I.P.O. Information Service

Beijing, 2 August 2004/P/RE/18796c-is

In an interview for the program Dialogue of China Central Television (CCTV International) in Beijing, the President of the International Progress Organization, Dr. Hans Koechler, explained the crucial issues of international criminal justice in the context of global power politics.

Answering questions by the program's anchor, Mr. Yang Rui, Dr. Koechler elaborated on the difficulties of setting conditions for a fair trial in the case of the deposed President of Iraq. Referring to the analysis presented in his recent book "Global Justice or Global Revenge?," he explained that a special court which has been set up under the control of an occupying power does not meet the requirements of independence of the judiciary and impartiality of the proceedings. Legitimacy of any criminal court judging the behaviour of a state's officials can only be guaranteed in the framework of a genuine separation of powers which avoids victor's justice, Dr. Koechler said. In the case of Iraq, this will require the establishment of an independent political and constitutional system in Iraq through general referendum and free and fair legislative elections without outside interference.

The President of the I.P.O. also addressed the issue of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay (Cuba) and the lack of legal guarantees as regards eventual criminal prosecution. Dr. Koechler explained that so-called "Military Commissions" are not in conformity with the respective provision of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 1949 and that the denial of POW status to the Guantanamo detainees constitutes a breach of international obligations by the United States.

Dialogue is one of the most acclaimed and influential programs on CCTV International. Among the talkshow's recent guests were King Abdullah II bin Hussein of Jordan; Mr. George Shultz, former Secretary of State of the United States; Mr. Agha Shahi, former Foreign Minister of Pakistan; and Mr. Shashi Tharoor, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Communications and Public Information.

• Global Justice or Global Revenge?

• CCTV International -- Dialogue

END/2004-08-02/I.P.O. President on international criminal justice and power politics -- Interview for CCTV International//18796c-is