International Human Rights lawyer Dr Curtis Doebbler, a member of Saddam Hussein’s defence team, gave a talk to students and staff of An-Najah National University about the illegality of the former Iraqi president’s trial.
Dr Doebbler was one of eight lawyers who represented Saddam. His speech covered two areas: the illegality of the trial, and the consequences of this illegal trial. As an aside, Dr Doebbler mentioned that Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, had stated two days previously that the execution of Saddam Hussein would be illegal because he had been convicted at an illegal trial.
Dr Doebbler said that in November 2005 Saddam’s defence team submitted a 300-page document arguing that the court trying Saddam was illegal because it was created after the illegal occupation of Iraq. Three weeks before Saddam was executed, said Dr Doebbler, he and former US Attorney-General Ramsey Clark met Saddam and asked him if he wanted them to intervene to stop the execution. They argued that, as his lawyers, it was their responsibility to stop the unfair execution, but, he said, after an hour of arguing, Saddam told them that if his execution was illegal, the occupation of Iraq was also an illegal action so he would die with the pride of the Iraqi people. Dr Doebbler said that for him, as Saddam’s lawyer, this was a difficult statement but it reflected Saddam’s belief that he personified the courage of Iraqi people wanting justice.
Dr Doebbler told the audience: “Whatever you might think of the president and how he governed Iraq, we can’t know the truth because an illegal court will not give us the truth.” He had known the former president during a difficult time for him, he said, but Saddam had acted in the best tradition of the Arab World, and that it is an Islamic principle, this sense of justice; justice would prevail despite everything. But in this case, said Dr Doebbler, justice would not be done. Dr Doebbler said that by the manner in which he died, Saddam encouraged the Iraqi people to press for justice, to achieve their independence.
Dr Doebbler went on to say that those who study international law know that when you represent a person in an occupied country they have the right to a fair trial. Anyone who prevents that person from having a fair trial is guilty of breaking international law; if any individual breaks the law in this way, the state must bring them to justice, especially in the Arab world. Every one must press for justice and at the end justice will be upheld.
During questions from the audience Dr Doebbler was asked why he participated in the trial, if it was illegal, and whether he would continue to press for justice with regard to the trial. One student also asked why, if justice existed, the heads of state of the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel were not put on trial for their crimes in Lebanon, Iraq, and Palestine.
Dr Doebbler concluded his presentation by saying that Saddam spoke many times about the Palestinian people, and that every time they met Saddam asked him what was happening in Palestine, even at a time when he had been sentenced to death by his enemies after an unfair trial and his country was under occupation. Dr Doebbler added that he was not present when Saddam was executed but he was told that some of Saddam’s last words were that Palestine is for Arabs. “To me, this was an expression of how important the Palestinian people were to Saddam,” said Dr Doebbler.
Dr. Curtis F.J. Doebbler is an international human rights lawyer who since 1998 has been representing individuals before international human rights bodies in African, Europe, the Americas and before the United Nations bodies. He is also an American lawyer authorized to practice before the courts of the District of Columbia in Washington, DC, USA.
He is known for his outspoken opposition to human rights violations by the United States government.