Law without order in Iraq

For me, the biggest frustration about Iraq is not that everything is going wrong, but that the things that are going wrong are important enough to undercut everything that has gone right in the U.S. occupation. Take, for example, Colin McMahon’s account in today’s Chicago Tribune about the rebuilding of Iraq’s court system. The good part:

Under Hussein, the accused had few rights and were subjected to tremendous abuse while awaiting trial. Sentences were harsh for even minor offenses. More than 150 crimes from prostitution to murder were subject to the death penalty, for example. And by making his every utterance the final word on all matters, Hussein destroyed the concept of legal fairness and turned what was left of the rule of law into the rule of whim…. Radhi Hamza al-Radhi is among those judges who suffered Hussein’s wrath but survived his regime. Al-Radhi was the chief of a three-judge panel presiding over a counterfeiting trial that found two men guilty late last month. One man, who had no criminal record, got three years in prison. The other, who previously had served 20 years for murder, got five years. Under Hussein, the judge said, the sentence for counterfeiting probably would have been life. Tweaked by occupation lawyers, the Iraqi criminal code now is a point of pride, al-Radhi said. Defendants have the right not to testify, and their silence cannot be used against them at trial. They have the right to an attorney from the beginning of the investigation, and in the case last month the court appointed and paid a lawyer to represent one of the men. Those found guilty can appeal. There are important cosmetic changes as well. Al-Radhi’s courtroom and chambers are gracefully appointed but not lush, and the mood is serious but not somber. Best of all, they are located in the towering steel hall that Baghdadis call “the clock tower.” It used to be the museum for all the gifts Hussein had received from world dignitaries. Al-Radhi said the overhaul to the legal system had won the Iraqis’ confidence. But Sindi said the court system still is only about halfway to where it needs to be. A state prosecutor said his office has too many cases to properly investigate and pursue at trial. And there remains a backlog of cases in which Iraqis arrested by occupation forces on any number of charges have yet to face trial. But the biggest problem, Sindi and others said, remains the police. Bribery, incompetence and inexperience are allowing too many criminals to walk. “My uncle was robbed and shot,” said Ayser Malik, 21, who works at a grocery in central Baghdad. “The major crimes unit captured the gang responsible, but they were released. It’s bribery. They are paying money to get released, and they are back out committing crimes.”

The rebuilding of Iraq’s legal system would be a fantastic, shout-from-the-rooftops-kind of accomplishment — but without a general improvement in the order half of the equation, the achievement will have little effect.