Kurds thirsty for justice as Saddam faces trial 18.8.2006

According to the prosecutors who will next week arraign Saddam and six of his senior officials in Baghdad, the same buses which took Mohammed's family away brought thousands of Kurds to Iraqi detention camps.

Those who survived air and artillery strikes on villages in the so-called prohibited zones were often murdered by Iraqi troops, according to human rights investigators.

Mullah Omar Hassan, 50, is grief-stricken when he remembers his daughter being taken away.

"She was pleading, 'Father, don't leave me alone'," he said, sobbing.

For Hassan, Saddam's trial is a day of vengeance for his family, and the 102 people who died in his tiny village.

"We waited for the day to see him tried for his crime and that day is coming near," he said.

Kurdish officials aim to make Saddam's trial a moment of national catharsis, and have made extreme efforts to document his atrocities and prepare witness statements from among the thousands with dark memories.

The region's human rights minister, Yusif Mohammed Aziz, said that 32 lawyers will be sent to Baghdad to represent the victims and that 42 Kurds have been chosen as witnesses to represent the rest of their people.

"We are touring among the families of the victims to prepare for the trial of the former Iraqi president for the Anfal campaign, and we have presented all the necessary documents," he told AFP.

Observers warn that prosecuting heads of state for crimes committed in their name is a difficult task, but the Kurds are convinced they have enough to demonstrate a clear link between the defendants and the horrors of Anfal.

Kamal Othman Khoshaw, the general prosecutor of Kurdistan, said his teams have unearthed what they believe is clinching proof of Saddam's guilt.

"Among the documents is a military one issued by the General Command of the Armed Forces, addressed to the general commander, and breaking the news that the operation with all its eight stages was over," he said.

"The document names all the leaders and party members involved," Khoshaw said.

The trial may last for months, but Kurds say they will patiently await justice.

"We waited this day for years, because it is the end of tyranny. We demand the death penalty for Saddam," said 26-year-old Kamal Hassan, who is too young to remember his father's disappearance.

Today Iraq has a Kurdish president, and a broad-based government under a Shiite Arab prime minister. The Kurdish region enjoys considerable autonomy and has avoided much of the violence to have blighted the centre and south since Saddam's fall.

The region's leaders have put overt demands for independence on hold and are working with Arab colleagues to push a plan for national reconciliation, but anger remains, and if the violence continues the Kurds may yet break away.

If the trial has the result which the Kurds hope for and expect, it might calm tempers, but they vow to never forget the atrocities.

"We are happy to see Saddam standing trial, but he did not commit these crimes alone. He was supported by others, therefore we hope that all of them be tried," said 31-year-old Majid Airwani, who lost 19 relatives.

"Any sentence passed on Saddam will not be enough to calm our fury."

AFP

Top