WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Osama bin Laden and other suspected terrorists wanted for the Sept. 11 attacks should be tried internationally -- either by a United Nations mandated international tribunal or a treaty-based Nuremberg-like court -- rather than by American domestic courts, said the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
"It may well be in the interest of international justice and justice for victims that thought be given to an international tribunal to act on behalf of the world community (in investigating) and bringing the terrorists to justice," said Richard Goldstone.
Goldstone also is a judge on the Constitutional Court of South Africa.
"I accept beyond question the right in law, the jurisdiction, the political necessity and the moral right of the U.S. to bring these people to justice in a (domestic) court," Goldstone said.
But, he added, there is a high probability many responsible for terrorist events will be apprehended outside the United States and by other forces. Countries with strong fundamentalists movements, like Pakistan, would find it politically impossible to extradite accused terrorists to the United States.
Countries that reject capital punishment also likely would refuse to extradite suspects because of the likelihood America will seek death penalties, he said.
"It would be much easier for many countries to send (suspects) to an international court set up by the U.N. Security Council," Goldstone said. "International law would require it and there would be very much less political downsides and difficulties."
He said "the most sensible way" of carrying out such a trial is with an ad hoc tribunal sanctioned by the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, the same type of tribunal used to prosecute Rwandan and Yugoslav war crimes.
With the political will and financial banking, a tribunal could be "up and running in a few months" and would likely cost $100 million dollars a year.
Under that scenario, the United States could use its Security Council veto to maintain some control over the tribunal's judicial appointments. The Hague would be the most obvious venue for the court, he said. While victims' families would surely prefer an American venue, "television and technology" would allow them to watch the proceedings.
Another option would be to form through treaties a special U.S. court that could operate in a foreign country, perhaps one that supported the death penalty. Such a model was used to try suspects in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland. In that case a Scottish court was established in the Netherlands.
Goldman said the United States also should reconsider its opposition to the International Criminal Court or ICC.
The International Bar Association recently established a terrorism taskforce, a move Goldstone said could help the global quest to root out terrorist.
"There are many areas where private lawyers could play a role," he said, such as monitoring multinational corporations and working to streamline extradition laws.
He praised the Bush administration's efforts to build an international coalition on the war on terrorism and said handing prosecutorial authority to an international court would boost America's credibility in the global community.
