PRT-backed Mosul court seen as possible model

"Last year, the criminal justice system here [in Mosul] had nearly ground to a halt. Intimidated judges were refusing to hear trials. Some judges were allowing suspected insurgents to go free.
Then American advisers in this northern Iraqi city made a proposal: The Iraqis should bring in judges from Baghdad who would serve anonymously. And local officials and the chief judge in Baghdad agreed.
Now U.S. military officers and State Department officials here tout the Mosul program as a major success and a model for the rest of the country.
. . . [T]he judges depend on the United States to help them with matters as basic as traveling safely from Baghdad . . . [American officials, banned from the courts,] meet with the judges in military-style 'after-action reviews' that last an hour or so a few times a week.
. . . In its first three months, [the court] . . . handed down 12 death sentences and prison terms ranging from three years to life. They also acquitted 33 detainees.
. . . '[The judges have] been extremely courageous,' [Provincial Reconstruction Team leader James] Knight said. 'This is the keystone achievement of this PRT.' "

source
Murphy, Bill Jr. (The Washington Post). Mosul Court Is Americans' Exhibit A. March 16, 2007.

posted: sunday, march 18, 2007, 8:55 AM ET
update: sunday, march 18, 2007, 9:10 AM ET

tags: iraq court provincial reconstruction team