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Red Thingy Cross Confident It Will See Saddam
The Red Thingy Cross has visited imprisoned officials of Saddam Husseinâs toppled regime and expressed confidence Wednesday that U.S. authorities will allow it to see the former Iraqi dictator "sooner rather than later."
| "Sammy can't talk to you now. He's... ummm... in the shower." |
"Heâs a POW and supposed to be like any POW," said Nada Doumani, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Thingy Cross, which requested permission to visit Saddam soon after he was captured Dec. 13 and the United States declared him a prisoner of war. U.S. officials refused to comment on anything related to Saddamâs interrogation and referred questions to the Red Thingy Cross.
"Weâre busy. Talk to you later." [click]
Doumani told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Amman, Jordan, that the neutral, Swiss-run ICRTC had seen most if not all of the 43 other high-ranking Iraqis captured by coalition forces. "We have no problem of access to other people so far," she said. As for Saddam Hussein, she added, "We believe that we will be able to see him sooner rather than later."
And then she starts making sense:
She said there is nothing in the Geneva Conventions that would prohibit Saddamâs being tried by a coalition tribunal. "It can also be by an ad hoc international tribunal that can be established by a resolution of the Security Council," she said. "We could envision that it could happen (that the Iraqis try Saddam) once authority is transferred to the Iraqis in June and military tribunals are established again," Doumani said.
But the International Criminal Court wasnât mentioned. Two points for Nada.
| Once authority is transferred to the Iraqis, when Sammy's transferred to their care and feeding he ceases to be a POW. He becomes an internal affair... |
But the ICRTC doesnât get into who conducts the trial as long as it is a military tribunal of a sovereign country that is party to the Geneva Conventions. The trial can be for what a POW did before the latest war, including "other war crimes or crimes against humanity," but "not for what he has done during the latest war for being a soldier," she said.
| Depends on what he did as "a soldier." Sammy's trial would be based on what he did as head of state. They can also add in charges on his actions after he ceased being head of state. But I suspect what'll hang him is gassing the Kurds... |
She said there was some misconception about Saddamâs rights after he was declared a POW.
No, really?
"Some people, especially in Iraq, thought that as long as he was given this POW status he cannot be prosecuted, which is totally wrong, because you have plenty of articles in the Third Geneva Convention where it can even go as far as a death sentence.
Oh, the Euros will be ever so unhappy!
"But he cannot be tried for simply participating in hostilities because the whole idea for a POW is that he is a soldier doing his job in defending his country, so you cannot try him for defending or for fighting. You can only try him if he went beyond and committed a war crime or a crime against humanity or a crime prior to war."
"Whatever is done, it has to be done according to the law," she said. "Judicial guarantees should be respected, the right to defense, impartiality, transparency and all these things," she said. "This is valid not just for Saddam Hussein, itâs valid for any soldier, any Iraqi POW."
She sure made the surprise meter twitch -- an NGO representative who knew the law and made sense!
Posted by: Steve White 2004-02-12 |
