Home > Let’s not make Saddam a martyr
Attempts at censorship will backfire
Leader
The Observer
Finally, Saddam Hussein is to be judged for his crimes. The sight of the former dictator, stripped of power and brought before a court to answer charges of genocide, murder and brutality, should be profoundly satisfying. The image of Saddam in chains speaks of a world where evil does not go unpunished, where justice is done and seen to be done. And yet, there is also cause to feel uneasy about the proceedings in Baghdad.
Saddam will almost certainly be found guilty by a bench of five Iraqi judges within the next two years. It is likely that he will then be hanged. Will the former dictator be mythologised as a hero or reviled as the tyrant he was? That will depend, not on the evidence, nor on his ugly record, but on whether his trial is seen to be fair.
For, if the trial is badly handled, many will see Saddam as a martyr. That would be a disaster for the West, further weakening our tattered credibility on the issue of ’human rights’. It would provide a boost to all who oppose the project to restore peace and prosperity (and a pro-Western government) in Iraq.
Early signs are not good. The tribunal overseeing the trial process was set up by a defunct American-appointed council and has little popular legitimacy. Its chairman is a nephew of Ahmed Chalabi, the discredited Pentagon ally. The judges are anonymous. Last week Saddam was denied legal representation.
The trial of Saddam Hussein is a tremendous opportunity to publicise the crimes of the former dictator and to finally provide an unanswerable case for last year’s invasion. It is a chance, too, to show that, to the West, justice is more than Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo Bay. The US appears not to understand this. Last week at Saddam’s arraignment, they tried to prevent the broadcast of sound from the proceedings and heavily censored pictures.
This is distressingly counterproductive. The trial must be a showcase for true justice - something that is very rare in the Middle East. Nothing should be hidden. The world should see and hear everything that occurs, every word of the testimony of Saddam’s victims and of his defence. That this will include some uncomfortable facts for western governments should be welcomed. Only through a genuine commitment to openness will the cynics who talk of a ’show trial’ be convinced. And only then can we be confident that history will record the true evil of Saddam’s rule.
Forum posts
4 July 2004, 06:46
The true extent of Saddam’s crimes would never, ever have been known had not Bush and Blair had the fortitude to do what the U.N. would not. Invade Iraq! The trial of Saddam and the brutality and magnitude of his shocking crimes will remind the world that if there ever in history there has been a justification for taking up arms against a tyrant, this was one of those occasions.