Hussein sentenced to death, questions arise over trial's legitimacy

Deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was found guilty of crimes against humanity on Nov. 5, bringing to an end the first trial examining the alleged crimes of the former regime–a theatrical, yearlong televised odyssey dogged by questions of legitimacy. Hussein, 69, was sentenced to death by hanging, but capital and life sentences in Iraq are automatically appealed. The former dictator and seven codefendants stood trial for crimes allegedly committed against the Shiite villagers of Dujayl, a small farming town where Hussein was the target of a 1982 assassination attempt. After gunmen fired on the dictator's motorcade, Hussein allegedly conspired to exact revenge on the entire town, rounding up at least 600 men, women and children, submitting some to torture and others to summary executions, while banishing entire families to a barren desert prison for years. At least 148 people were sentenced to death–some of them after they had already died under torture, and several of them minors who were executed years later once they reached 18. In addition to the former Iraqi dictator and Barzan Ibrahim, his former intelligence chief and half brother, the Iraqi High Tribunal convicted and sentenced Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the head of Iraq's former Revolutionary Court, to death by hanging. Iraq's former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison. Three defendants were sentenced to 15 years in prison for torture and premeditated murder. Abdullah Kazim Ruwayyid and his son Mizhar Abdullah Ruwayyid were party officials in Dujail, along with Ali Dayih Ali. They were believed responsible for the Dujail arrests. Mohammed Azawi Ali, a former Dujail Baath Party official, was acquitted for lack of evidence and immediately freed. The death sentences automatically go to a nine-judge appeals panel, which has unlimited time to review the case. If the verdicts and sentences are upheld, the executions must be carried out within 30 days. A court official said that the appeals process was likely to take three to four weeks once the formal paperwork was submitted. Significant segments of the Iraqi population as well as international legal experts have cast doubt on the trial's neutrality. Human rights advocates also broadly agreed that the tribunal's proceedings frequently fell short of international standards for war crimes cases. Two of the defense lawyers were assassinated during the trial, gunned down in Baghdad under mysterious circumstances. The defense argued that Iraq's security situation made it an inappropriate venue for the trial. Iraqi and international legal experts have long argued that the trial should have been held in another country. The chief judge frequently allowed the prosecutor, Jaafar al-Mousawi, to summon evidence and witnesses without first showing them to defense lawyers, violating a basic tenet of trial fair play. "There was a certain amount of trial by ambush," said Richard Dicker, who has been monitoring the trial for Human Rights Watch. On June 13, seemingly in a fit of impatience, Judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman abruptly cut off the defense case. "There was a lack of impartiality and judicial temperament" from Judge Abdel-Rahman, Dicker charged. Critics also cited frequent efforts by Iraqi officials to speed up the trial and influence its outcome. The first chief judge, Rizgar Muhammad Amin, an Iraqi Kurd, resigned in January, saying he was tired of criticism from top Iraqi officials of his handling of the case. A second judge who was in line to succeed him was barred from becoming chief judge because he was said to have had ties to Hussein's Baath Party. "The message by politicians and the executive has been quite unambiguously that if the judges do not do what public expectation demands, they will be in trouble," Miranda Sissons, a senior associate at the International Center for Transitional Justice, said. "Iraqi officials have sent the message, 'We can reach into this court.'" The strongest criticism was voiced by Amnesty International, which said the trial had been deeply flawed, and argued that the death penalty had been shown to have no deterrent effect. "Serious flaws in the trial have included political interference by members of the Iraqi government, the failure to provide protection for witnesses and others involved in the trial, and the denial of access to legal counsel for Saddam Hussein for a year after his arrest," it said, urging changes to the tribunal during the appeal process, including the possibility of adding international judges or referring the case to an international tribunal. Amnesty pointed out that Hussein was denied access to legal counsel for the first year after his arrest, and that complaints by his lawyers throughout the trial relating to the proceedings do not appear to have been adequately answered by the tribunal. It also warned there was the risk that Hussein and his codefendants would be executed while doubts remain about whether they had a fair trial. "Every accused has a right to a fair trial, whatever the magnitude of the charge against them. This plain fact was routinely ignored through the decades of Saddam Hussein's tyranny," said Malcolm Smart, director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Program. "[The trial] has been a shabby affair, marred by serious flaws that call into question the capacity of the tribunal, as currently established, to administer justice fairly, in conformity with international standards," he said. Many critics also questioned the timing of the verdict, which was announced two days before midterm elections in the United States. "Probably the Americans wanted to postpone the verdict," said Mohammed Daini, a member of the National Dialogue Council, a political party in Iraq. "The American president, Bush, asked for this for a political gain in the elections…." "The Iraqi judiciary should be independent from political desires, but this did not happen in this trial," said Saleem Abdelullah, a member of the Iraqi Accordance Front, the main Sunni bloc in parliament.