Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=4-8-03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=CONGRESS / IRAQ WAR CRIMES (L ONLY)

NUMBER=2-301941

BYLINE=DEBORAH TATE

DATELINE=CAPITOL HILL

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Key U-S lawmakers have introduced a resolution condemning Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and other Iraqi officials for committing war crimes, and are vowing the United States will prosecute those responsible. Correspondent Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

TEXT: As the U-S led war to disarm Iraq continues, debate has already begun in the United States over the question of prosecuting Iraqis accused of war crimes.

Members of Congress have introduced a resolution calling for the 'prosecution by tribunal' of any Iraqis involved in violations of armed conflict directed at members of the U-S-led coalition, the people of Iraq or any other nation.

Congressman Curt Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican, is a co-sponsor:

/// WELDON ACTUALITY ///

I want the Iraqi leaders to understand, this is not just about removing Saddam Hussein from power. This is about a regime that has done more to violate human rights than any other regime since Adolph Hitler and Josef Stalin.

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Sponsors say the resolution will allow Congress to send a signal to Iraqi leaders that they will be held accountable for war crimes. The sponsors say Iraqi officials have violated the rules of armed conflict by soliciting suicide bombers, hiding munitions in holy sites, and using civilians as human shields.

Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, a senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, offered some thoughts on how a judicial body would be set up to prosecute such war crimes.

/// SPECTER ACTUALITY ///

My sense is that the tribunal will be set up in Iraq. It would be administered jointly by the United States and Great Britain, participated in by other coalition countries. I believe it would have the most therapeutic effect if it is done at the scene in Iraq.

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But another co-sponsor of the resolution, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, says it is important to have broad international support for the tribunal. He said he would like to see participation from nations that opposed the U-S-led war, including France, Germany and Russia.

/// BIDEN ACTUALITY ///

The whole idea of this is not to punish those who have engaged in war crimes, but to internationalize a standard and a moral disapprobation (disapproval) of the world as to what this guy (Saddam Hussein) has done.

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Meanwhile, Bush administration officials say a new Iraqi government should prosecute Saddam Hussein and his aides for war crimes that pre-date the current conflict.

/// REST OPT ///

Iraqi exiles agree, including Katrine Michael, who met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday:

/// MICHAEL ACTUALITY ///

This court should be made up of Iraqi people inside Iraq and outside Iraq because we suffered a lot.

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Kenan Makiya, a member of the Iraqi National Congress, an exile group based in London, is working with the U-S State Department on the issue of a war crimes court.

He proposes a series of different courts, the first and most important being an international court to deal with 'crimes against humanity', which could be based in Iraq or in Geneva or the Hague.

Lesser crimes, he says, could be dealt with in new courts in Iraq.

/// MAKIYA ACTUALITY ///

The problem is that the existing judicial system is a Baathist system which need total reform. That is not going to happen quickly, so we need to set up courts inside Iraq again to try people for this other category of crime.

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He also suggests that a truth and reconciliation commission be formed like that established in South Africa to deal with less serious criminal cases. (signed)

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