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BAGHDAD,
Iraq (AP) - Human rights advocates and lawyers say
Iraq's hush-hush legal proceedings against Saddam
Hussein's ousted regime and the secrecy leading up
to the investigative hearings that began late last
week threaten to undermine the legitimacy of the
trial process.
First, they complain, interim Prime Minister Ayad
Allawi surprised many by announcing the trials of
several of Saddam's former regime members would
begin sooner than had been expected, although no
date was ever set.
Then, a judge made similarly unexpected news -
announcing without notice Saturday that two
high-profile defendants had already been
interrogated. Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known as
Chemical Ali for his role in poison gas attacks
against the Kurdish minority, and former Defense
Minister Gen. Sultan Hashim Ahmad appeared on that
day at a preliminary hearing by investigative Judge
Raad al-Juhyi.
Under Iraqi law the investigative hearings are the
first step toward a trial. But the timing of the
court appearances - just ahead of Jan. 30 general
elections - has prompted accusations the legal
procedings were being expedited to boost Allawi's
political standing.
``There is no transparency and everything is
mysterious,'' complained Badee Izzat Aref, lawyer of
former deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz, one of
Saddam's top lieutenants who has been jailed for
over a year.
``They (the judges) are under pressure from the
executive authority because of the elections.''
Al-Juhyi provided few details about the
investigative hearings, but said defense lawyers
were present with their two clients. The exact date
of the hearings wasn't previously announced and no
press was invited. Footage of the proceedings was
later released.
Judges and officials have not given a date for the
start of the criminal trials or released any
information on whether Saddam's aides will be tried
individually or jointly.
The process has been criticized by foreign trial
monitors.
``If the whole judicial process is going to have
credibility and legitimacy, the government needs to
be much more forthcoming with information about the
rights that the accused are being given,'' Richard
Dicker, director of the International Justice
Program at the New York-based Human Rights Watch,
said before Saturday's hearings.
It wasn't even clear what kind of access defense
lawyers had been given to their clients, he noted.
Allawi's brief announcement Tuesday that the
judicial proceedings would start in a matter of days
left many questions unanswered, including whether
Saddam himself was going to be among those to appear
in court.
``So far, we know nothing about the trials. No one
knows how they took the decision or who took the
decision,'' to start the process now, said Mahmoud
Othman, a prominent Kurdish politician. ``Suddenly
they break the news and provide no explanation.
People won't take it seriously.''
Bahar Ahmed, a Kurd who lost her father and about 50
relatives in 1988 chemical attacks in the Kurdish
town of Halabja, said the victims deserved more
information.
``I'd like to know what happens in these closed
hearings so that I could satisfy my need for
revenge,'' she said.
The government may have been under pressure to
demonstrate it has made progress in the cases of the
high-profile detainees, some of whom were detained
20 months ago.
``The timing of these announcement by the government
suggests a link with the political aspirations of
Prime Minister Allawi,'' Dicker said. ``To be fair
and to be credible, these trials need to be
independent of political pressure and political
objectives.''
Allawi's spokesman, Thair al-Naqeeb, denied the
government had anything to do with setting the trial
dates, saying a judicial committee had established
them.
``This is a judicial process, not a political one,''
deputy prime minister Barham Saleh told Al-Arabiya
television. He said the trials themselves were
expected to be held in public.
He said preparations for prosecuting Saddam required
more time and no action was expected before next
year.
Still, some - including members of Allawi's own
Cabinet - criticized initiating the procedures by an
unelected authority. Even though the actual trials
will probably be held after the Jan. 30 elections,
lawyers argue that investigative hearings held
before the vote would widely be perceived as
illegitimate.
``However horrific the crimes of which these men are
accused, justice requires respecting their rights to
a fair trial,'' Dicker said. ``Otherwise it will be
just a continuation of the way it was under
(Saddam's) regime, with the only change being who is
in the dock.''
http://www.guardian.co.uk
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