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Kurds want early Death for Saddam
13.11.2006
By Mohammed A. Salih |
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Kurds do not want a Second Sentence for Saddam
Erbil, Kurdistan Region (Iraq), November 13,
-- As Saddam Hussein faces his second trial, this
one over the killing of an estimated 180,000 Kurds
in the late 1980s, people in Kurdistan are taking a
particular interest whether the death sentence in
the first case will be carried out before there can
be a verdict in the Kurds case.
Former dictator of Iraq Saddam Hussein was sentenced
to death by an Iraqi court Nov. 5 for ordering the
killing of 148 people in Dujail north of capital
Baghdad, following an assassination attempt. Those
killed were mostly Shia Muslims. Shias are the
second largest denomination among Muslims, who
believe that Prophet Muhammad's teachings were best
propagated by his cousin Ali rather than a caliphate
as believed by Sunnis.
Two days after the Nov. 5 verdict, another trial
began over the killing of the Kurds in the late
1980s. Kurds are an ethnically distinct Iraqi people
who live in the north of the country in a region
that has strong autonomy as Kurdistan. Many Kurdish
leaders seek independence for the region.
The trial in the second case would bring the
spotlight on Kurds, given the nature of the charges
and the fact that key witnesses would be Kurds. It
was a Kurdish group that reportedly gave U.S.
authorities vital information on Saddam's hideout,
leading to his capture Dec. 13, 2003.
As the second case begins, a nine-judge panel is
examining the death penalty announced for Saddam in
the first case on automatic appeal. There is no time
limit for this bench to take a decision, but if the
panel confirms execution, the death sentence must be
carried out within 30 days.
Many Kurds would like to see the sentence carried
out soon. Kurds suffered continued persecution under
the regime of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Muslim. Shias,
an estimated 60 percent of a population of 25
million, were also persecuted severely under Saddam.
Kurds are believed to number five to six million.
Anger suppressed through 35 years of Saddam's rule
until the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 is now
surfacing after the death sentence was announced.
Thirty-nine-year-old Kurd Nasih Ramzan is not
particularly keen to wait for the trial of Saddam in
the Kurdish case. He wants to see Saddam Hussein
"getting a dose of the medicine he gave others," he
told IPS. Ramazan who lost a brother and a cousin
during Saddam's reign, believes "the dictator only
deserves death."
"One has to be one of his victims to understand he
is not a man worthy of mercy," he said. "I still
believe this is the least of justice applied to
him."
That seems the general Kurdish view, given the
jubilation that followed the verdict. Thousands came
dancing into the streets. In Erbil large crowds
gathered around the city's ancient citadel. Some
distributed sweets.
Complaints went round only that death is not
sufficient punishment for Saddam, whatever the views
of human rights groups and of states that oppose
execution on policy. "It was absolutely a just
verdict," Salih Omar Issa, dean of the Political
Sciences College in Erbil told IPS. "Iraqi laws
allow execution for a murderer who kills a single
individual. So why should Saddam not be hanged while
he has killed thousands of people." |
Former dictator Saddam Hussein (1 from top) , his
cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali"
as (2 from top) with his six co-defendants |
But the jubilation is not unmixed. There are some
concerns in Kurdistan that an execution could
provoke violence directed at Kurds and deepen
sectarian violence between ethnic groups,
particularly between Shias and Sunnis, and between
Kurds and Sunnis. Many Kurds are also Sunni Muslims,
but they are seen as primarily Kurdish in their
opposition to Saddam. Strong Sunni opposition to the
U.S. led occupation has made Saddam a hero to many
Sunnis.
Hiwa Mirza Sabir, head of the moderate Kurdistan
Islamic Union politburo, whose party holds five
seats in the 275-member Iraqi parliament and nine
seats in the 111-member Kurdistan parliament,
believes "Saddam's death would mean a big loss to
his supporters."
But the execution of Saddam would not end problems,
he said. "As far as the current problems in Iraq are
concerned, Saddam is only part of them. The
execution of Saddam will not reverse all the current
equations in the country. The problem is too deep to
be eliminated with Saddam's death."
Sabir does not believe that members of the Baath
party that Saddam headed will target Kurds over the
execution. "If they could do so they would have done
it by now."
IPS
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