Posted on 02/14/2005 7:03:21 PM PST by wagglebee
The trials of Saddam Hussein and other Iraqi war prisoners rests, at least in small part, on the shoulders of Ian M. Ralby, a 22-year-old William and Mary law school student.
He and 20 other students are providing legal research for the criminal case against Saddam and his accused henchmen, including cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known as “Chemical Ali.”
Working in groups of two or three, each is preparing answers to one of 10 legal questions posed by the U.S. Department of Justice to present at trial to the Iraqi Special Tribunal in Baghdad. Each must file a 50- to 60-page answer by an April deadline – on top of carrying a second- or third-year course load.
It is a task the students find both thrilling and daunting.
“It’s certainly an introduction to real life,” said Ralby, a third-year law student from Baltimore who already holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He speaks Spanish fluently and some German.
“This is the most significant and most important thing I’ve done. I’m not sure where it will lead, but it’s definitely an honor and a privilege to be a part of something so historic.”
The law school’s Iraqi Special Tribunal Clinic is one of three in the country helping prepare Iraq for the upcoming trials.
The Department of Justice did not respond to specific questions about the clinic. But justice officials have said that televised trials for some of Saddam’s key associates are set to begin in several weeks.
Professor Linda A. Malone, clinic leader and director of the school’s Human Rights and National Security Law Program, was pegged by colleagues who knew her reputation in the field of international law.
“This is really not so unusual,” she said, noting that previous classes have been involved in preparing for tribunals in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. This is the first class to receive school credit for the work.
The clinic, which she first mentioned in class last fall, was so popular she had to turn students away, choosing only second- and third-year students who already specialize in international law.
“To have this opportunity to do real-world practice on cutting edge issues of such significance is something they’ll remember for the rest of their legal careers,” she said.
Malone and the students are prohibited from disclosing the questions they are answering or discussing any aspect of their work.
There are even clandestine meetings to exchange information not safe to transmit through e-mail or by phone, students said.
Third-year law student Alana Malick, 25, Ralby’s clinic partner, said her interest in human rights law drew her to the program.
“It’s critical of us to understand the rights of the people on trial. A lot of human rights groups are watching,” she said.
“On the other hand, we’re looking at what the crimes are and who was being injured,” said Malick, a native of Northern Virginia and Roanoke.
Saddam and at least 11 former lieutenants face charges of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.
Allegations include the gassing of 5,000 Kurds, invading Kuwait and the torture and killing of hundreds of thousands of others. More than 30 years of alleged cruelties are expected to be used as evidence.
If convicted, Saddam faces a probable death sentence, according to legal experts. He has been held at a secret location since his capture in December 2003.
There are no political debates at the William and Mary clinic, no quarreling over life in prison versus death, no discussion over whether the trials should be turned over to an independent United Nations tribunal, as some human rights advocates have argued.
They are dealing, not so simply, with the rule of law.
Retired Marine Corps Col. Michael E. Dick, who is now studying law, brings his real-life experience to the clinic. At 49, he is an elder statesman compared with most of his peers there.
Dick, a Winchester native, served in the Grenada war and did tours in Beirut, Lebanon; Somalia; Liberia; and other war-torn nations.
“The big thing that made an impression on me in all those places was that the rule of law had broken down,” Dick said. “There clearly was a lack of respect for that process. This tribunal and the process involved is important not only for the repair process, but it sends an important signal to the rest of the world.”
There’s also a possibility that the students will get to travel to Baghdad to witness the proceedings. Malone said that’s a slim chance, but one the students would be thrilled over.
Malone said her students’ papers will be reviewed by the Justice Department, translated into Arabic and shipped to the five Iraqi judges on the tribunal.
I hope they are working on a plan to zap his testicles on pay per view before he is actually executed.
If Bush could figure out a way to put Saddam's execution on pay-per-view, the entire war on terror would probably be paid for; that being said, the 'Rats would never allow it.
This represents the training of a generation of international lawyers who won't tolerate dictators - kind of like the young americans who prosecuted the nazis at nuremburg in 1946.
As I read the article, I kept getting more and more incensed that these students were defending Saddam. Then I went back and re-read the opening paragraphs, and there is was in the second sentence -- "the criminal case against Saddam." Maybe there's hope yet!
Yes, I've heard Saddam's trial's quite a production! But it's like watching the movie "Titanic", you already know how it's going to end.
My word. When I did my Masters Degree in International Law I would have been thrilled to get an assignment like that! - Having said that, these kids are only going to be able to get public domain infomation into their dossiers and need to be VERY careful they don't hand Saddam's defense team any get-out cards by taking a quote from the library as gospel and presenting it as the slam dunk only to find the source was someone who had bluffed himself onto our intelligence payroll (a real possibility given some of the HumInt failures in Iraq). The real hangmans work must be done by first hand witnesses which I am sure the trial lawyers in Bagdahd are having little problem recruiting. I'm looking forward to this trial! I'm sure Saddam will be 'hanging around' for it.
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