Iraq: Saddam Hussein Trial At Risk
Government Undermines Independence of Judges
(New York) – Government interference with the independence of the judges in the trial of Saddam Hussein and seven
co-defendants threatens the fairness of the proceedings, Human Rights Watch said today. The trial is scheduled to resume
in Baghdad on Sunday.
“The demand for Presiding Judge Rizgar Amin’s dismissal, which contributed to his resignation, was nothing less than an
attack on judicial independence,” said Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice Program at Human Rights
Watch.
Parliamentarians from the ruling party have demanded Judge Amin’s dismissal, while senior Iraqi government officials
publicly criticized Judge Amin's handling of the trial and chided him for being too lenient with Saddam Hussein.
Nevertheless, at other times the same government officials insisted that the tribunal was independent of political
pressure.
Iraq’s De-Ba`athification Commission challenged the appointment of Judge Saeed al-Hammashi as successor to Judge Amin.
The Commission claimed Judge al-Hammashi was ineligible to sit on the court due to his alleged former membership in the
Ba`ath Party. Judge al-Hammashi was subsequently transferred from the trial chamber.
“The removal of Judge al-Hammashi from the trial created the appearance of a court that is continually subjected to
political interference,” said Dicker. “Sitting judges cannot be shuffled around as though they were deck chairs on the
Titanic.”
The statute of the Iraqi High Tribunal in article 33 prohibits anyone who was a member of the Ba`ath Party from working
with the court. Due to a de facto suspension in the application of this provision, former Ba`ath Party members have been
appointed to the court. In a briefing paper released in October 2005, Human Rights Watch criticized article 33 as
interfering with the independence of judges, because it made several judges susceptible to dismissal at any time without
regard to their actual past conduct.
In July 2005, the De-Ba`athification Commission sought the dismissal of more than 20 judges and other court personnel
due to alleged former membership in the Ba`ath Party. Their dismissal was blocked only by the intervention of Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Ja`afari.
Unconfirmed reports that Judge al-Hammashi was transferred off the Saddam Hussein trial as a political compromise
between the De-Ba`athification Commission, the Prime Minister's Office and the Iraqi High Tribunal, raise serious
concerns about the court's ability to safeguard its independence. The De-Ba`athification Commission's past interventions
forced the court into similar maneuvers to prevent the dismissal of other judges.
The 1985 U.N. Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary ensure that judges shall decide matters “without any
restrictions, improper influences, inducements, pressures, threats or interferences, direct or indirect, from any
quarter or for any reason.” There also shall not be any inappropriate or unwarranted interference with the judicial
process.
“The resignation of Judge Amin and the transfer of Judge al-Hammashi mean that two of the five judges who have heard the
witness testimony are now off the case,” Dicker said. “It will be difficult for the new judges to impartially evaluate
the testimony they missed, damaging the integrity of the trial.”
Saddam Hussein and seven other former Iraqi officials have been on trial since October 19 for crimes that took place in
the town of al-Dujail in 1982. Government security forces killed more than 140 individuals from al-Dujail in retaliation
for an assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein as his motorcade passed through the town, 50 miles north of Baghdad.