BAGHDAD, October 10, -- Kurdish women told
Wednesday how they had witnessed savage rapes,
murders and other horrors in Saddam Hussein's death
camps, as the ousted Iraqi leader's genocide trial
continued.
There were rowdy scenes as Saddam shouted a verse
from the Koran to inspire his supporters -- "Fight
them, and God will make you victorious" -- but the
judge cleared the dock and the case continued
without the defendants.
One woman, speaking from behind a curtain to
preserve her anonymity, told of how her family was
captured by Iraqi forces in April 1988. Her
grandmother died in the prison camp, while she
witnessed terrible atrocities.
A warder called Jaafar al-Hillawi used to grope
prisoners' breasts, and one day caught a beautiful
young woman from Koi Sanjaq, she said.
"He caught her and told her: 'You are mine'. She
spat in his face," she told the court. "He tore her
clothes and raped her in front of her parents. Then
he shot her. She remained alive for several minutes
and then died." |
Former dictator Saddam Hussein (R), Ali Hassan Al-Majeed
known as "Chemical Ali" (L)
Photo : AFP |
|
Another witness, again shielded by a curtain, said
that prisoners had eventually attacked the rapist
after another of his victims committed suicide, but
that they were savagely beaten in punishment.
And a third Kurdish woman described the terrible
conditions in the camp, saying: "A woman with us
gave birth in a toilet. We cut the umbilical cord
using a broken bottle. The baby was wrapped in rough
sackcloth."
Saddam and six former officials were brought to the
Iraqi High Tribunal in Baghdad to hear the Kurdish
witnesses describe the vicious 1988 Anfal campaign,
which government forces carried out in northern
Iraq.
As the session continued, a defiant Saddam read out
his verse.
Judge Mohammed al-Oreibi al-Khalifah cut off the
former ruler's microphone and, when he ordered a
protesting Saddam thrown out of court, his
co-defendants leapt to their feet to denounce him.
Hussein Rashid al-Tikriti branded the prosecution
"pimps and traitors" and punched a bailiff who tried
to force him back into his seat. He was ejected.
A third defendant, Ali Hassan al-Majid, declared: "I
want to see the sentence passed now. I wish to be
executed and finish with this court."
The court adjourned overnight after hearing five
witnesses.
Prosecutors say 182,000 Kurds were killed in death
camps, bombings and poison gas attacks. Saddam and
his co-defendants insist the operation was a
legitimate military campaign against separatist
guerrillas.
Saddam and one other defendant, his cousin Majid, a
former military commander who became notorious as
"Chemical Ali", are accused of genocide, crimes
against humanity and war crimes.
The remaining defendants are charged with war crimes
and crimes against humanity and all seven accused
face the death penalty if convicted.
The defendants' own lawyers are boycotting the trial
in protest at alleged interference by the Iraqi
government and Judge Khalifah has assigned seven
court-appointed lawyers to conduct the defence.
On Monday, four witnesses described how they lost
dozens of relatives to mass graves after being
rounded up and driven to Nigrat Salman prison camp
in southern Iraq, near the city of Samawa.
On Tuesday, more Kurdish women spoke up.
"They told us: 'You are families of saboteurs and
agents of Iran'. We stayed at the camp for four days
and then were moved by buses to Al-Dibis," one said,
referring to another camp north of Baghdad near the
oil city of Kirkuk.
"We saw the same thing there. It was as if it was
Doomsday. At this camp I adopted two children in
addition to my own two. They were left by their
parents," she said, speaking confidently from behind
her screen.
"I spent six and a half months at this prison until
being set free," she continued. "When I returned to
my village two years later, I found that our homes
were burnt and that Arab people were ploughing our
land."
Many of the inmates did not survive Saddam's gulag.
During Monday's testimony prosecutors showed the
court the identity cards of many Kurds that had been
found in the mass graves which still dot post-war
Iraq.
While the Anfal case continues, another panel of
judges is preparing to give its verdict in a
previous trial against Saddam and another group of
former aides alleged to have ordered the killing of
148 Shiite civilians.
The court is due to convene on October 16 to set a
date for the verdict in the case -- dubbed the
Dujail trial after the small town north of Baghdad
where the victims were seized -- and Saddam could be
sentenced to death.
AFP
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