Task force puts Iraqi courts back to work

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Soldiers help put confidence back in judicial...


Task force puts Iraqi courts back to work
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Nov 12, 2007 5:22:50 EST

A PowerPoint concept presented to the top military commander in Iraq earlier this year has grown into a task force capable of investigating major crimes, prosecuting prisoners and restoring confidence in the war-torn nation’s legal and justice system.

The Law and Order Task Force, located at Forward Operating Base Shield in Baghdad’s Rusafa district, is a collection of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and civilians from the Justice Department.

Their work often goes unnoticed back home, but the progress they have made has jump-started Iraq’s justice system, which fell apart at the start of the war in 2003 and continued to deteriorate as the war progressed. Last year, more than 30 Iraqi judges were assassinated.

“The idea was to help build Iraqi judicial capacity, to give them a secure environment to conduct investigations, conduct trials in a fair and open way,” Michael Walther, director of the task force, said Oct. 29. “It just made common sense. A judge and prosecutor can go to work every day and not worry about being assassinated, without worrying about threats to their families.”

As of Oct. 23, the 28 Iraqi judges for the Central Criminal Court of Iraq at Rusafa have conducted 319 trials and dismissed 675 other cases, Walther said.

“In total, they’ve processed 1,000 cases to conclusion,” he said. “The court still has another 2,500 or so cases waiting to have the investigation completed or waiting for trial.”


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/11/army_safehouse_071112/