For Expert Comment

Leila Nadya Sadat, professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis and an expert on international war crimes tribunals, can discuss legal alternatives to military action that could be used to prosecute Osama bin Laden and others tied to last week's terrorist attacks.

As chair of the International Law Association Committee on a Permanent International Criminal Court, Sadat stresses that any international criminal court must be impartial and independent of political influence. She is the author of the leading book on the international criminal court, "The International Criminal Court and the Transformation of International Law: Justice for the New Millennium."

Sadat has studied legal issues surrounding the use of war tribunals against World War II-era criminals and more recent proposals for international tribunals to pursue modern-day war criminals. She recently was appointed to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Sadat stresses that a trial would be a preferable alternative to military action designed to "eliminate" Bin Laden. "Just as the United States eschewed executing the Nazi leaders after World War II in favor of the Nuremberg trial, the United States should now use legal means to bring the perpetrators of these atrocities to justice," she said. "A trial permits the state to prove its case, provides the accused an opportunity to make his best case, and permits the airing of the evidence in public, subject to rigorous procedural rules that govern the admissibility of evidence."

"The survivors and their families also may attend or otherwise follow the proceedings, providing them with the opportunity to face the accused, and, to a lesser extent, to tell their stories."

While the United States has jurisdiction to try bin Laden, some countries might object, feeling that Americans could not be objective in conducting the trial, Sadat noted.

"These concerns could be accommodated either by having international observers at the trial, or by having him tried by an international tribunal established by the Security Council or some other means," she said.

Sadat's home page is:

http://www.wulaw.wustl.edu/Academics/Faculty/Bios/sadat.html

For more information on Sadat, view her profile in the Record:
http://wupa.wustl.edu/Record/archive/1999/04-01-99/people.html

For additional Washington University in St. Louis experts on last week's tragic terrorist attacks, visit the Web site (http://64.37.116.251/).