On the 19th June, as UN special rapporteur on the independance of judges and lawyers, I issued a press release calling on the government of Iraq to prevent the execution of Awraz Abdel Aziz Mahmoud Sa’eed. This did not stop him from being hung on the 3rd July. He was the last survivor of those suspected of killing Sergio Viera de Mello and 21 other people in the murderous attack on the UN on the 19th August 2003 in Bagdad. The urgency of my call was due to the fact that six of the seven people suspected of having taken part in the killings or being involved in some way in them were believed to have died in various violent incidents, presumed victims of the occupation forces or of the Iraqi security forces.
The move was not only to oppose once more in the absence of a fair trial, the illegality of the death sentence by the Iraqi government but also to defend the right of the victims under Saddam Hussein’s regime to know the truth about the terrible crimes committed by him. It aimed to insist on the right to truth for those close to the victims of the UN attack as the execution of Awraz Abdel Aziz Mahmoud Sa’eed removed the last opportunity for a witness to explain what happened during that tragic attack. Even though, according to UN sources, he was ready to give evidence on everything he knew about the attack.
My call for Awraz Abdel Aziz Mahmoud Sa’eed not to be executed was firm and unequivocal. As well as the right to truth for the families of the victims, respect for the authority of the UN was also at stake. It is indisputable that its authority was severely undermined not only by the attack, which was one of the worst it has suffered in its history, but also by the lack of transparency that reigns on the subject.
By making this call public, I was not only trying to get the Iraqi government to react positively. I also wanted to rally the international community and particularly western governments who see themselves as the builders of the new institutional architecture in Iraq. Amongst them, were those who said they admired and respected the exceptional Sergio Viera de Mello. Rarely in effect has the Organisation had in its history such a talented civil servant who had so courageously stuck to his principles.
My effort was in vain. The Iraqi authorities did not reply to my urgent request, continuing to systematically carry out the death penalty and executing without delay the only person known to date who could help us understand the hellish chain of events leading up to the attack.
Is it once more one of those acts that seems to be more about revenge than justice in the context of a country which slides ever nearer into civil war? Who is benefiting from this cloak of secrecy that is getting longer and longer? Are we to believe that with this execution access to truth has been definitively blocked? Let’s hope not....