July 6th 2006

The lawyers of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein on Thursday called for the International Criminal Court in the Hague to get involved in his trial in Iraq. Emmanuel Ludot, one of the lawyers, said that Saddam should be declared a prisoner of war under the Geneva Conventions. The ICC, the lawyers said, should start investigating the violations in the current court case in Iraq.

The shortcomings, Ludot said, were violations of the convention and could be considered war crimes.

Witnesses for the defence have been threatened and jailed, Ludot said. Saddam's remaining lawyers who have survived assassination attempts can not speak freely, he said.

In addition, the threat of the death penalty violates the 1966 New York International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, Ludot said.

The ICC in The Hague was founded in 2002 as a standing court intended to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The US has not recognized the court, saying it could become a forum for politically-motivated prosecutions against US troops.

© 2006 DPA