Saddam Hussein to be released? or charged?




In an interesting twist of events, according to the Geneva Convention, as a prisoner of war, Saddam Hussein must be charged with crimes or released at the June 30th transfer of sovereignty. A trial is exactly what the Bush administration has been hoping to avoid. Now that they have him, will the Bush administration pass Saddam over to Iraqi authorities without charging him? Could he get a fair trial in Iraq?

from nytimes.com:

If the United States government does not bring charges against Saddam Hussein relatively soon it will be technically required, because of his prisoner-of-war status, to release him after the restoration of limited sovereignty, officials with human rights and aid groups said on Monday.

None of the officials were advocating Mr. Hussein's release, and they said they want him to stand trial. But they also said that since the United States insists that the occupation will formally end on June 30, when limited powers will be handed to the interim Iraqi government, the Geneva Convention requires that the Americans bring charges against their prisoners of war or release them.

In an interview Monday on Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based television channel, Iraq's interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi, said the United States would hand over Mr. Hussein and other leaders of his government for trial within two weeks.

"The transfer of Saddam Hussein and the others will take place within two weeks," Mr. Allawi said.

The State Department said Monday that the United States would negotiate terms with the Iraqi interim government for holding prisoners who, like Mr. Hussein, were deemed to be threats.

Wilder Tayler, the legal director for Human Rights Watch, echoed Ms. Notari's statement that prisoners of war should be released at the end of a conflict or occupation unless they have been charged with any crimes.

So this is the 'justice' the Bush administration wants for Saddam? To let Iraq try him? Sure -- that way none of the facts of how we supplied him with all his weapons of mass destruction will have to come out before the American people.

Posted: Mon - June 14, 2004 at 10:37 PM          

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