The Foreign Service Journal, March 2005

M A R C H 2 0 0 5 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 41 Transcending Barriers All 50 participants were men, which is not surprising considering that out of a total of approximately 860 judges in Iraq, fewer than 15 are women. (There were three female participants in the second course held last November.) Initially, they had a difficult time relating to women in positions of authority. Welcoming the group that first day, I felt like a clear windowpane — there was no eye contact, no verbal connection. Only a couple of the judges even acknowledged my greetings. For the first time in my life I understood what many black South Africans had told me about their experi- ences under apartheid: they might as well have been invisible. Yet, despite what appeared to be insurmountable obstacles, somehow we bridged the barriers of our respective cultures and histories over the next few days. A lot of the credit must go to the instructors themselves, of course, both for their enthusiasm to explain the current international practices of an inde- pendent judiciary, and their attention to developing a rapport within the religiously and ethnically diverse group to foster a genuine exchange of ideas. If I had to identify a single “magic moment,” I might point to the attempt on the third day by the Utah court administrator, Dr. Markus Zimmer, to teach the participants how to say hello in the language of his parents (and the land of his birth): “Schwyzertüütsch.” Whether it was the sheer incon- gruity of that sound or the amusement value of trying to reproduce it, all of a sudden, there was laughter … laughter that transcended the language barrier. And we continued to forge a stronger and stronger bond over the rest of our time together. The two-week course was punctuated with poignant experiences. One judge ended up in the car- diology department of the Military Hospital in Prague just before he would have had a massive heart attack, where he discovered that the operating Czech doctor had been performing similar procedures in Basra. Then there was the Iraqi judge who broke down in tears during his speech at the residence of the U.S. ambassador, full of emotion at recalling what they all had experienced back home. I also recall the quick response of the Czech police when we alerted them to the fact that a young “foreign” man was videotaping the institute — only to find out that the young man was the brother of one of the judges. For many of these Iraqis, Prague was the place for family reunions, because so many of their kin had fled there under Saddam Hussein’s rule. Finally, there was the emotional farewell speech given by the senior American judge, Justice Robert Utter, at the graduation ceremony, as he wished his band of “brother judges” well in their future endeavors, knowing that they were all returning to a dangerous uncertainty. Tears streamed not only down his cheeks, but also down the cheeks of every single Iraqi judge. A Return to Wise Rule By the end of the two weeks I had received numer- ous invitations to visit Kurdistan and other places that, not too long ago, seemed so remote and alien. By the end of the workshop I was “Barbara, the one who brings good news,” or “Barbara, the treasuries,” or “Barbara, citizen of the planet,” or “Barbara, the spe- cial alloy that Allah did not include in the periodic table.” (In Arabic, these appellations are much short- er!) But perhaps my favorite memory from that last day is when the two most senior judges, an Arab and a Kurd — who’d had an especially hard time accepting my leadership role — embraced me, each awkwardly planting three kisses on my cheeks. The judges have returned to their everyday turmoil and ordeals, with “Personal Action Plans” they had developed with their instructors. These plans were realistic assessments of what the judges could begin to do back home, in their own courthouses. I still get an occasional e-mail from a few of them, inviting me to teach law at a university in Kurdistan, or visit the courts where they preside. I cannot yet respond, “Yes, with pleasure!” But I hope to do so soon. Tragically, one of the judges who was a key participant in our November 2004 course, the secretary general of the Judicial Council in Baghdad, Judge Qais Hashim al-Shammari, was brutally murdered, along with his brother-in-law, in January. Justice Utter recounts a story the Iraqi judges had shared with him, of “a time when Iraq was ruled by a wise king. He was universally revered and well served by the judges of his kingdom, who were looked upon as God’s messengers on earth. So great was the respect of F O C U S