Dear Iraqi Special Tribunal Members,
It has come to my attention that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein has finally been brought to justice. Although the five-judge panel, made up of Kurds, Sunni, and Shiites have repeatedly stated that they aren’t interested in settling scores, and are ignoring any negative feelings they have towards him to give him a fair trial, I believe that Saddam will not be granted a fair trial due to the evidence, background of judges,
and the Iraqi court system which we are funding.
As I mentioned, the evidence that is provided to support that Saddam is guilty is not eligible. First a lot of the evidence could have been faked or distorted, and as Saddam had stated “The video tapes should not be admissible as evidence because they could be altered or faked.” The judge did not respond to this question and to Khalil al-Dulaimi, Saddam’s lawyer, when he asked for the names of the witnesses who will testify for the prosecution, names that have been kept secret to prevent reprisals against them. How are we supposed to believe that there are even any witnesses?
Besides the evidence, the background of the judges makes you a little suspicious to how there not holding anything against him. The trial’s main focus is on the role of Saddam and seven allies in a 1982 massacre in Dujail, a heavily influenced Shiite town 50 miles north of Baghdad. About 150 people were executed and about 1,500 others imprisoned and tortured after Shiite militants there failed to assassinate Saddam. The toll pales against the thousands of Kurds who were gassed to death in Halabja in 1988 or with the thousands of Shiites slaughtered after a 1991 uprising, or even the countless Iraqis whose lives were ruined by Saddam’s regime. Now how can you believe that a court made up of people that Saddam has mistreated has absolutely nothing against him. How do we know that Saddam didn’t torture or kill any relatives of the judges that make up the five-judge panel?...