The Trial of Saddam Hussein - The New Monkey Trial
I don't know if you have been watching Saddam Hussein trial lately, but I have. It is the most bizarre courtroom drama I have seen since the OJ Simpson trial. Lawyers and family members of judges getting murdered. The defendant threatens and badgers witnesses. What kind of a trial is this? Is any justice being done? I think I can categorically say "NO"!
The idea of letting the trial of the former despot be carried out in his home country, which is in a state of total chaos, is ridiculous. Not only does he not get a fair trial, but no defender or prosecutor or their families can be free from threats or acts of violence or destruction. And, can he even get a fair trial at all? I know many people feel he was one of the main bad men in the world during his rein, but...if you believe in the rule of law as opposed to mob rule or revenge.... Saddam should be given the same rights as any other accused. The problem is that with the state of affairs in Iraq and the civil war that is raging there right now, holding a fair trial for this man or really any other person accused of terrible wrong-doing that resulted in many deaths and torture, is an impossibility.
I know the Americans and the Iraqis who set up the initial Iraqi government thought Saddam's trial would be vindication of their new government, their new legal system, and show off their new way of life after throwing off the shackles of despotism, but it just has not worked out that way. The trial is making the Iraqi legal system and legal practitioners look like idiots! If I was an Iraqi watching the trial on TV, I would be thinking "God, I never want to get arrested and have to go to court, or ever get called for jury duty"!
It is time to move Saddam and his co-defendant's trials to the Hague where other major despots and perpetrators of genocide have gone and where the trial can actually take place. At least in The Netherlands, litigators and judges can hear and weigh in on evidence in an atmosphere where serious thinking can be done without fear of retaliation from one warring faction or another. The Iraqis need to realize this trial is a major destabilizing event in their country and they have enough already to deal with, without having to suffer the humiliation of what has been going on in the trial so far.
Time to give Saddam his due and resolve his innocence or guilt. Send Saddam Hussein north, out of Iraq, to stand trial for his crimes, where they can be documented, where witnesses can appear and tell their stories with dignity and safety, and where justice can finally be served.
The idea of letting the trial of the former despot be carried out in his home country, which is in a state of total chaos, is ridiculous. Not only does he not get a fair trial, but no defender or prosecutor or their families can be free from threats or acts of violence or destruction. And, can he even get a fair trial at all? I know many people feel he was one of the main bad men in the world during his rein, but...if you believe in the rule of law as opposed to mob rule or revenge.... Saddam should be given the same rights as any other accused. The problem is that with the state of affairs in Iraq and the civil war that is raging there right now, holding a fair trial for this man or really any other person accused of terrible wrong-doing that resulted in many deaths and torture, is an impossibility.
I know the Americans and the Iraqis who set up the initial Iraqi government thought Saddam's trial would be vindication of their new government, their new legal system, and show off their new way of life after throwing off the shackles of despotism, but it just has not worked out that way. The trial is making the Iraqi legal system and legal practitioners look like idiots! If I was an Iraqi watching the trial on TV, I would be thinking "God, I never want to get arrested and have to go to court, or ever get called for jury duty"!
It is time to move Saddam and his co-defendant's trials to the Hague where other major despots and perpetrators of genocide have gone and where the trial can actually take place. At least in The Netherlands, litigators and judges can hear and weigh in on evidence in an atmosphere where serious thinking can be done without fear of retaliation from one warring faction or another. The Iraqis need to realize this trial is a major destabilizing event in their country and they have enough already to deal with, without having to suffer the humiliation of what has been going on in the trial so far.
Time to give Saddam his due and resolve his innocence or guilt. Send Saddam Hussein north, out of Iraq, to stand trial for his crimes, where they can be documented, where witnesses can appear and tell their stories with dignity and safety, and where justice can finally be served.
