Abstract

Trying Saddam

The author discusses some options for trying deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The capture of Saddam Hussein has raised the question of how best to hold him accountable for the horrendous human rights violations committed by his regime. The Bush Administration has come up with a proposal, approved in the form of a law adopted by the Iraqi Governing Council on December 10, under which he would be tried by a special tribunal of Iraqis appointed by the council, which may also include some foreign judges and foreign advisers. There is no doubt that Saddam is one of the worst mass killers alive. However, the decision to ask the Iraqi Governing Council to deal with Saddam's crimes is like asking the Vietnamese-installed puppet regime in Cambodia in 1979 to try the Khmer Rouge. Like the latter, the Iraqi Governing Council is not independent and is controlled by a foreign occupier. One possible alternative to this tribunal would be for the UN Security Council to create an international tribunal to which the UN Secretary General would have the authority to appoint judges and prosecutors in consultation with a broad cross-section of Iraqis, and which could have some Iraqi judges.