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| THE MUNAF AFFAIR - ECHOES OF A JOURNALIST KIDNAPPING 26/03/2008 |
| (2008-03-26) |
| Last updated: 2008-03-27 14:34 EET |
The American-Iraqi citizen Mohammad Munaf, involved in the kidnapping of three Romanian journalists in Baghdad, challenges his detention in Iraq and demands trial by an American court. The US Supreme Court is facing a complex decision, given the legal issues at stake.
The United States Supreme Court on Tuesday heard the case of American – Iraqi citizen Mohammad Munaf, aged 53, who in 2005 acted as a guide for three Romanian journalists held hostage in Iraq for 55 days. In May 2005, after the journalists were freed, Romanian authorities moved to bring Munaf into the country, but he was detained by American military authorities in Iraq. Suspected of involvement in the kidnapping plan, he was tried by an Iraqi court and sentenced to death. Although the ruling was later overturned, last month an Iraqi court of appeals ordered a retrial. Munaf filed a petition to the American judiciary, to prevent his transfer from the custody of the multinational military force in Iraq to the Baghdad authorities. He claims that, as an American citizen, he is entitled to trial by a US court.
The Supreme Court in Washington is now facing a decision with major implications for the American citizens detained in foreign theatres of war. The lawyer who represents the Bush administration said in Tuesday's hearings that courts cannot step in, when defendants are detained by a multinational force in a country other than the US. He based his case on a 1948 ruling passed by the Supreme Court in a similar trial, in which American courts did not have jurisdiction over petitions filed by Japanese prisoners held by the allied forces in World War 2. The lawyer also stated that an intervention by federal courts would infringe upon sovereign states' efforts to sentence individuals for crimes committed within their national borders.
American authorities feel that Munaf requests an unprecedented interference with the military decisions and the sovereignty of foreign judicial systems, and warn on the fallout of such a ruling. In turn, Supreme Court judges seemed receptive to the Bush Administration intention to hand over Munaf to Baghdad authorities. Munaf's lawyers on the other hand argue that the existence of an international coalition does not mean that the US doesn't control the operations in Iraq and that, once transferred to the Iraqis, their client may be subject to torture on ethnic criteria. A final ruling on the case will be passed in June, when probably the scope of the US constitutional protection abroad will also be clarified.
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