[DOWNLOAD] "Transcript: Preparing for the Mother of All Trials and Lessons Learned from Dujayl (Symposium: "Lessons from the Saddam Trial")" by Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free

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Title: Transcript: Preparing for the Mother of All Trials and Lessons Learned from Dujayl (Symposium: "Lessons from the Saddam Trial")
Author : Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law
Release Date : January 01, 2007
Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
Pages : * pages
Size : 282 KB

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MS. HODGKINSON: Good morning and welcome. I am currently the Deputy to the Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues at the U.S. State Department, the Honorable John Clint Williamson. From 2003 to 2004, during the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), I was the Senior Advisor for Human Rights and I also served as Director of the Office of Human Rights and Transitional Justice in Baghdad, which supported Iraq's efforts to establish the Iraqi Special Tribunal, now known as the Iraqi High Tribunal (IHT). In the summer and fall of 2003, Ambassador Paul Bremer, then head of the CPA, delegated the authority to draft the statute of the Iraqi Special Tribunal to the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) in CPA Order Number 48. The statute provides for the prosecution and accountability of senior-level former Iraqi regime officials. The offenses include a select few offenses under Iraqi criminal law as well those under international criminal law including genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Several members of my office--including representatives from the United Kingdom, Spain, Australia, and the Czech Republic--supported Iraqi efforts to draft the statute by providing appropriate technical and practical expertise. On December 10, 2003, days prior to Saddam Hussein's capture, the statute became law and the tribunal was born. Two years later, in late 2005, the newly formed Iraqi National Assembly endorsed the court's statute with only a few revisions and renamed it the Iraqi High Tribunal. Throughout the process, the Iraqis were unified in wanting the court to be seated in Iraq and for trials to be conducted in Arabic by Iraqi judges. They requested international support in undertaking this process but made it clear that they did not want their court to be run by international actors outside the country. They sought control of the process from start to finish. It is U.S. policy to support domestic war crimes tribunals when the local government is willing and able to carry out justice. In Iraq's case, the Iraqis were clearly willing and, with some additional legal assistance and support, we believed that the Iraqi judges were fully capable to conduct such trials. After all, Iraq is where the Hammurabi Code was written, the University of Baghdad Law School is a well-recognized legal institute, and throughout its history Iraq has boasted strong legal values and developed a qualified cadre of legal professionals. It is unfortunate, however, that during the reign of Saddam Hussein, many of these qualified legal professional were manipulated by the government.