Marat
18th October 2005, 16:22
Ramsey Clark is an outspoken critic of U.S. foreign policy and a former U.S. Attorney General. So it should be interesting what legal maneuvers he may pull in order to embarass the U.S.
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Posted on Tue, Oct. 18, 2005
IRAQ
Hussein could get death penalty
Deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is charged with murdering 143 people in the town of Dujail.
BY NANCY A. YOUSSEF
Knight Ridder News Service
BAGHDAD - Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein will enter a bulletproof cage in the center of an Iraqi courtroom Wednesday for the start of his trial on murder charges.
Unlike the trial in The Hague, Netherlands, of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, Hussein will be tried by a court of his countrymen, not an international tribunal.
It will be a televised national -- and international -- spectacle, before a public that's thrilled to see the fallen dictator called to account for his alleged crimes, but mournful to be reminded of the toll his rule took.
But the trial also could provide embarrassing reminders of past U.S. ties to Hussein.
Michael Scharf, a Case Western Reserve Law School professor and former State Department lawyer who helped train the Iraqi judges and prosecutors in Hussein's case, told McClatchy News Service that he wouldn't be surprised if Ramsey Clark, a former U.S. attorney general and one of two American lawyers on Hussein's defense team, recalls the U.S.-Iraqi covert alliance against the radical Islamic leaders of Iran during the 1980s.
''Inside the courtroom, the tribunal will do everything possible to maintain decorum,'' Scharf told McClatchy. ``Outside the courtroom, you're going to have al Jazeera broadcasting everything Ramsey Clark says against the United States.''
For Iraqis, the trial will be a demarcation line between the old regime and the new.
Many also hope that the trial will give Iraqis a sense of justice and closure.
Unlike in U.S. courts, all defendants associated with a crime will be tried together. Hussein and his co-defendants are charged with the 1982 killings of 143 people in Dujail. Hussein is accused of ordering the killings shortly after an assassination attempt against him in the small northern Iraqi city.
If convicted, he could be executed, even before he faces any other charges.
In Dujail, a city that's small enough for nearly everyone to be touched by the deaths of 143 people, life is still largely defined by the assassination attempt. The mayor went to jail for his alleged role in the plot, where he was tortured, he said. Residents said Monday that they were sad about what had happened to them -- and the fact that their attempt failed.
Shortly after the attempt, Hussein allegedly ordered the killings of men who had been seen in the area when the shots were fired or who had been implicated in the attempt.
Faris Jassim al Ameen said he was part of the assassination attempt. He said the mission failed because the assailants had only small handguns and rifles.
''It was just a lack of planning,'' al Ameen said.
Mohammed Hassan Mahmoud, the mayor, said the town wanted to kill Hussein not to create a new government but to avenge the 1980 killing of a revered local sheik.
''I am still suffering from the traces of torture on my body and I am still not feeling well. My shoulder was dislocated and my hand was broken. I have rheumatism in my joints because of the torture,'' Mahmoud said. ``The court will give us the hope that we have been waiting for a long time for. We don't want the court to exact revenge. We want the court to apply justice.''
The case is one of more than a dozen that the Iraqi Special Tribunal plans to bring against the former dictator. Officials said they hadn't decided which would be next.
The chief prosecutor -- who for security reasons didn't want his name released until the trial started -- said the Dujail case against the former dictator hinged largely on documents Hussein wrote and signed that ordered the killings. The documents were salvaged from palaces and government buildings shortly after Hussein was overthrown in April 2003. He said he would also rely on about 30 witnesses, most of whom will be shielded in the courtroom during their testimony.
Western officials and the prosecutor have suggested that the start of the trial could be anticlimactic, saying it probably will recess quickly. Hussein's lawyer, Khalil al Dulaimi, has said he got documents against his client only last month, not in enough time to prepare.
Dulaimi, who still refers to his client as ''President Saddam,'' has called the trial a largely political charade crafted by the new Shiite Muslim-dominated government to cement its place in the new Iraq.
While Hussein is widely hated in Baghdad, some residents yearn for a time when they didn't have to worry about the random shootings and relentless car bombings they've faced since the U.S. invasion.
A Shiite-sponsored TV channel is airing a lengthy ad that shows footage of Kurdish children who died when Hussein allegedly used chemical weapons against them, along with images of men being tortured. It's a clear reminder to viewers that while things aren't ideal now, they were difficult for Shiites and Kurds under Hussein, as well.
''The problem is that Hussein is feeling very comfortable, living in a safe place, eating good food and getting good sleep,'' said Hamadi Khalif, 55, a former Ministry of Housing employee. ``We are not. All we want is to see Saddam executed.''
The trial will be the first one to be televised in Iraq since the last time Hussein faced a judge, in 1959, for the attempted assassination of then-Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qassim. Hussein -- who escaped and fled to Syria and then Egypt -- was sentenced to death in absentia.
