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Iraqi Kurd genocide trial resumes, without
Saddam
7.1.2007
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BAGHDAD, January
7, -- Proceedings resume Monday in the trial of six
former Iraqi officials charged with genocide, war
crimes and crimes against humanity for the mass
killing of 182,000 Iraqi Kurds in the 1980s -- minus
their executed co-accused Saddam Hussein.
A US official close to the special Iraqi court that
is trying the case said that the deposed dictator --
who was hanged at dawn on December 30 for crimes
against humanity -- was no longer an "accused" in
the case, which has been in recess since December
21.
"Saddam is dead. From what I understand of law, the
case is over against him," the official told AFP on
condition of anonymity.
"You can't try somebody posthumously (but) the trial
will continue against the other accused now."
It has yet to be confirmed, however, whether the
Iraqi High Tribunal -- which is responsible for
trying senior members of Saddam's regime -- has
officially dismissed the charges against the late
president.
The ongoing case centres on the slaughter of 182,000
Kurdish villagers during the so-called Anfal
campaign, which ran from 1980 through 1988.
If convicted, the remaining six defendants could
face the death penalty.
Saddam had been a familiar sight in the court,
occupying a front chair and showing defiance since
the proceedings began on August 21 in Baghdad.
Chief among the co-accused is Ali Hassan al-Majid,
widely known as "Chemical Ali". A first cousin of
Saddam and former defence minister, he is charged
with genocide in the trial.
The other five co-accused have been charged with war
crimes and crimes against humanity.
Iraqi authorities and human rights group accuse
Saddam's regime of having meticulously carried out
military attacks, some using chemical bombs, against
Kurds.
The co-accused respond that it was a necessary
counter-insurgency operation against Kurdish
guerrillas who had sided with Iran against Saddam
during the peak of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980-88. |
Chemical Ali (First from the top) . A first cousin
of Saddam and former defence minister, he is charged
with genocide in the trial. The other five
co-accused have been charged with war crimes and
crimes against humanity. |
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Many times at previous sessions, Saddam defended the
military action against the Kurds and rejected
accusations from witnesses of unlawful killings of
civilians.
Dozens of Kurdish witnesses have testified,
describing how thousands of men, women and children
had been brutally put to death.
The prosecution has also presented documentary
evidence.
Saddam was hanged on December 30 after he was
convicted at a separate trial of crimes against
humanity for the execution of 148 Shiites from
Dujail town in retaliation for an failed attempt on
his life there in 1982.
His execution has stirred global controversy after a
mobile phone video of the hanging came to light, in
which Saddam was heard being taunted on his way to
the gallows.
One guard screamed "Moqtada! Moqtada! Moqtada!" --
the name of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr --
in a scene that made the execution look more like a
sectarian lynching than a court-ordered punishment.
Some contend that the manner in which Saddam died
has given him martyr status, and even US President
George W. Bush -- who ordered the March 2003
invasion that overthrew Saddam's regime -- has said
that the hanging should have been more dignified.
AFP
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