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Show DAILY HERALD Sunday, September 9, 2007 A9 Justice complex presents look at Iraqi court system's future David Rising THE ASSOCIATED witnesses he would not give details. PRESS Reaching through the bars BAGHDAD The suspect stood behind the polished wooden bars in the new courtroom. His eyes flitted nervously as the litany of accusations was rattled off: mortar attacks, car bombings, kidnapping and of the holding cell he shares with 14 other men, Gassan Ali was desperate to talk. Ali gave voice to many of the human rights organizations' concerns. A former interpreter for the U.S. military in Amiriyah, about 25 miles west of Baghdad, the murder among other crimes linked to his alleged role as an in Iraq fighter. The Syrian then raised his eyebrows in apparent disbelief when the chief judge read the sentence: death by hanging. The June trial of Ramzi Ahmed Ismael Muhammad better known by his nom de guerre, Abu Qatada was y the first at a new complex built as a possible model for reforming Iraq's justice system and countering international allegations of abuses and shortcomings on every level. But it is also a testament to Iraq's instability and the d huge risks facing efforts to rebuild key institutions. The Law and Order Comcourthouse, plex tribunal, prison and staff living had to be built as quarters a fortress against the violence and sectarian pressures next door, in Baghdad's Shiite stronghold of Sadr City. Here, judges live with their families and work behind blast barriers. At least 31 judges have been killed in attacks apparently linked to their work since the U.S.-le- d invasion in 2003, according to the Iraqi Higher Judicial Council, the government agency that oversees the courts. e suspects such as Abu Qatada also are removed from potential reprisals paradoxically making them much safer than ordinary Iraqis. And now there are far more detainees awaiting their day in court. The security crackdown in Baghdad has pushed up the number of detainees from about 15,000 in January to more than 24,000, worsening already serious backlogs. "Some prisoners we found have been in confinement here since 2003 waiting to make an appearance before an investigative judge," said Michael Walther, a senior Justice Department official who is in U.S. charge of the Law and Order Task Force overseeing the project. That makes it "virtually impossible" for prosecutors to make a credible case, he added. "Witnesses disappear, evi-- said he was picked up by Iraqi police in April from his home and thrown behind bars for no reasoa "They just put me here, innocent, many people like this here. They say, do I know the terrorist? I don't know any terrorist." he said in broken English. He said he was never presented with any charges or ev and suspects he signed a confession at the police station when officials briefly removed his blindfold. "I signed, but I don't know what I signed blind me off, blind me on and sign and thumbprint on paper," he said. His biggest desires are to It t his family know he's OK, and to have someone hear his side of the story. "We want them to push us to court, this is what we need," he said. "I want to explain, not just me, many people here need court to explain." The Law and Order Task Force does not give breakdowns of types of sentence, or a figure for death penalties. An estimated 50 percent of cases that go to trial before the jury-les- s court end in acquittals, which Walther takes as a good high-securit- II Ql U.S.-backe- fast-trac- k KHAUD dence gets lost or deteriorates so we thought it was critical both for the individual's rights and for the process to move these prisoners through the system more quickly," Walther said. The development of the complex was pushed by the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gea David Petraeus, who appears before Congress this week before issuing a crucial progress report on U.S. strategies in Iraq. Ideally, Walther said, up to five legal compounds will be established in different regions, starting with the western city of Ramadi, where violence has fallen sharply. The Baghdad complex is Zone dubbed a after the larger Baghdad complex that protects the Iraqi government and U.S. Embassy. It stands on grounds developed by Saddam Hussein as an Olympic village and later taken over by the dictator's Interior Ministry. Construction of the court and additional prison space began in March just after the beginning of the troop surge into Baghdad. Abu Qatada's case was the first to be heard. The defendant was accused of having fought U.S. troops in Baghdad in 2003 and then High-profil- mini-Gree- n as a sniper for forces responsible for "serious" human rights violations, including severe beatings, electrocud said. a tions and sexual assaults. grenade round in his car, according to In its latest report, the UN. Meanwhile, the existing Walther. He was sentenced to complex is filling up from Assistance Mission says autwo years in jail, but promptly about 2,500 prisoners in Febru- thorities have yet to show the escaped from Abu Ghraib ary to 6,300 today and likely to will to hold law enforcement hit its maximum level of 7,300 prison. personnel accountable for abuses. And Amnesty International He started running an before the end of November, said there was "insufficient or in Iraq cell in south BaghWalther said. While awaiting trial, prisonno investigation of allegations dad, prosecutors claimed, and was recaptured Dec. 27, 2005. ers live in metal cages divided of torture despite frequent reliThe case is on automatic down the middle with 13 inance on 'confessions' made durmates on each side. Each side ing detention to obtain convicappeal and is expected to be decided within two to three has a toilet, a shower, and air tions for capital offenses." But that, too, could be changimonths. It isn't known how conditioning. Said Arikat, director of the ngmany death sentences have been handed down by the new U.N. Assistance Mission for Among the pending cases is courthouse, but they are fairly Iraq, sees signs of attempts "to that of an Iraqi lieutenant colocommon for security-relate- d improve the system and recog- nel identified only as "A" ' nize that there is a problem." offenses. who allegedly assaulted and But he points out that abuses tortured detainees, mostly Sun-niUnder the Iraqi judicial sysidentified by the U.N. group He was arrested in March tem, similar to many in contia nental Europe, an investigative such as forced confessions and and his case is still under Inwill torture are linked to interview witnesses usually judge U.S. Navy Cmdr. John and weigh the evidence before terior Ministry facilities where deciding whether to pursue the prisoners are held before being Maksym, who heads a Law and sent to places such as the jusOrder Task Force unit working case or dismiss it. with Iraqis investigating major tice complex. As of Aug. 31, the court crimes in the Iraqi government, In its annual global survey had 2,377 cases on its dockets, said he was involved in invesof human rights practices in investigative judges had dismissed 428 cases, and 120 trials March, the U.S. State Departtigation and litigation of other "heinous crimes" committed ment said the Iraqi Defense had been completed. To protect the The trial court has one three-judg- e and Interior Ministries were panel, with a second expected to be added in a few weeks. It is hoped that eventually five panels will sit in a new in Fallujah in 2004 before being arrested in Baghdad with . i r 9s it was just sort of railroad jus- tice," he said. 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' Ri'aU". r.;dm' ; Das'jup, Ph.D. Youru:.:i-by Kan 'LI V If u T-:-- Ml V I; Cc.'.: - J " 'rqjjn and Diet Indus: V; CWj Notiood Kidnay Foundotion ,. PS!) Deseret Book. ttb .3 Erickson, ...?.orr,:n ' c.r: v-- kfihifi. Lifjgh Out Loud" L ' Ther:::cfcy' SttZZZ: - Dr. Richard L Moss, MD 1 pressure to clear the backlog faster, he said. "We really have to push peo pie through the system, especially in view of the results we have: 50 percent of the people will be let go," he said. The convictions have broken down about equally between Sunni and Shiite defendants, suggesting an absence of the sectarian pressures that judge:; elsewhere in Iraq are encountering, Walther said. The current trial panel consists of a Sunni and two Shiites, one of them married to a Sunni. The chief prosecutor inves-tigatio- iock r sign. "If the court was convicting 100 percent, we'd be concerned s. i ij. :. $11 million court building to be completed next year with U.S. reconstruction funds, Walther rocket-propelle- - 4 MOHAMMED Associated Press Prisoner reads Koran inside of his cell in the Rusafa 5 intake prison inside the new judicial Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, on Aug. 28. .,t!r mm |