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Iraq trial features video of executions of
Kurds
12.2.2007 |
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February 12, 2007
BAGHDAD,-- Prosecutors played a videotape Sunday
depicting executions and the destruction of Kurdish
villages in the trial of six defendants accused of
crimes against humanity during a crackdown on Kurds
in the 1980s.
The videotape was presented by the chief prosecutor,
Munqith al-Faroon, to show the involvement of the
Iraqi army in rounding up Kurdish villagers after
destroying their houses in the military campaign,
code-named Operation Anfal. The men, women and
children were separated into two groups surrounded
by Iraqi soldiers.
"Are those women and children part of the resistance
or are they saboteurs," al-Faroon asked rhetorically
to counter the defense assertion the military
actions were justified because they were against
Kurdish rebels who were supporting the Iranians
during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. |
Ali Hassan al-Majeed, Saddam cousin, also known as
"Chemical Ali" for his alleged use of chemical
weapons against Kurds |
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The tape also showed some executions carried out by
Iraqi soldiers in the Kurdish area 'Kurdistan' of
northern Iraq. At one point, an officer started to
fire a pistol at those who had been killed,
apparently to make sure they were dead.
One of the defendants, former Defense Minister
Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Tai, said he was only
carrying out orders during the military campaign
launched by Saddam Hussein, during which more than
182,000 Kurds were killed.
"I was a military officer receiving orders from
superiors and carrying them out with dedication and
precision and now I am punished for this. I did not
harm any person," he said.
Al-Tai, who was head of the Iraqi army 1st Corps
during the Anfal campaign, told the chief prosecutor
"if you want to distort my image then it is fine.
But, do not distort the image of the Iraqi army."
He also claimed the Kurdish villagers were
compensated for their destroyed houses, which he
said were within a restricted area near the Iranian
border.
Saddam was a defendant in the Anfal trial but was
sentenced to death after his conviction for the
killing of 148 Shiite Muslims after a 1982
assassination attempt against him in Dujail. He was
hanged Dec. 30, even though the Anfal trial had
begun.
Iraqi Supreme Criminal Court, presided by Justice
Mohammad Oraibi Majid Al-Khalifa adjourned the
session until next Tuesday, February 13.
AP
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