearing he would need at least three months, and would also need special licenses for foreign lawyers to come to Iraq to work on the defense.

"They are trying to prevent my client from having a fair trial," al-Dulaimi said.

Although the trial is being run by Iraqi judges under Iraqi law, another of the Iraqi lawyers on the defense team blamed the United States for concocting "political theater, a show trial."

But international monitors disagreed. The adjournment of the trial of the former Iraqi strongman and seven of his co-defendants by the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal until Nov. 28, "provides much-needed time to the tribunal and defense counsel to prepare for the trial," said the International Center for Transitional Justice.

"The tribunal may need to consider further adjournments to ensure that the proceedings are fair and impartial," the ICTJ added, an international body that had Arabic-speaking legal experts in the courtroom.

"The tribunal judges' professional treatment of the defense counsel in today's proceedings was encouraging, and the decision to adjourn is a significant step in the right direction," said Miranda Sissons, head of ICTJ's Iraq program and courtroom trial observer for the ICTJ in Baghdad.

"Today's adjournment gives the Iraqi tribunal the opportunity to address head-on concerns about its ability to conduct a fair trial under independent and legitimate auspices, and to take concrete action on other crucial areas such as public outreach and witness protection," Sissons added.

Sissons noted the security arrangements made for the first day of the trial left limited space in the courtroom for relatives of the defendants, and at times made proceedings inaudible to observers sitting behind a glass wall. She also warned that the trial risked becoming a political football.

"Politicians should immediately cease their continuing efforts to manipulate these trials for political gain," said Sissons. "If the judges cannot be protected from threats of dismissal or political interference in their work, these trials will be seriously compromised."

Defense counsel and some of the defendants raised three main challenges in Wednesday's proceedings. The first was the lack of adequate time given to the defense to study the final dossier and prepare its case. The second was the lack of sufficient access to the accused by defense counsel. The third was to question the court's legitimacy and competence, and its right to make Saddam stand trial at all.

The ICTJ urged the Baghdad tribunal to use the adjournment period to address these complaints and ensure the trials were run according to the highest international standard, because they were likely to have a major impact on Iraqi politics and development as well as on the Iraqi people.

"The trial marks the beginning of the most significant and ambitious domestic effort in recent decades to bring perpetrators of mass crimes to justice," the ICTJ said in a statement.

"If conducted fairly, the trials could help to deliver not only a measure of justice and truth, but could assist Iraq in emerging from a history of severe violence and abuse by indicating that perpetrators are not above the law but that they must be treated according to internationally accepted standards. It is now up to the tribunal in the coming weeks to ensure that its proceedings are fair, transparent, and above reproach," the statement added.

The ICTJ specializes in helping countries pursue judicial accountability for atrocities or human rights abuse, and has worked with East Timor, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo among others.

For the Baghdad tribunal, the ICTJ recommended granting more time for the defense to examine the evidence and prepare its case, while allowing defense counsel adequate access to the accused. It also said the tribunal should clarify procedural issues, such as the absence of clear rules governing disclosure and those that say any statement by the accused should be ruled inadmissible as evidence if obtained without the accused being informed of his full rights under the law, and without the presence of defense counsel.

The ICTJ, whose verdict on the progress of the Baghdad trials is likely to weigh significantly with Iraqi and international opinion, also urged the tribunal to deploy "vigorous media and public outreach programs to ensure that the proceedings are transparent, accessible and comprehensible to the Iraqi public at large."

It also stressed the court should provide adequate protection and support to victims and those who testify, "including developing a full witness protection and relocation program."