Articles by McGrigors
21 June 2005
Human Rights return to Iraq
(Published The Scotsman)
In the lawless aftermath of the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime, it is difficult to appreciate Iraq was once regarded as a progressive country and willing supporter of human rights. Yet in December 1948 it was a signatory to the United Nations' historic Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Bringing those rights back to a people oppressed and brutalised by decades of dictatorship will be dependent on achieving political stability and restoring the rule of law - no easy task.
To that end, the International Bar Association is leading a two-year project to train 650 lawyers and judges in international human rights law. Prof Alan Miller, director of the human rights practice at McGrigors, is among the trainers.
He says the UN-backed project, which runs to November, faced significant hurdles in its early stages, not least the cynicism of some Iraqi lawyers - increased by the Abu Ghraib scandal and controversy surrounding the legal justifications for war - about the commitment of Western countries to human rights.
"The initial stages were very challenging because of the understandable perception of double standards of the West in terms of practising human rights," says Miller. "Those double standards discredit human rights and only when you deal with them do the Iraqis open up to dialogue with you."
The trainers were also confronted with the possibility that some lawyers taking part may have been implicated in human rights abuses under Hussein.
"There has been resentment towards those who abused their positions in the judicial and criminal justice system," Miller says, "and, to some extent, those individuals who have been identified have been excluded from the programme. But there would have been many who were members of the Ba'ath Party but not necessarily associated with abuses. You have to be careful not to tar everybody with the same brush."
Before Hussein took power, Iraq had an independent legal system free of political interference. Miller says many lawyers taking part in the programme feel humiliated this was swept aside. "Iraq was a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and through the 1950s, it was a respected player," he says. "It was Saddam coming to power that undermined what had been a functioning justice system - isolating that legal system from further international human rights and legal developments. I find a great deal of shame that they were isolated that way... the first codified system of law came from that part of the world."
While the legal profession continued to train and qualify as they had before Hussein, his preference for military courts marginalised the independent judiciary and led ordinary people to lose faith in the justice system. Many lawyers who spoke up for human rights were tortured and some taking part in the training programme were subjects of assassination attempts.
Miller says: "They always were aware of the threats if they opposed the regime, so it was very difficult for all members of the legal profession to operate in those circumstances. The fact we now have so many interested in taking part in this programme demonstrates their resilience. They are ordinary lawyers but have lived through extraordinary times.
"In a way, they have learned - more than any of us in the West - the importance of human rights, that without that kind of respect or culture of human rights, all kinds of atrocities are carried out with impunity. They know the need for a new Iraq to be grounded in respect for human rights and for that to be written into the constitution and become daily practice of courts, prosecutors, police stations and prison cells."
Nevertheless, he says it may take a long time before Iraq can recover from the "torture culture" which riddled the justice system under Hussein. "They have had almost three decades where there has been no respect for the individual, particularly those in vulnerable conditions, so a torture culture has developed - and that doesn't disappear overnight. There has to be a whole process of development and training and awareness-raising - and people being held to account where they should be held to account. That is going to take some time."
While some outsiders might perceive that fundamentalist interpretation of the Islamic faith is partly to blame for some human rights abuses, Miller says he has a new-found appreciation that human rights are not incompatible with Islam's core beliefs. "Personally that has been the biggest learning experience I have gained from this.
"International human rights and Islam are not mutually exclusive - they are in fact mutually reinforcing. The only way in which human rights will develop again in Iraq after Saddam is if they are interpreted and integrated through the Islamic value system."
Yet the fact that the training programme cannot take place in Iraq itself - the courses are being held in several other locations including Jordan and United Arab Emirates - is a stark reminder of how unstable Iraq remains, more than two years after Hussein was ousted.
"There is little or no safety for anyone in
a large part of Iraq," says Miller. "The only way that will
be altered is by making political progress towards drafting a new constitution
which clearly gives confidence to all of the different communities. That
is the key - if their rights are not guaranteed, there will be problems."
For further information please contact :
humanrights@mcgrigors.com
The frequency with which McGrigors is mentioned in the press is testament to the high-profile nature of the work we do. As well as this, our lawyers are regular contributors to the broadsheets and specialist publications ensuring the level of our knowhow is well known.