The Ba’ath Card

The statute of the Iraqi High Tribunal in article 33 prohibits anyone who was a member of the Ba’ath Party from working with the court. Due to a de facto suspension in the application of this provision, former Ba’ath Party members have been appointed to the court. In a briefing paper released in October 2005, Human Rights Watch criticized article 33 as interfering with the independence of judges, because it made several judges susceptible to dismissal at any time without regard to their actual past conduct.

In July 2005, the De-Ba’athification Commission sought the dismissal of more than 20 judges and other court personnel due to alleged former membership in the Ba’ath Party. Their dismissal was blocked only by the intervention of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Ja’afari.

… The 1985 U.N. Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary ensure that judges shall decide matters “without any restrictions, improper influences, inducements, pressures, threats or interferences, direct or indirect, from any quarter or for any reason.”

“Saddam Hussein Trial At Risk,” Human Rights Watch Press Release, 1/27/06.