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Saddam: U.S. denials of torture are 'lies'
22.12.2005
By Mariam Fam
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BAGHDAD, Iraq
-Saddam Hussein insisted again Thursday that he had
been beaten by his American captors, denouncing
Washington's denials as "lies" and mocking President
Bush's claim that Baghdad had chemical weapons.
When the court gave the former leader an opportunity
to cross-examine witnesses, Saddam instead used the
time to expand on earlier assertions that he had
been abused in custody. He claimed that the wounds
he suffered from the alleged beatings had been
documented by at least two American teams.
On Wednesday Saddam told the court he'd been beaten
"everywhere" on his body and insisted the marks were
still there. He did not display any marks.
U.S. officials strongly denied the allegations.
On Thursday, Saddam said American denials couldn't
be believed, noting that no weapons of mass
destruction had been found in Iraq despite Bush's
pre-war claims that Saddam was harboring such
weapons.
"Zionists and Americans, I mean officials, hate
Saddam Hussein. The man in the White House is a
liar. He said there are chemical weapons in Iraq,"
Saddam said. "He later said that, 'We did not find
anything in Iraq.'" |
Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein addresses the
court during the resumption of his trial on
Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2005 in Baghdad, Iraq. Saddam
and seven co-defendants are on trial in the deaths
of more than 140 Shiites following a 1982
assassination attempt against him in the town of
Dujail, north of Baghdad.
Photo : AFP
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The former Iraqi leader and seven co-defendants are
on trial for the deaths of more than 140 Shiites
after a 1982 attempt on Saddam's life in the town of
Dujail, north of Baghdad.
The first witness Thursday -- speaking from behind a
curtain and with his voice disguised -- said he was
8 years old at the time of the killings in Dujail.
He said his grandmother, father and uncles had been
arrested and tortured, and that he'd never again
seen his male relatives, implying they'd been
killed.
Saddam said the court should not depend on the
testimony of witnesses who had not reached adulthood
at the time of the alleged crime. The witness then
told a defense attorney he hadn't been arrested and
didn't see any dead bodies.
Witnesses on Wednesday graphically described how
their captors administered electric shocks and used
molten plastic to rip the skin off prisoners in a
crackdown following the assassination attempt in
Dujail.
Saddam then grabbed center stage with claims that
Americans beat and "tortured" him and other
defendants while in detention.
A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad called Saddam's
allegations "completely unfounded" but said "we are
prepared to investigate."
"Beyond that, we have no interest in being a part of
what are clearly courtroom antics aimed at
disrupting the legal process," said Lt. Col. Barry
Johnson.
The trial's chief prosecutor, Jaafar al-Mousawi,
said if authorities found evidence of abuse Saddam
could be transferred to the physical custody of
Iraqi troops.
The prosecution's first witness Wednesday testified
about killings and torture in Dujail. Ali Hassan
Mohammed al-Haidari, who was 14 in 1982, said
Saddam's regime executed seven of his brothers.
Al-Haidari said that he and other residents from
Dujail -- including family members -- were taken to
Baghdad and thrown into a security services prison,
where people from "9 to 90" were held.
Blood poured from head wounds and skin was pale from
electric shocks, he testified. Security officials
would drip melted plastic hoses on detainees, only
to pull it off after it cooled, tearing skin off
with it, he said.
"I cannot express all that suffering and pain we
faced in the 70 days inside," he said.
Two witnesses later testified from behind a curtain.
One of them, identified only as Witness No. 2, said
security officials "attached clamps to my thumbs and
toes and private areas and tortured me with
electricity until foam came out of my mouth."
AP
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