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The United Nations cannot be expected to lend its legitimacy and expertise to the fundamentally flawed Iraqi Special Tribunal for Crimes Against Humanity, Human Rights Watch said today.

A tri-lateral meeting between the U.N. Secretary-General, members of the Governing Council, and officials from the Coalition Provisional Authority to discuss the future role of the United Nations in Iraq is scheduled in New York for January 19, 2004.

"Trials for serious past crimes committed in Iraq are of the greatest significance," said Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch. "But any tribunal set up to try these crimes must comply with international standards. The United Nations cannot be expected to legitimize a fundamentally flawed tribunal."

In a letter to the United States and United Kingdom, Human Rights Watch explained that key provisions are lacking in the Iraqi Special Tribunal statute to ensure trials are conducted in accordance with basic international human rights standards. Among other concerns:

  • The Special Tribunal statute fails to ensure that the tribunal is competent. The statute does not require judges and prosecutors to have experience working on complex criminal cases or cases involving serious human rights crimes.
  • The Special Tribunal statute does not prohibit the death penalty or insist that guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
  • The Special Tribunal statute mandates that Iraqi criminal law and procedure provide the principles of criminal law and criminal responsibility where not specified in the statute. Iraqi law is in some important respects contrary to international standards, such as by permitting coerced confessions and the exclusion of lawyers during questioning in certain circumstances.

Human Rights Watch urged the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Governing Council to correct its recent course of action in establishing the Iraqi Special Tribunal. Human Rights Watch called on the Coalition Provisional Authority to support the creation of a mixed Group of Experts in conjunction with the United Nations to scrutinize and recommend essential changes to the present statute.

"The Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraqi Governing Council excluded the United Nations in drafting the Iraqi Special Tribunal statute, but now seek the U.N. stamp of legitimacy," said Dicker. "The United Nations should be a real partner - not dragged in through the backdoor."

To read Human Rights Watch's letters, see
https://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2004/01/15/iraq6938.htm (Letter to the United States), and
https://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2004/01/15/iraq6941.htm (Letter to the United Kingdom)

For more information on justice and Iraq, see https://www.hrw.org/campaigns/iraq/#Justice

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