Here is why Bush is flip flopping on handing over Saddam to Iraq. Part legal, part political.
Thursday, 17, June, 2004
Can Interim Govt Put Saddam on Trial?
Abdul Jalil Mustafa, Arab News —
AMMAN, 17 June 2004 — Prominent Arab lawyers and academics yesterday cast doubt on the legality of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s trial before an Iraqi tribunal, saying such a step will “run counter” to the provisions of the Third Geneva Convention.
“Under the article 13 of the Third Geneva Convention, the United States cannot hand over Saddam to another party that lacks neutrality and independence, a description seems to be applicable to the interim Iraqi government,” Ghassan Jundi, professor of international law at the University of Jordan, told Arab News. “Latest news about plans to deliver the former president to an Iraqi court apparently runs counter to this article, because the United States has already recognized Saddam as a prisoner of war,” he said.
He pointed out that an Iraqi court “has no right to try the former Iraqi president, simply because it lacks legality in lieu of being appointed by an interim government that did not emerge from the ballots”.
The Iraqi representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross Nada Domani announced on Monday that the ICRC had urged the Iraqi interim government, due to take up power on June 30, to either try or release Saddam, who was detained by the US-led coalition troops on Dec. 13 last year.
....more arabnews.com |
