BAGHDAD, 21 September 2006 — The new chief judge in the genocide trial of Saddam Hussein immediately stamped his mark on proceedings yesterday by expelling the former Iraqi leader from court during a stormy hearing which also saw the defense team walk out. Mohammed Al-Oreibi Al-Khalifah, a Shiite who was deputy presiding judge, took over as chief judge after the government’s sacking of his predecessor Abdullah Al-Ameri who had said Saddam was “not a dictator.”
As Khalifah tried to start the session, the defense lawyers announced they would boycott the trial in protest at the change of judge, which also drew strong criticism from international human rights watchdogs. Khalifah then brought in court-appointed lawyers, only to have Saddam stand to register his own dissatisfaction with the change.
When the ousted president refused the judge’s instructions to sit down, Khalifah ordered him removed. “Throw him out,” he said gesturing to the court bailiffs. “We want to say that the government is interfering in the trial. We cannot continue with our work fairly,” lawyer Wudud Fawzi said, reading a statement on behalf of the defense team. “We want no interference with the trial from the government and we will not return until this condition is met.”
Saddam and six of his colleagues face charges including genocide, for spearheading a military campaign against the Kurds in 1987-1988 dubbed the Anfal (spoils) that prosecutors say killed 182,000 people. They face the death penalty if found guilty. In his statement, Fawzi also charged that the first chief judge in Saddam’s previous trial over the killing of Shiite civilians had to step down under government pressure.
Judge Rizkar Mohammed Amin cited “personal reasons” when he stepped down on Jan. 23 from overseeing the trial in which Saddam and seven others were accused of killing 148 Shiites from the town of Dujail after an attempt on the then president’s in 1982.
Before being escorted out, Saddam told his fellow defendants: “You should leave too.” Ali Hassan Al-Majid, also known as Chemical Ali, also asked to leave the court but the judge ordered him to stay, to which Ali retorted that he would keep quiet “even if I am hanged.” Ameri, also a Shiite, was removed on Tuesday by the Iraqi Cabinet following accusations he was too soft on Saddam and the other defendants.
Government spokesman Ali Al-Dabbagh said “the decision to transfer the judge was taken to preserve the neutrality of the court.” Ameri came under fire from Kurdish and Shiite groups for telling Saddam he was “not a dictator” during an exchange with the former strongman at a hearing on Sept. 14.
Human Rights Watch strongly criticized the judge’s removal, describing it as “a blatant violation of the independence of the court.” “This act jeopardizes the integrity of the court and damages prospects of justice for the victims themselves,” said Nehal Bhuta, an expert in international law with the New York-based watchdog.
Ali Al-Dabbagh told Reuters the decision to sack Amiri was made by the Cabinet in accordance with the Iraqi High Criminal Court Law, which allows the government to transfer judges from the court for “any reason.” But legal rights groups said Shiite Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s decision to replace the judge a month after the case opened hurt its legitimacy. Some legal analysts say sectarian passions makes it impossible to give Saddam a fair trial.
“(It) confirms the lack of (legal) guarantees and the lack of independence of that court,” Leandro Despouy, the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers told the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva. Richard Dicker, who has been observing the court for Human Rights Watch, said: “The transfer effectively sends a chilling message to all judges: toe the line or risk removal.”
