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Iraqi Council OKs War Crimes Tribunal
EFL:Iraqâs interim government voted Tuesday to establish a tribunal to prosecute top members of Saddam Husseinâs regime for crimes against humanity, two people who attended the meeting said. The tribunal will be formally established on Wednesday, when the U.S. administrator for Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, temporarily cedes legislative authority to the Iraqi Governing Council so that it can create the court. One Governing Council member, Younadem Kana, told The Associated Press that the courtâs proceedings would be open to the Iraqi public â possibly even broadcast on television. Make it worldwide Pay-Per-View and youâll make a bundle. He said the first suspects brought to trial could include top officials of Saddamâs government on the "deck of cards" of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis. "The top 55, they are the first priority," Kana said. Those could include several former top officials in coalition custody, such as former foreign minister Tariq Aziz, former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan or Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali" for his role in chemical attacks on Kurds in the 1980s. In the unlikely event that Saddam himself is captured alive, he presumably would be tried by the special tribunal as well. Heâd get top billing. The U.S.-led occupation military forces have pledged to cooperate with the tribunal and hand over their detainees for trial, Kana said. In all, hundreds of Saddam aides could be brought to face judges on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to mass killings of Iraqi Kurds and Shiite Muslims, as well as Kuwaitis and Iranians, Kana said. Iâd publicly invite the Iranians to give evidence at the trials. It remained unclear whether the law included the death penalty, although Kana said most council members agreed it should â "like in Texas." The international human-rights groups will drown in their own spittle. I love it. Posted by: Steve 2003-12-09 |
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