In Baghdad, Justice Behind the Barricades

[acmavm]

Source: New York Times

BAGHDAD, July 26 — In a city plagued by suicide bombers and renegade militias, the Americans and the Iraqi government have turned to an unusual measure to help implant the rule of law: they have erected a legal Green Zone, a heavily fortified compound to shelter judges and their families and secure the trials of some of the most dangerous suspects.

The Rule of Law Complex, as it is known by the Iraqi government, is in the Baghdad neighborhood of Rusafa and held its first trial last month.

For Iraqi officials, working at the compound is so fraught with risk that it often requires separating themselves and their families from life outside the complex’s gates.

<snip>

The utility of the fortified complex, however, depends on more than a single high-profile case. Ultimately, it will depend on the Iraqis’ ability to expand their capacity to try cases at the complex as well as their track record in applying justice evenhandedly to Shiites and Sunnis alike.




-MORE-



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/30/world/middleeast/30military.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

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Sounds like freedom and liberty and justice and 'democracy' are alive and well in our occupied territory.

:sarcasm:

[bluerum]

1. You know that you are doing something right when you have to hide

behind armed guards in a heavily fortified housing complex.
:sarcasm:

On edit: So - the US military is being used for guarding the gated communities of the ruling class?! The Iraqi army or police force should be capable of this task at this point.