Judge Qasem Ayash, one of 100 Iraqi jurists fresh out of a crash course in international law, says it was a waste of time.
"I have been a judge for 32 years and they are teaching me the ABCs of law? I ought to be teaching them," the head of the Appellate Court says with contempt after attending the two-week course organized by the U.S. Defense Strategy for International Studies.
Has he ever tried a war criminal? No.
Would he sit on a tribunal trying Saddam Hussein and others? No again. Ayash notes that several judges thought to be working with the Americans have been murdered. The fear among jurists is that Saddam's supporters would kill them just for sitting in judgment on the ousted dictator.
This is exactly what worries human rights groups and international jurists. They fear that the Iraqi judiciary, after four decades under the thumb of the Baath regime, has neither the experience nor the expertise to conduct a complex trial for crimes against humanity. They say only a U.N.-led tribunal has international legitimacy and can guarantee fair trials.
Details here from the AP via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.