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Biden Has 65 Days Left in Office. Here’s What He Can Do on Criminal Justice.

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Judicial appointments and the death penalty are among areas where a lame-duck administration can still leave a mark. Donald Trump’s second presidential term will begin on Jan. 20, bringing with it promises to dramatically reshape many aspects of the criminal justice system. The U.S. Senate — with its authority over confirming judicial nominees — will also shift from Democratic to Republican control.
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Jailed Tareq Aziz handed over to Iraqis

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AMMAN — Iraq's jailed ex-deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz (left) has been handed over by the US military to the Iraqi authorities, his lawyer said on Wednesday, warning that his client's life is "in danger now."

"The American side handed over Aziz and other detainees to the Iraqi side on Tuesday night," Amman-based lawyer Badie Aref told AFP.

"Aziz called me and said he was being held in the Kazemieh prison in Baghdad."

Aref urged intervention by international organisations.

"He should have been released. What the Americans did violates the Red Cross code because they handed him over to his enemies. His life is in danger now."

Aref said Aziz told him that US President Barack Obama "is no different to (former US president George) Bush, and that he will take part in killing us, indirectly."

Aziz, 73, who turned himself in to US forces in April 2003, is one of Saddam Hussein's few surviving cohorts after the late dictator's henchman Ali Hassan al-Majid -- better known as "Chemical Ali" -- was hanged in Iraq in January for a poison gas attack against Kurds in 1988.

Appointed deputy premier in 1991 under Saddam -- having previously been foreign minister -- he was jailed for 15 years for murder in 2009, and was given a seven-year term in August last year for his role in expelling Kurds from Iraq's north.

The family of Aziz, who had reportedly already had two heart attacks since turning himself in to US forces just days after Saddam's ouster in April 2003, has repeatedly called for his release on health grounds.

The former Iraqi official hails from a Chaldean Catholic family.

Source: Agence France-Presse, July 14, 2010


Iraq: US hands over Tariq Aziz, other detainees

BAGHDAD — Iraq's deputy justice minister says U.S. authorities have handed over 55 members of Saddam Hussein's former regime, including the longtime international face of the regime, Tariq Aziz.

Wednesday's announcement comes a day before U.S. authorities are to depart Camp Cropper, the last American-run detention facility in Iraq.

Iraq's deputy justice minister Busho Ibrahim tells The Associated Press the handover has taken place over the last three days.

U.S. authorities confirmed Wednesday that they had handed over some detainees but would not give any identities.

Source: Associated Press, July 14, 2010
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