2006年VOA标准英语-Saddam Trial Disappoints Legal Experts

By Richard Krantz
Washington, D.C.
04 April 2006
 
watch Saddam Trial report

Iraq's former leader Saddam Hussein faces new charges of genocide and crimes against humanity in the 1980s crackdown against the Kurds, including the infamous¹ gassing of thousands of civilians² in the village of Halabja. The charges were announced Tuesday.

The current trial of Saddam and seven co-defendants³ on another charge, often disrupted by violence and courtroom theatrics, has so far disappointed international law scholars.  And they say enormous challenges lie ahead as the case goes forward.  

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Defendants, without Saddam  
  

After capturing the defeated Iraqi dictator, the United States helped the Iraqi Governing Council set up a court to try Saddam and members of his regime for alleged⁴ war crimes.  They planned 12 consecutive⁵ trials of so-called "mega-crimes", including the invasion of Kuwait; ethnic⁶ cleansing⁷ against the Kurds; and the massacre⁸ of Shi'ites. Those charged may face the death penalty.

Instead of a trial outside Iraq, an Iraqi Special Tribunal was created in Baghdad, using Iraqi judges and prosecutors¹⁰ trained by a team of U.S. legal experts.

For U.S. international law scholars, such as Leila Sadat, of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, hopes for success were high:

Leila Sadat  
  
"The purpose of a trial is to set aside violence to show that no man is above the law, not even the head of state if he commits terrible crimes,” she told us. “And to try to reestablish legitimacy¹¹, democracy, human rights - moving forward - also showing that Iraq can be a country, subject to the rule of law."

But soon after the first trial began last October, in which Saddam and his co-defendants are charged with killing¹² 148 Shi'ite men in the town of Dujail after a 1982 assassination¹³ attempt, a defense¹⁴ lawyer was seized and killed.  Three weeks later a second lawyer was killed and another wounded. 

Soon after, Saddam told the tribunal to "go to hell" and the trial proceeded briefly¹⁵ without him.

In January, Chief Judge Rizgar Amin resigned and was replaced by Judge Raouf Abdel Rahman.

Michael Scharf   
  
"This trial has not gone as anybody has hoped," says Michael Scharf, a law professor from Case Western Reserve University, helped train the Iraqi court officials.

“It has gone, however, as I expected it might,” he adds. “Whenever you have an international war crimes case involving a former leader, and his strategy is to try to disrupt and derail the trial, it presents enormous obstacles and challenges for the judges."

Saddam's assault on the court's legitimacy is just part of its woes¹⁶, says Northwestern University law professor David Scheffer. He says the trial has also been plagued by questions of jurisdiction¹⁷, and whether some judges have a conflict-of-interest.

 
David Scheffer 
  
"These are issues that just keep coming up.  They never die.  And so if the court would just handle those and deliver very professional written judgments¹⁸ with respect to those issues, I think that would settle the court down a little bit and certainly impress upon the defendants that this is a process that's here to stay, and that it's going to be completed."  

Completing the process include a challenge from Saddam's defense

"What Saddam Hussein is going to do in the second half of the trial is try to argue that what he did to the town of Dujail is the same thing that the United States has been doing to towns across Iraq and Afghanistan when faced with terrorism and insurgents¹⁹, says Professor Scharf.  “(He) will raise the defense that he did the same thing against insurgents and terrorists that the United States is doing in Iraq and the issue that the United States and the prosecutor⁹ is going to have to prove is that the two cases are distinct."

Security is another big challenge facing the Iraqi Special Tribunal, says David Scheffer. "It doesn't matter whether or not the courtroom is the most secure room in the world.   I think what matters is what's happening outside the courtroom doors.  And if Iraq is, in fact, descending²⁰ into civil war, that has a tremendous impact on the ability of this trial to proceed smoothly²¹." 

If Saddam is found guilty in the Dujail case, Iraqi law calls for quick execution, thus preventing him from being tried for other alleged war crimes. Leila Sadat says that would be a mistake: "If it's solely²² (about) retribution and punishment of Saddam, it doesn't set Iraq on to a new path of justice and the rule of law.  And that's really the ultimate legacy²³, you want a trial to be kind of the defining moment for a country, where the new political elite²⁴ see themselves as bound by the norms established by the trial. "

Iraq may face other defining moments in the coming weeks as it tries to create a functioning government and resolve sectarian conflict. But legal scholars are still hoping that the Saddam trial will prove to be a milestone²⁵ event  - and not the circus sideshow it has sometimes appeared to be.

1 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

2 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

3 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

4 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

5 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

7 cleansing   

n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词

参考例句：

• medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin 敏感皮肤药物清洗棉
• Soap is not the only cleansing agent. 肥皂并不是唯一的清洁剂。

8 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

9 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

10 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

11 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

12 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

13 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

14 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

15 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

16 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

17 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

18 judgments   

判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判

参考例句：

• A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
• He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。

19 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

20 descending   

n. 下行 adj. 下降的

参考例句：

• The results are expressed in descending numerical order . 结果按数字降序列出。
• The climbers stopped to orient themselves before descending the mountain. 登山者先停下来确定所在的位置，然后再下山。

21 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

22 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

23 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

24 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

25 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。