US embassy cable - 04AMMAN5522

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MEDIA REACTION ON SADDAM'S TRIAL

Identifier: 04AMMAN5522
Wikileaks: View 04AMMAN5522 at Wikileaks.org
Origin: Embassy Amman
Created: 2004-07-07 11:42:00
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Tags: KMDR JO
Redacted: This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS AMMAN 005522 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARN, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, INR/NESA, R/MR, 
I/GNEA, B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN 
USAID/ANE/MEA 
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH 
PARIS FOR O'FRIEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
TAGS: KMDR JO 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON SADDAM'S TRIAL 
 
                        Summary 
 
-- Lead story in all papers today, July 7, highlights 
King Abdullah's renewal of confidence in the 
government of Prime Minister Faisal Al-Fayez.  Major 
front-page reporting continues to focus on 
developments in the West Bank and in Iraq. 
 
                 Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "Where justice is served" 
 
Centrist, influential among the elite English daily 
Jordan Times (07/07) editorializes:  "The trial, in 
the Hague, of former Yugoslav President Slobodan 
Milosevic before the war crimes tribunal . appears to 
be open-ended after dragging on for two years.  The 
latest round of delay is attributed to Milosevic's ill 
health.  Yet, even before this former leader fell ill, 
the international legal process was too slow and too 
lenient in passing sentences..  This casts a dark 
shadow on international justice and makes one wonder 
whether it was worth it to establish the International 
Criminal Court (ICC) and rely on it to administer 
justice.  It would seem that reliance on national 
court systems serves justice better; most probably, 
these courts pass judgments at a faster pace and apply 
sentences that are commensurate with the gravity of 
the crimes committed.  The Sierra Leone war crimes 
tribunal could serve as a better model than its 
counterparts in the Hague or the U.N.-created tribunal 
on war crimes committed in Rwanda.  Unlike the ICC, 
the Arusha tribunal for Rwanda or the war crimes 
tribunal for crimes committed in former Yugoslavia, 
the Sierra Leone tribunal is situated right where the 
crimes were committed.  This makes the trials easier, 
cheaper and more effective.  This gives reason to 
believe that the trial of former Iraqi President 
Saddam Hussein and his high-ranking aides can be 
better conducted, with evidence, provided that the 
basic norms on a fair trial are observed.  What makes 
any trial fair and renders justice is strict 
compliance with international standards on the 
administration of criminal justice." 
GNEHM 

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