Bringing Saddam to trial gets harder

By SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI
The Associated Press

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BAGHDAD, Iraq — Putting Saddam Hussein on trial for war crimes is turning out to be a trial in itself, as escalating violence across Iraq makes preparations harder and riskier.

It has become increasingly difficult to exhume mass graves, recover lost and looted documents, and guarantee the safety of judges, lawyers and witnesses.

Frightened judges have withdrawn their names from consideration. Officials are reluctant to identify the new director of the Iraqi Special Tribunal that will try Saddam and 11 of his top lieutenants. And there's uncertainty whether witnesses will be brave enough to testify publicly against the men who once ruled their lives with an iron fist.

There's no shortage of witnesses, "but they have to be protected. Their names and pictures must not be published," Judge Dara Nor al-Din said.

Tarek, 49, was jailed, tortured and dismissed from the Iraqi Air Force in 1982. Now a trucker, he said he initially wanted to testify but has changed his mind. "Saddam's people will kill me," said Tarek, a Shiite who asked that his full name not be used.

A law drafted by Iraqi and U.S. lawyers allows for certain trial sessions to be held in closed session.

"There are legitimate reasons of security why they could be held in closed session: security of the general public and also the people in the court," said Hania Mufti, of the New York-based group Human Rights Watch.

Saddam appeared in court July 1 to hear seven preliminary charges, including killing rival politicians, gassing the Kurds in 1988, invading Kuwait in 1990 and suppressing Kurdish and Shiite uprisings in 1991.

The Regime Crimes Liaison Office headed by Greg Kehoe, a U.S. attorney appointed by the Justice Department, coordinates the evidence. But U.S. and Iraqi officials seem to differ over legal issues and when Saddam's trial will begin.
 
A U.S. official involved with the tribunal all but dismissed interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's prediction that the trial could start this month.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not rule out that it may be a year or more before the trials begin. Allawi's deputy, Barham Saleh, acknowledged it would take time to compile the case because so many crimes have to be documented from Saddam's 35 years in power, and so many people wanted to file lawsuits against him.

However, the violence is delaying things. Mufti said that as of July, one mass grave had been exhumed out of many found. "The big problem is ensuring the safety of forensic teams," she said.

Judge Nor al-Din, a member of the Iraqi National Assembly and not a candidate to serve in Saddam's trial, said it was hard to find qualified judges and that several had withdrawn because of security fears. Saddam and others still do not have lawyers

Also, Mufti said, the draft rules of procedure and evidence cannot be finalized until a full complement of judges has voted on it.