 BAGHDAD: Attacks on lawyers and flaws in the Iraqi justice system mean the trial of Saddam Hussein on charges of crimes against humanity will never satisfy international standards, a UN rights official said on Sunday.
John Pace, human rights chief at the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, also condemned what he called illegal detentions by Iraqi and US military authorities, including thousands of suspects held at Abu Ghuraib prison.
Pace expressed deep concern over the progress of the Saddam trial, which has had two brief hearings of a few hours each since Oct 19, and resumes on Monday. âWeâre concerned already by what we have seen, we are concerned by the murder of two defence lawyers and the serious wounding of another,â Pace told Reuters in Baghdad.
| Nothing said about Saddam's genocide, however. |
âThere is already a paralysis in the legitimacy of the defence,â he said in an interview at the UNâs fortified compound, adding that defence counsel had to be able to work freely and effectively for the trial to be considered fair.
| Ramsey Clark can say what he wants. What more do you need? |
âWe believe that weakness in the system of administration of justice, in addition to the antecedents surrounding the establishment of this tribunal, will never be able to produce the kind of process that would be able to satisfy international standards,â Pace said. âWeâre very anxious about the tribunal. The legitimacy of the tribunal needs to be examined. It has been seriously challenged in many quarters.â
| This is the campaign to remove the trial to the Hague or some such idiocy. Then they'll let Saddam off with a wrist slap, or they get Carla del Ponte to go to work and Saddam will do of old age in a villa in southern France. |
The United Nations has no role in the trial, ...
| ... which is what really cheeses Mr. Pace off ... |
... which is being conducted by a five-judge panel under a tribunal appointed by US occupation forces, but has called for an independent probe into the deaths of the lawyers. The Iraqi government and its US backers say Iraqis should judge Saddam.
Rights groups have argued the Saddam trial should follow other war crimes cases like those for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia and be heard in an international forum like the International Criminal Court, which Washington does not support. Pace said significant human rights issues were involved, which meant the trial should be heard in an international forum. âThe trial should serve as a deterrent against the repetition of the violations of human rights witnessed under Saddam Hussein,â Pace said.
| Nuremburg worked so well in that respect ... |
Saddam and his co-accused are charged with crimes against humanity in relation to the deaths of 148 men from the town of Dujail, north of Baghdad, after an attempt to kill him in 1982. All defendants have pleaded not guilty. They could face death by hanging if convicted. The United Nations opposes the death penalty.
| Which is something else that cheeses Mr. Pace off. |
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