Prosecution of Saddam Hussein and the Position of Islamic Republic of Iran

Arresting of Saddam Hussein opens a new chapter in the history of international criminal trails. After long discussions about the form of a tribunal for trying him, finally the Iraq’s Governing Council decided to try him in a domestic court which called “Special Iraqi Court” and adopted its statute in 10 December, 2003. The court has begun its work at 1st July, 2004.So the subject of trying Hussein was the starting point for some long and serious debates in Iran about the position of Islamic Republic of Iran toward his trail. In the one hand it is completely necessary for Iran to complain to Iraqi court- because Iran is one of the greatest victims of Saddam crimes and in the other hand, because of the domestic nature of Iraqi court, there are some doubts regarding the jurisdiction of it. So The Islamic Republic of Iran has registered no claim in Iraqi court and this court hasn’t referred to these crimes of Saddam yet.Despite of all criticisms about the jurisdiction and justice of this court, it must be took in account that this is the only court which established to prosecute Saddam Hussein and so it is completely necessary for Iran to complain to this court. This complaint can also discover the cooperations of some western countries with Iraq Government during Iraq- Iran war. If Iranian Government doesn’t complain to Iraqi court directly, because of its governmental considerations, it should be done by non-governmental organizations and these organizations must provide suitable conditions for register the complaints of Iranian victims in Iraqi court.