A/HRC/4/25 page 18 IV. MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE A. Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal 54. The Special Rapporteur has followed from the outset the establishment and activities of the Iraq Special Tribunal, initially with anticipation and subsequently with concern. The legal problems surrounding the Tribunal, which is now called the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal, may be divided into four main areas. 55. The first relates to the establishment of the Tribunal and its possible violation of the rules of war. The Geneva Conventions prohibit the occupying Power from establishing courts ex novo, and although the Statute adopted by the Coalition Provisional Authority was subsequently endorsed by the Governing Council and thereafter by the elected Iraqi authorities, this does not resolve the original problem. The changes made to the Statute of the Tribunal and its organizational affiliation - there have been several changes in its position in the hierarchy have led to instances of serious incompatibility with the norms of due process and the independence of the judiciary. 56. Besides the many limitations of the Statute of the Tribunal in terms of the time periods and individuals covered, as indicated in previous reports, it should be noted that in many respects the Statute does not comply with international human rights standards. The fact that it does not rule out confessions obtained as a result of torture or arbitrary detention, includes as offences acts which were defined as such only after their commission by Saddam Hussein’s regime, and does not protect the right not to testify against oneself has been mentioned by the Special Rapporteur and many human rights organizations. 57. The third and no less worrying problem concerns the development and conduct of the trial relating to the Al-Dujail massacre, with regard to both the pretrial investigation and the trial proceedings. One judge, several proposed judges, three defence lawyers and a court employee were assassinated during this trial. Another judge withdrew from the case after being subjected to pressure on account of his former links with the Ba’ath regime. The judge who replaced him and handed down the judgement had been accused and imprisoned for activities against the Hussein regime. For several months the accused were refused access to a lawyer of their choosing, and when they were allowed access, the lawyers in question complained so much of threats against them and interference in their work that they were expelled from the trial. 58. The death sentence imposed on several of the accused is of particular significance. Above and beyond the widespread current condemnation of the death penalty, whose reintroduction in Iraq20 made it impossible for the United Nations to cooperate in the establishment of the Tribunal, there is broad consensus even among those who support this type of sentence that it cannot be handed down unless all judicial safeguards have been respected. This was not the case in the trial held in the wake of the Al-Dujail massacre; thus to enforce the 20 After being briefly suspended by the occupying Powers.