Iraqi court begins Shiite uprising trial of Saddam aides  21.8.2007

Now the "1991 Intifada (Uprising) Trial" will probe how tens of thousands of Shiites were systematically killed by Saddam's southern army after they rose up against his regime in 1991 in the wake of his defeat in the first Gulf War.

Shiite rebels and many civilians were massacred in brutal crackdowns around the holy Shiite cities of Najaf and Karbala and in the Hilla and Basra regions, after the US-led coalition decided to halt its offensive just inside Iraq.

Saddam's forces used helicopter gunships -- reportedly after US generals relaxed no-fly rules -- and tanks to defeat the rebels, and estimates suggest that between 60,000 and 100,000 Shiites were slaughtered.

Shiites, a minority in the Muslim world, make up 60 percent of Iraq's population and were ruled for decades by Saddam's Sunni-led regime.

Since the 2003 US-led liberation, Iraqi and international experts have exhumed dozens of mass graves of victims killed in the uprising, and their reports are expected to be the key evidence during the trial.

Officials say approximately 90 victims and witnesses are expected to testify against the 15 defendants.

They said the evidence also includes tapes and after-action reports but few actual orders because of a regime-ordered destruction of records.

Majid is the most high-profile defendant.

Sultan Hashim al-Tai, a former defence minister, and Hussein Rashid al-Tikriti, ex-armed forces deputy chief of operations, have also been sentenced to death in the genocide trial and are among those accused.

The other 12 defendants are:

Abd Hamid Mahmoud Al-Nassiri, Ibrahim Abdul Sattar Muhammad Al Dahan, Waleed Hamid Tawfeeq Al-Nassiri, Iyad Ftiyah Khalifah Al-Rawi, Sabaawi Ibrahim Al-Hasan, Abdel-Ghafour Fleih Al-Ani, Ayad Taha Shihab Al-Duri, Latif Maal Hamood Al-Sabaawi, Qais Abdul Razaq Muhammad al-Adhami, Sabir Abdul Aziz Hussain Al-Duri, Saadi Tu'ma Abbas Al-Jaburi and Sufyan Maher Hasan Al-Ghreri.

A nine-member appeals court is currently reviewing the death sentences imposed on Majid, Tai and Tikriti for their role in the Kurdish massacres, and is expected to give its decision soon.

If the appeals panel certifies the sentence, the three will have to be executed within 30 days under Iraqi law. In such a case, all charges against them in connection with the Shiite uprising would be dropped.

Saddam, driven from power by the April 2003 invasion, was executed last December 30 for crimes against humanity after a trial in which he was convicted of ordering the murder of 148 Shiite villagers from Dujail.

Both the Dujail and the genocide trial were criticised as flawed and not up to international standards of justice by international rights watchdogs, but the United States has stood by the Iraqi court.

"There seems to be a misperception out there that the IHT was set up to simply kill off Saddam and other big names' in the Baath Party," said a US embassy spokesman, Armand Cucciniello.

"And that's simply not true. The IHT is obviously committed to the rule of law as evidenced by this third case going before the tribunal. It serves as another example of the new Iraq's commitment to international justice."

AFP  

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