Dealing with Haditha

[jmm99]

As the Pendleton court-martial was concluding on Tuesday, I happened to run into this tidbit from Reuters, U.N. rights chief shocked at numerous Iraq executions:

GENEVA | Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:55am EST

GENEVA (Reuters) - The top United Nations human rights official criticized Iraq on Tuesday for carrying out a large number of executions, including 34 on a single day last week, and voiced concern about due process and the fairness of trials.

"Even if the most scrupulous fair trial standards were observed, this would be a terrifying number of executions to take place in a single day," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said, in a statement referring to executions carried out on January 19.

"Given the lack of transparency in court proceedings, major concerns about due process and fairness of trials, and the very wide range of offences for which the death penalty can be imposed in Iraq, it is a truly shocking figure," she added.

At least 63 people are believed to have been executed since mid-November in Iraq, where the death penalty can be imposed for some 48 crimes including a number related to non-fatal crimes such as damage to public property, Pillay said.

"Most disturbingly, we do not have a single report of anyone on death row being pardoned, despite the fact there are well documented cases of confessions being extracted under duress," she said. ...

I didn't report the above item then because I expected something like this (making a nice couplet), Iraq says to take legal action for Haditha victims:

Aseel Kami – Thu Jan 26, 12:07 pm ET

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq plans legal action on behalf of families of victims killed by U.S. troops in a 2005 massacre after the last soldier involved was spared jail time by a guilty plea with military authorities, a government spokesman said Thursday.

The Haditha massacre that killed 24 Iraqis, alongside the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and shootings by U.S. contractors in 2007, stoked global outrage against the nearly nine-year U.S. military presence after the 2003 invasion.

The last U.S. soldier accused in leading the massacre, Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, was spared jail-time Tuesday when he was sentenced after pleading guilty to dereliction of duty. Original charges of involuntary manslaughter were dismissed.

"We will seek legal means to maintain the rights of the innocent citizens who were killed in the incident," said Ali al-Moussawi, media adviser to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

"We will follow whatever course we can follow legally," Moussawi said without giving details on actions. ...

Are these a "Hearts and Minds" couplet, a "Rule of Law" couplet, an "Adventures in State Building" couplet, or something including all of the above ?

Regards

Mike