Special correspondents Hassan al Jubouri in Tikrit and Mohammed al Awsy contributed to this report.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramsey_Clark
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/12929183.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted on Tue, Oct. 18, 2005
IRAQ
Hussein could get death penalty
Deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is charged with murdering 143 people in the town of Dujail.
BY NANCY A. YOUSSEF
Knight Ridder News Service
BAGHDAD - Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein will enter a bulletproof cage in the center of an Iraqi courtroom Wednesday for the start of his trial on murder charges.
Unlike the trial in The Hague, Netherlands, of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, Hussein will be tried by a court of his countrymen, not an international tribunal.
It will be a televised national -- and international -- spectacle, before a public that's thrilled to see the fallen dictator called to account for his alleged crimes, but mournful to be reminded of the toll his rule took.
But the trial also could provide embarrassing reminders of past U.S. ties to Hussein.
Michael Scharf, a Case Western Reserve Law School professor and former State Department lawyer who helped train the Iraqi judges and prosecutors in Hussein's case, told McClatchy News Service that he wouldn't be surprised if Ramsey Clark, a former U.S. attorney general and one of two American lawyers on Hussein's defense team, recalls the U.S.-Iraqi covert alliance against the radical Islamic leaders of Iran during the 1980s.
''Inside the courtroom, the tribunal will do everything possible to maintain decorum,'' Scharf told McClatchy. ``Outside the courtroom, you're going to have al Jazeera broadcasting everything Ramsey Clark says against the United States.''
For Iraqis, the trial will be a demarcation line between the old regime and the new.
Many also hope that the trial will give Iraqis a sense of justice and closure.
Unlike in U.S. courts, all defendants associated with a crime will be tried together. Hussein and his co-defendants are charged with the 1982 killings of 143 people in Dujail. Hussein is accused of ordering the killings shortly after an assassination attempt against him in the small northern Iraqi city.
If convicted, he could be executed, even before he faces any other charges.
In Dujail, a city that's small enough for nearly everyone to be touched by the deaths of 143 people, life is still largely defined by the assassination attempt. The mayor went to jail for his alleged role in the plot, where he was tortured, he said. Residents said Monday that they were sad about what had happened to them -- and the fact that their attempt failed.
Shortly after the attempt, Hussein allegedly ordered the killings of men who had been seen in the area when the shots were fired or who had been implicated in the attempt.
Faris Jassim al Ameen said he was part of the assassination attempt. He said the mission failed because the assailants had only small handguns and rifles.
''It was just a lack of planning,'' al Ameen said.
Mohammed Hassan Mahmoud, the mayor, said the town wanted to kill Hussein not to create a new government but to avenge the 1980 killing of a revered local sheik.
''I am still suffering from the traces of torture on my body and I am still not feeling well. My shoulder was dislocated and my hand was broken. I have rheumatism in my joints because of the torture,'' Mahmoud said. ``The court will give us the hope that we have been waiting for a long time for. We don't want the court to exact revenge. We want the court to apply justice.''
The case is one of more than a dozen that the Iraqi Special Tribunal plans to bring against the former dictator. Officials said they hadn't decided which would be next.
The chief prosecutor -- who for security reasons didn't want his name released until the trial started -- said the Dujail case against the former dictator hinged largely on documents Hussein wrote and signed that ordered the killings. The documents were salvaged from palaces and government buildings shortly after Hussein was overthrown in April 2003. He said he would also rely on about 30 witnesses, most of whom will be shielded in the courtroom during their testimony.
Western officials and the prosecutor have suggested that the start of the trial could be anticlimactic, saying it probably will recess quickly. Hussein's lawyer, Khalil al Dulaimi, has said he got documents against his client only last month, not in enough time to prepare.
Dulaimi, who still refers to his client as ''President Saddam,'' has called the trial a largely political charade crafted by the new Shiite Muslim-dominated government to cement its place in the new Iraq.
While Hussein is widely hated in Baghdad, some residents yearn for a time when they didn't have to worry about the random shootings and relentless car bombings they've faced since the U.S. invasion.
A Shiite-sponsored TV channel is airing a lengthy ad that shows footage of Kurdish children who died when Hussein allegedly used chemical weapons against them, along with images of men being tortured. It's a clear reminder to viewers that while things aren't ideal now, they were difficult for Shiites and Kurds under Hussein, as well.
''The problem is that Hussein is feeling very comfortable, living in a safe place, eating good food and getting good sleep,'' said Hamadi Khalif, 55, a former Ministry of Housing employee. ``We are not. All we want is to see Saddam executed.''
The trial will be the first one to be televised in Iraq since the last time Hussein faced a judge, in 1959, for the attempted assassination of then-Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qassim. Hussein -- who escaped and fled to Syria and then Egypt -- was sentenced to death in absentia.
Special correspondents Hassan al Jubouri in Tikrit and Mohammed al Awsy contributed to this report.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramsey_Clark
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/12929183.htm