By Michael Georgy
Reuters, 22 March 2006
Baghdad's new courthouse is held up by U.S. officials as a symbol of the independent legal system three years of U.S. occupation has brought, but defense lawyers are angry at what they say is summary American justice.
"During Saddam's time we couldn't say a word. Now we scream and scream and nobody listens," defense attorney Thabit Zubeidi told Reuters as he waited on standby for officials to appoint him to defend those accused who had no other representation.
On Wednesday, an apparently typical day at the Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI), Iraqi lawyers stood aside as U.S. troops escorted shackled prisoners, who were being made to carry heavy cases of bottled water into the building.
Armed American soldiers are a visible presence throughout the low rise building, once Saddam Hussein's treasure store for official gifts he received. They are also on guard inside the courtrooms, where trials on "terrorism" charges are held.
U.S. military lawyers insisted the court is an Iraqi operation and their only role is to help gather evidence and observe sessions: "The Iraqi judges are the ones making the decisions," said Lieutenant Colonel John Carroll, who is a judge back home in the United States. "This is an Iraqi process."
It is a central part of a strategy to defeat an insurgency that has killed thousands of Iraqis since 2003.
But defense lawyers involved in the process, in which a typical trial may consist of a single, hour-long hearing, complained they had little practical access to clients who are swept up by U.S. troops and detained for months at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib jail or the remote Camp Bucca in the south.
"We only learn what the charges are when they arrive here," said attorney Amer al-Kinnassy, who was in court to defend five men from one family accused of possessing weapons. "Even then, the Americans do not let us talk to our clients ... If I try to walk over there and talk to my clients they won't let me."
CONVICTIONS
U.S. officials present at the court, most of them wearing security badges turned inward to conceal their identities, declined comment on the procedures. In principle, detainees are entitled to visits but lawyers say it is difficult in practice.
More than 40,000 Iraqis have been detained as suspected rebels over the past three years, most from the Sunni Arab minority dominant under Saddam. Over 14,000 are now in U.S. custody, a process that can last many months or even years.
The CCCI has condemned 879 people to sentences up to 30 years in 964 trials, according to data published this week by Task Force 134, the U.S. military unit overseeing detentions.
Lawyers said about 20 suspected insurgents are brought to trial every day from the Abu Ghraib prison, formerly the site of prisoner abuse under Saddam and more recently by U.S. guards.
In principle the heavily guarded courthouse, next to the Green Zone government compound where Saddam himself is on trial in a special court, is open to the public. Few attend, however.
Clutching M-16 rifles, U.S. soldiers escorted prisoners in bright yellow uniforms, chained hand and foot, into the building. Prisoners included a woman -- a rarity in the system -- who unlike the other detainees wore a helmet and body armor.
Though Iraqi guards are stationed at the courthouse, the bulk of security duties appeared to fall to American troops.
A U.S. officer overseeing the troops declined to say what role he played: "All I can say is have a nice day," he said.
PRAYERS
On Tuesday, the court convicted 21 people for charges that included possession of illegal weapons and sentenced them to 7 years in jail each, the U.S. military said in a statement.
In court on Wednesday, Kinnassy watched his clients -- a 50-year-old man, his three sons and his brother-in-law -- as they sat on the floor of the courtroom with their faces close to the wall. U.S. soldiers stood guard behind them.
Two of them prayed in anticipation of the verdict, aware they faced a maximum sentence of 30 years. One by one, the men entered a metal pen to hear the judge read testimony from two witnesses -- both U.S. soldiers.
The father, Kathim Taher, could barely speak. His sons told the judge Sunni militants had badly beaten him during 14 months in U.S. custody and he had not recovered. The family are Shi'ite Muslims, their lawyer said -- not typical of insurgent suspects.
Each of the younger men said U.S. troops came to their house to search for weapons and they were handed the AK-47 assault rifle that each Iraqi family is allowed to possess.
The soldiers did find a cache of rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and other weapons in farmland 300 meters (yards) away, the court was told. They brought it back to the house, placed it beside the family and took photographs.
After a brief recess, the judge acquitted all five men.
Others had more mixed results. But Shakir Salman still walked free. Detained for having a forged identity card, he was sentenced to six months. But the judge let him go after noting he had already been held by the Americans for a year.
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Citation: Michael Georgy. "Iraqis tired of US-run show at criminal court," Reuters, 22 March 2006.
Original URL: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060322/ts_nm/iraq_court_dc
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