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bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
=== News Update ===
President Saddam Trial. UNITED NATIONS Press Release
UNITED NATIONS
WORKING GROUP ON ARBITRARY DETENTION
REITERATES CONCERNS REGARDING
SADDAM HUSSEIN TRIAL
The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued the following statement
following its forty seventh session, which ended on 24 November:
"Following the recent conclusion of Mr. Saddam Hussein Al-Tikriti's
first trial before the Iraqi High Tribunal, the Working Group decided at
the end of its forty-seventh session, held in Geneva from 15 to 24
November 2006, to reiterate its concerns expressed in its Opinion N°
31/2006 of 1 September 2006. In this Opinion the Working Group
considered that the non-observance of the relevant international
standards during Mr. Hussein's trial was of such gravity as to confer
Mr. Hussein's deprivation of liberty an arbitrary character.
"The Working Group deems it necessary to issue this statement at this
time, since it cannot be excluded that the death penalty imposed upon
Mr. Hussein would be carried out before the Opinion is published in its
annual report to the Human Rights Council.
"The Working Group was seized by a communication on behalf of Mr.
Hussein, in which complaints about his allegedly unlawful detention had
been put forward, whereupon the Working Group delivered two Opinions on
this case.
"Its first Opinion (N° 46/2005), rendered on 30 November 2005, was
rather procedural in nature. In this Opinion the Working Group took the
position that it would not assess the lawfulness of Mr. Hussein's
detention between 13 December 2003 and 30 June 2004, since the
deprivation of liberty during this period took place in an ongoing
international armed conflict, and the United States Government
recognised that the Geneva Conventions apply to individuals captured in
the conflict in Iraq. Furthermore, the Working Group considered that it
would be premature to take a position on the arbitrariness of Mr.
Hussein's deprivation of liberty, since the procedural flaws asserted,
amounting to a violation of his right to fair trial could be, in
principle, redressed during the subsequent stages of the proceeding. In
this Opinion the Working Group invited the Governments of Iraq and the
United States, to which the complaints in the communication were
addressed, to file additional information.
"In its second and final Opinion (N° 31/2006), rendered on 1 September
2006, the Working Group concluded that the deprivation of liberty of Mr.
Hussein is arbitrary, being in contravention of Article 14 -- on the
right to fair trial -- of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR), a binding international treaty, to which both
Iraq and the United States are parties. The Opinion set out a series of
grave procedural flaws, such as, amongst others, the lack of
independence and impartiality of the tribunal, which heard the case, the
lack of respect for his right to have adequate time and facilities to
prepare his defence, the restrictions on his right to access to defence
lawyers and on the possibility to obtain the attendance and examination
of witnesses on his behalf.
"In this context the Working Group invited the Governments of Iraq and
the United States to consider whether a trial of the former Head of
State in conformity with international standards is at all possible
under the current conditions in Iraq, or whether the case should rather
be referred to an international tribunal.
"The Working Group clarified in its Opinion that it does not request the
release of Mr. Hussein. What it recommends to the two Governments is
that the serious procedural shortcomings are redressed and that the
situation of Mr. Hussein be brought in conformity with the principles of
the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and with the provisions of the
ICCPR.
"The Working Group also urges the Iraqi Government to refrain from
carrying out the sentence of death by hanging imposed in a proceeding,
which does not meet applicable basic standards of a fair trial.
"The text of the Working Group's Opinion 31/2006 will be available after
the publication of its annual report to the Human Rights Council".
source:
http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m28636&hd=&size=1&l=e
===
-muslim voice-
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BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW
