Re. trying Saddam, we tried before - insufficient international support (sounds familiar doesn't it - see below). Are you thinking perhaps that Saddam could be tried without being captured and while still ruling Iraq. A trial in which the accused didn't have the right to appear and defend himself wouldn't be considered fair by anyone. Furthermore, while still in power, Saddam has the power to suppress evidence from within Iraq.
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Earlier Attempts to Indict Hussein
Under the Clinton Administration, the Ambassador for War Crimes Issues, David Scheffer, compiled a massive dossier of evidence against Hussein and other Iraqi officials; it includes millions of pages of documents, many seized by Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq. Meanwhile, further evidence has been gathered by a London-based organization, INDICT, by Human Rights Watch, and others.
Until now, however, these individuals and groups have been unable to win international support for a special tribunal to indict Hussein. The lack of international consensus on the issue has largely stemmed from concern that the move would undermine efforts to get him to comply with weapons inspections. But in the aftermath of a war aimed explicitly at removing Hussein from power, this consideration would obviously disappear. Instead, a trial would appear to be the only feasible way of deciding his fate – since the United States would hardly want to leave him at large, and international law would forbid imprisoning or killing him without trial.
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The current Ambassador for War Crimes Issues, Pierre-Richard Prosper, has spoken strongly in favour of this option. He said during a recent press conference in London that if there is "a free and democratic Iraq" after the war then the new government should take the lead in any process of accountability, because "if the rule of law is to mean something it is best exercised by the concerned or affected states."
This seems to suggest that the administration may be planning something like the current Special Court in Sierra Leone, or the Serious Crimes Panels in East Timor. These are known in the trade as "hybrid" courts, because they are made up of a mixture of local and international judges.
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crimesofwar.org
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Saddam, 13 others on 'blacklist' for trial
AMMAN, Jordan (Agence France-Presse) — President Saddam Hussein tops a list of 14 Iraqis who have been put on a U.S. "blacklist" of figures to be removed from power and put on trial, a statement by the Iraqi opposition said yesterday.
Saddam's two sons, Uday and Qusay, were also on the list, said a statement received in Amman from a group that provided it on the condition of anonymity.
"Well-informed and close sources to the U.S. administration have indicated that the administration has drawn up a blacklist comprising the names of Iraqi officials which the United States is seeking to remove from their posts and put on trial," the statement said.
The list included Iraqi No. 2, Ezzat Ibrahim, deputy chairman of Iraq's ruling Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), and Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan.
Others are Saddam's cousin and fellow RCC member, Ali Hassan al-Majeed, RCC member Mohammad Hamza al-Zubeidi, intelligence chief Taher Jalil al-Takriti, and head of state security Hani Abdellatif al-Takriti.
Also on the list were: Abed Hammud, Saddam's personal secretary; the second Vice President Taha Mohieddin Maaruf; Iyad al-Rawi, former army chief of staff and head of the "Al-Quds Army"; Abdul Tawwab Mulla Howeish, deputy prime minister and minister of military industrialization; and Amer Rashid, who was fired Tuesday as oil minister.
Absent from the list are such well-known figures as Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, a veteran of Iraqi diplomacy, and Foreign Minister Naji Sabri.
The form the trials would take had not been determined but could involve the international community, U.S. officials told United Press International.
President Bush's national security team is considering a variety of trial venues, including "the U.N., The Hague, ad hoc tribunal, military tribunal," a senior official told UPI. "A post-conflict Iraqi government could conduct some of these trials itself."
The United States has warned Iraq repeatedly that if its commanders order the use of chemical or biological weapons against U.S. or allied forces, they will be held to account for war crimes.
Atrocities by Saddam's government are well-known and documented, and could form the basis of post-conflict prosecutions against Iraqi officials for crimes against humanity before an international tribunal.
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