ZUHAIR AL-MALIKI AND THE CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT OF
(June 11, 2004)
Summary
These arrest warrants against the INC are issued by Zuhair al-Maliki, Chief Investigative Judge of the CCCI, which Amb. Paul Bremer created. Appointed by Bremer, al-Maliki is totally unqualified for his position: he has no judicial training or prior judicial experience.
Al-Maliki operates under Kafkaesque rules, which are a travesty of the “rule of law” and according to the President of Iraq’s Union of Judges, violate the Geneva Conventions.
Al-Maliki’s actions compromise US operations, as they constitute an
assault on what the
Whether or not Bremer is behind the warrants, Bremer has the authority to end them.
Facts (as can be best
ascertained)
1) On June 18, 2003, Bremer established the CCCI in CPA Order #13. It stipulates that he is the only party who can refer cases to the court. It also stipulates that CCCI judges must have at least five years of judicial experience, among other qualifications.
On April 22, 2004, Bremer issued a “revised and amended” Order #13. It eliminated the requirement that a CCCI judge have prior judicial experience. It also gave these judges new, unchecked authority: “Any judge on the court has the authority to issue an arrest warrant, a search warrant or order investigative measures allowed under Iraqi law.” There is no evident standard (ie “probable cause”) for issuing a warrant.
This change makes it difficult to pin down responsibility for events now, although Bremer, presumably, retains ultimate responsibility, as he has the authority to appoint and remove judges, including for “unlawful or unethical conduct.”
2) The Court
operates outside the Iraqi legal system. In addition to being a
It handles security cases and can hold secret proceedings. Presumably, that is the rationale for the extraordinary procedures, but it creates tremendous potential for abuse.
The President of Iraq’s Union of Judges, Judge Abbas al-Anbaki,
complained to Radio Sawa, “The one who appointed these judges is the American
Ambassador Paul Bremer.” They are
“illegal appointments” and contravene the
3) Zuheir al-Maliki was appointed to the CCCI earlier this year. He is unqualified.
An Iraqi judge is required to attend a judicial academy. The Iraqi system has four levels of judgeship, beginning with level four. A judge serves five years at each level, after which he may be promoted to the next level. Chief Investigative Judge is a “Level 1” position.
Al-Maliki has no judicial training and no prior judicial experience. He is 38 years old, a recent law school graduate. Before being appointed Chief Investigative Judge, he was a translator for the CPA.
Despite his lack of qualifications, al-Maliki is a Level 1 judge: CCCI judges are automatically promoted to the level required by their positions, as stipulated in Bremer’s April 22 order.
4) Al-Maliki stated that he has issued 15 arrest warrants against employees or associates of the INC. The warrants continue. Three days ago, an arrest warrant was issued for Hussein Shahine, head of Ahmad Chalabi’s personal body guard.
5) The circumstances surrounding three of these arrest warrants are well-known and clearly reveal abuse. They include the warrants against Francis Brooke and Peg Bartel for obstruction of justice.
They also include the warrant against Arras Karim. At first, the charge was that Karim stole cars from the Ministry of Finance. The MoF, however, had parked its cars in the INC compound for safekeeping on January 28, leaving an official invoice. Starting in early March, the INC began exchanging letters with the MoF asking it to remove its cars. On April 25, the MoF took the cars (the INC has documents for all this).
Nonetheless, just a few days later, the INC’s offices were raided.
When the head of the MoF’s Legal Department sent al-Maliki a letter explaining that the cars had not been stolen, al-Maliki threatened him with arrest.
Subsequently, al-Maliki claimed Karim was involved in kidnapping, which is the basis for the warrant and the sole charge against him, as the car theft charge has been dropped.
6) As JCS Chairman Richard Myers told the US Congress, the INC “has provided intelligence . . . that has saved soldiers’ lives.” (May 21)
A report “from the chief intelligence officer of one front-line
