Sunday, December 14, 2003

The Trials of Saddam, Bush and Blair

U.S. Senator and Presidential Candidate Joseph Lieberman said this morning that Saddam Hussein, who was captured yesterday by U.S. military occupation forces in Iraq, must be put on trial by a court run by people who will be willing to kill him. That condition would rule out the International Criminal Court in The Hague because it doesn’t kill people found guilty of crimes, even the gravest, Lieberman said.

I’d support a change in the ICC’s policy against killing those found guilty of crimes against humanity on the condition that the international court agreed to work with independent representatives in the United States, Britain, Russia and other leading belligerent states to hand over all of the suspected war criminals residing in those countries, including those officials currently in power and those who are retired from committing atrocities, to stand trial in The Hague for their alleged crimes.

On the top of the suspect list, of course, would be George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Osama bin Laden and Vladimir Putin, followed closely by Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Silvio Berlusconi, John Howard, et al. I’d even press for Joseph Lieberman and several other members of the U.S. Congress to be sent to the Netherlands to stand trial for complicity in Washington’s past and present acts of brutality around the world and here at home, although they likely would be granted immunity from consideration for the death penalty given the fact that they played only supporting roles in the U.S. government’s acts of terror.

For the ICC to be viewed by the world as a fair and impartial institution, it cannot put on trial only those vicious leaders and officials in countries that have made it onto the enemies list of the U.S. government and the European Union. We need a system that quickly responds to unacceptable actions by officials in all nation-states of the world and brings these suspects to trial when their actions represent grave infringements on the freedom of their own people and the freedom and sovereignty of people in other states. A truly independent panel and investigative team would be convened to try the suspects once official charges have been filed. But until this international criminal court can show that it would be truly impartial and evenhanded in its recognition of suspected war criminals, it should refrain from trying cases.

There would be justification for having Saddam Hussein stand trial in an international criminal court for his leading role in the torture and murder of thousands of Iraqis along with his leading role in the Iraqi government’s aggression against Iran and Kuwait, but only if George W. Bush and Tony Blair are also brought before the same court to stand trial for their leading roles in the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. Until that happens, Hussein should be tried in a court in his own nation that is completely independent of both the U.S. occupation forces and the U.S. puppet Iraqi Governing Council’s proposed Iraqi war crimes tribunal. -- Mark Hand

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