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Saddam and Soeharto
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Tue, 11/07/2006 11:42 AM | Opinion
Tyrants around the world beware. The arms of justice will catch up with you eventually.
That was the message from Baghdad on Sunday, after a court found former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to death by hanging.
Saddam should count himself lucky. Any God-fearing person (and Saddam professes to be one) knows very well that it is better to be punished for your deeds here and now, rather than later in the hereafter. A handful of other dictators who have managed to elude the arms of justice, including Indonesia's own Soeharto, may laugh at Saddam's predicament, but if they fear God they know that in the end, there is no escaping the wrath of their Creator.
Justice shall prevail. In the case of Saddam, justice is coming sooner, and here on earth, than for the few ruling and former dictators still alive today.
Kudos to the Iraqi judiciary for continuing to spin the wheels of justice in spite of the raging civil war, and for concluding what must be seen as one of the trials of the century. The trial experienced some difficult times, with judges and prosecutors coming and going -- either killed, replaced or resigning in fear. This upheaval reflects the challenges facing the Iraqi judiciary in trying to function while the country is engulfed by civil war.
In the end, the court concluded the trial, and not unexpectedly it handed down the maximum sentence. Democracy may still not prevail in Iraq, but justice, an important element of democracy, has been upheld in this particular instance. Importantly, this verdict gives some credibility to the Iraqi judiciary at a time when just about everything else in the state seems to be falling apart.
Saddam's trial was conducted in the open and was widely covered by the Iraqi and international media. It was as fair a trial as could be expected given the situation in Iraq today. Saddam was allowed to defend himself and he used every opportunity to rail against his enemies, particularly the United States.
It was not a perfect trial by any means, but the alternative would have been worse. In the end, it was an Iraqi court with Iraqi judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers that passed judgment on the former Iraqi leader.
But it was not the verdict that was the most important message coming out of the courtroom. Under the Iraqi legal system, Saddam can appeal his sentence. Failing that, there may be an opportunity to appeal for clemency. The verdict Sunday is not final and could still change.
What is even more important is that the wheels of justice in Iraq are still working even under the most difficult circumstances. Justice must not only be upheld, but it must also be seen to be upheld.
Justice and peace-loving people, in Iraq and elsewhere in the world, can take comfort knowing that a tyrant whose hands are covered with the blood of his own people has finally been confronted by his deeds and held to account in a public hearing. Whether or not Saddam feels remorse is irrelevant, and whatever punishment he receives in the end, we know he has gone through an internationally acceptable legal process. That's a more powerful message than the verdict itself.
As one tyrant heads for the gallows, another is enjoying a peaceful and prosperous retirement in his home in a posh section of Jakarta. Indonesia's Soeharto has managed to elude trial even on the relatively mild charge of corruption, by professing to be too physically and mentally ill to appear in court. His ability to avoid trial is illustrative of the state of our corrupt and dysfunctional judiciary, where impunity remains the order of the day for a select group of people.
Corruption is the least of Soeharto's misdeeds. He oversaw the 1966 massacre of suspected communists, and atrocities in East Timor, Aceh, Papua and a handful of other places during his 32- year reign. He has not been held accountable for these deeds more than eight years after stepping down.
But if one believes that justice will eventually prevail, if not here then in the hereafter, perhaps Soeharto is not so lucky after all when compared to Saddam.
If and when Saddam faces execution, he can die in peace. The Iraqi lesson for Soeharto, who is 85 and ailing, is that he can die in peace, rather than in public disgrace, by appearing in a public court to account for his deeds. But time is quickly running out.
