VATICAN OFFICIAL SPEAKS OUT AGAINST HUSSEIN VERDICT

C O N F I D E N T I A L VATICAN 000233 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/WE LARREAJ AND DUGGANJ E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/8/2016 TAGS: SOCI KIRF PGOV PHUM VT IZ SUBJECT: VATICAN OFFICIAL SPEAKS OUT AGAINST HUSSEIN VERDICT REF: A. 03 VATICAN 1505 ¶B. 03 VATICAN 4859 ¶C. 03 VATICAN 5666 ¶D. 05 VATICAN 514 CLASSIFIED BY: Peter G. Martin, Political Officer, Embassy Vatican, State. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (U) Cardinal Renato Martino, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, criticized the recent death sentence issued to Saddam Hussein in an interview with Italy's leading newspaper, center-right Corriere della Sera November 6. Martino stated that "punishing one crime with another crime was tantamount to giving in to the logic of an eye for an eye." The cardinal criticized Iraq as "one of the few countries that has not yet made the civilized choice of abolishing the death penalty." He went on to compare Hussein's trial to the Nuremburg trials, stating that a "trial that requires impartiality cannot be entrusted to the victors." [Note: We had not heard criticism of the Nuremburg trials from Martino before.] He said Saddam should have been tried by an international tribunal that did not include the death penalty as a penal option. Martino appealed to the memory of Pope John Paul II, who he said had established that the death penalty was unacceptable when there was any other option available to prevent someone from doing further harm to society. In Martino's opinion, a life sentence for Hussein would have been preferable. ¶2. (C) Comment: The outspoken Martino is always eager for the spotlight and has been highly critical of the U.S. on Iraq for several years (reftels). At at least one point early in the Iraq conflict, he got the message from those close to John Paul II to tone down his freelancing. In this case, while there are certainly some within the Vatican who do not oppose the death penalty for Saddam, Martino's opinions reflect the general sentiment of the Vatican Curia -- as a rule, predisposed against the death penalty. Post will continue to present the verdict and the accomplishments of the Iraqi High Tribunal to our contacts as a concrete example of Iraq's progress toward a more stable and peaceful democratic society that embraces the rule of law. ROONEY