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Reaction to Saddam Verdict

Europeans Opposed to Death Sentence

All across Europe, politicians are coming out against the death penalty for Saddam Hussein. From Britain to Italy, leaders have called on the Iraqi government not to hang Saddam. Shiites in Iraq have a slightly different opinion.

European politicians are presenting a united front in their opposition to the death penalty for Saddam Hussein. While the Italian and French foreign ministers called for Iraq to reconsider carrying out the sentence, British Prime Minister Tony Blair's opposition to death penalty is aligning him with other European leaders and against the United States.

In London the British Prime Minister Tony Blair was pressed hard by journalists to clarify his stance on Saddam Hussein's death sentence. During a grilling at his monthly press conference on Monday he first tried to dodge the issue by saying that Britain opposed capital punishment in general. Finally when he was pushed to say if he was for or against the former Iraqi dictator's sentence, he said: "We are against the death penalty, whether it's Saddam or anybody else."

Blair's position put him at odds with his ally President George W. Bush who on Sunday praised the sentence as "a milestone in the Iraqi people's efforts to replace the rule of a tyrant with the rule of law."

According to Blair, "there are other and bigger issues to talk about." He said that it was up to the Iraqis to decide whether the sentence is carried out. "What I think is important about this is to recognize that this trial of Saddam has been handled by the Iraqis themselves, and they will take the decision about it."

Europe united in opposition

European leaders are all singing from the same hymn sheet. Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, who was in London to meet Blair, said "Italy is against the death penalty and so even in such a dramatic case as Saddam Hussein, we still think the death sentence must not be put into action."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that while it was "right and important" that Saddam was tried for his crimes, her country opposed the death penalty.

Speaking in Paris on Monday, Italy's foreign minister, Massimo D'Alema echoed his boss Prodi's comments: "There is no doubt that carrying out Saddam Hussein's death sentence is unacceptable for us." Italian opposition was not just a matter of principle but of concern for the possible consequences. "Because of the dramatic situation in the country it could push Iraq further towards a full-blown civil war," he said, following a meeting with Philippe Douste-Blazy, his opposite number in Paris. Douste-Blazy said that France and the European Union were opposed to the death penalty in general and wanted a worldwide ban.

The Vatican has also voiced its concerns. Cardinal Renato Martino, one of the pope's top aides, said on Vatican Radio that "God gave us life and only God can take it away" and that sentencing someone to death "is a crime, a crime to punish another crime." He added that if the former dictator had gone before an international court he would not be facing the death penalty.

The Council of Europe warned that the verdict could propel Iraq towards further violence. "A country ravaged by violence and death does not need more violence and especially not a state-orchestrated execution," said Terry Davis, secretary general of the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly. "Saddam Hussein is a criminal and should not be allowed to become a martyr."

The current occupant of the EU presidency Finland had already declared on Sunday that the 25-member union is fundamentally opposed to the death penalty, including in the case of Saddam. The EU has often appealed on behalf of its citizens facing execution abroad, and any country hoping to join the bloc must first abolish capital punishment, as Turkey did in 2002 before it could open accession negotiations.

UN expert questions legality of tribunal

A United Nations legal expert has likewise urged the Iraqi government not to carry out the death sentence. Leandro Despouy, the UN special investigator on the independence of judges and lawyers, questioned the fairness of the trial and called for an international tribunal to either retry Saddam or handle the appeals process.

He said to hang Saddam would be a "serious legal setback" for Iraq and expressed concern about the possible consequences. "It is clear that the verdict and its possible application will contribute to deepen the armed violence and the political and religious polarization in Iraq, bringing with it the almost certain risk that the crisis will spread to the entire region," he said in a statement. One of Despouy's problems with the tribunal is that it could only try Iraqis and could not consider alleged war crimes carried out by foreign troops in Iraq during the first Gulf War or since the overthrow of Saddam in 2003.

He also called into doubt the credibility of a tribunal that was established during an occupation, which is considered illegal by many, composed of judges selected during the occupation and mainly financed by the United States. He said it failed to respect "international rights, principles and standards." The deaths of one of the judges, five candidate judges and three defense lawyers may also have unfairly affected the trial.

The death sentences handed down to Saddam and two of his co-defendants will now go to a nine-judge appeal panel, expected to rule by mid-January. If upheld, the sentences will be carried out within 30 days.

Iraqi president not intending to sign execution order

The Iraqi president Jalal Talabani said Monday that he wouldn't sign Saddam's death sentence. However, he emphasized that his personal signature was not necessary for it to be carried out. "The court does not need the signature of the Iraqi president," he told a conference in Paris. "The Iraqi judiciary is independent." Talabani said he had signed a petition against the death penalty some years ago. In the past, Talabani, a Sunni Kurd who was elected president in 2005, has deputized a vice president to sign an execution order in his place.

As for Iraqis themselves, some of them, especially the Shiites, are all for the execution and would prefer to see it be a public one. “We want him to be executed in Firdoos Square and we wish the same fate for Bush," 33-year-old teacher Raad Sahdi told the Times of London. "We hope that he is judged the same way because of the destruction he caused in Iraq." Others also indicated they were in favor of a public hanging.

Saddam Hussein is appearing in court again on Tuesday in a separate genocide trial investigating the Anfal campaign of 1987-88 during which up to 180,000 Kurds died.

smd/ansa/ap/spiegel