Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Rami G. Khouri: Some killers are more equal than others

By Rami G. Khouri, Al Arabiya News, July 2, 2011

This has been a bad week for killers in the Arab world. The indictments now being handed down by the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) in the case of the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant for Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, represent two important steps on the road to corralling criminals who have plagued the modern Middle East for decades.

The case for moving these cases into trials is compelling on moral and political grounds.
Fair trials for the accused might achieve three things: hold accountable those who now stand accused of grievous crimes, so that justice can be achieved at last for those who have died or suffered; send a message to others in the region and abroad that they cannot kill and terrorize with impunity; and, send the important message to the ordinary people of the Arab world that perhaps they can look forward to a future of more normalcy and security.

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