Trial of Saddam Hussein

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The Trial of Saddam Hussein, was the trial of the deposed President of Iraq by the Iraqi Interim Government for crimes against humanity.

The Coalition Provisional Authority voted to create the Iraqi Special Tribunal (IST), consisting of five Iraqi judges, on 9 December 2003, to try Saddam Hussein and his aides for charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.^[1]

The trial was criticized in some quarters as a show trial. ^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]}

Hussein was captured on 13 December 2003.^[10] Hussein remained in custody by US forces at Camp Cropper in Baghdad, along with eleven senior Ba'athist officials. Particular attention would be paid to activities in violent campaigns against the Kurds in the north during the Iran-Iraq War, against the Shiites in the south in 1991 and 1999 to put down revolts, and in Dujail after a failed assassination attempt on 8 July 1982 during the Iran-Iraq war. Hussein asserted in his defense that he had been unlawfully overthrown, and was still the president of Iraq.

The first trial began before the Iraqi Special Tribunal on 19 October 2005. In this case Hussein and seven other defendants were tried for crimes against humanity with regard to events that took place after a failed assassination attempt in Dujail in 1982 by members of the Islamic Dawa Party (see also human rights abuses in Iraq). On 5 November 2006, Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging. On 26 December, Saddam's appeal was rejected and the death sentence upheld. No further appeals were taken and Saddam was ordered executed within 30 days of that date. The date and place of the execution was secret until the sentence was carried out.^[11]

A second and separate trial began on 21 August 2006 [12], trying Hussein and six co-defendants for genocide during the Anfal military campaign against the Kurds of northern Iraq. Hussein may also have been tried in absentia for events dating to the Iran-Iraq War and the Invasion of Kuwait, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. With his death all other more important charges have been dropped.

On 30 December 2006, the US backed Al Hurra TV station reported that Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging at 6:05 AM local time (0305 UTC). He was legally pronounced dead at 6:10.[13] At 0325 UTC Labeed Abbawi, the Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister, confirmed Hussein's execution to BBC News.

Contents 1 First hearing 2 Pre-trial events 3 Al-Dujail trial 3.1 Verdict 3.2 Local reactions to sentence 3.2.1  Iraq 4 International reactions to the verdict 4.1 Middle East 4.1.1  Bahrain 4.1.2  Egypt 4.1.3  Iran 4.1.4  Jordan 4.1.5  Kuwait 4.1.6  Palestinian Authority 4.1.7  Syria 4.2 Asia 4.2.1  People's Republic of China 4.2.2  India 4.2.3  Japan 4.2.4  Malaysia 4.2.5  Pakistan 4.2.6  Sri Lanka 4.2.7  Thailand 4.3 Europe 4.3.1  Belgium 4.3.2  Croatia 4.3.3  Czech Republic 4.3.4  Denmark 4.3.5  Estonia 4.3.6  France 4.3.7  Germany 4.3.8  Ireland 4.3.9  Italy 4.3.10  Netherlands 4.3.11  Norway 4.3.12  Poland 4.3.13  Russia 4.3.14  Slovakia 4.3.15  Spain 4.3.16  Sweden 4.3.17  Ukraine 4.3.18  United Kingdom 4.3.19  Switzerland 4.3.20  Vatican City 4.4 America 4.4.1  Canada 4.4.2  United States 4.4.3  Venezuela 4.5 Africa 4.5.1  Zimbabwe 4.6 Oceania 4.6.1  Australia 4.6.2  New Zealand 4.7 International organizations 4.7.1  Arab League 4.7.2  European Union 4.7.3  United Nations 5 Execution 5.1 Criticism 5.2 General arrangements 5.3 Ongoing war/instability in Iraq and "Prisoner of War" status 5.4 U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Opinion 31/2006 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] First hearing

The 67-year-old deposed Hussein appeared confident and defiant throughout the 46-minute hearing. Alternating between listening to and gesturing at the judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin, he questioned the legitimacy of the tribunal set up to try him. He called the court a "play aimed at Bush's chances of winning the US presidential elections".^[12] He emphatically rejected charges against him. "This is all theatre. The real criminal is Bush," he stated.^[13] When asked by the judge to identify himself in his first appearance before an Iraqi judge (three of the five judges and the prosecutor are never identified nor photographed for security reasons), he answered, "You are an Iraqi, you know who I am."^[14] "I am still the president of the republic and the occupation cannot take that away," declared Saddam Hussein.^{[citation needed]}

Also during the arraignment, Hussein defended Iraq's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait and referred to Kuwaitis as "dogs", who were trying to turn the women of Iraq into "twopenny whores" which led to an admonishment from the judge for using coarse language in court. Later on 1 July, Kuwait's information minister Abul-Hassan said crude language was "expected" of Hussein. "This is how he was raised," said the minister.^[15] Unlike the conservative monarch rulers in the area, which rule every other Arab nation in the Persian Gulf region, Saddam was born into a hard-scrabble, landless peasant family.

Although no attorneys for Hussein were present at the 1 July hearing, his first wife, Sajida Talfah, hired a multinational legal team of attorneys, headed by Jordanian Mohammad Rashdan and including Ayesha Qaddafi (Libya), Curtis Doebbler (United States), Emmanuel Ludot (France), Marc Henzelin (Switzerland) and Giovanni di Stefano (United Kingdom). Towards the end of the first hearing, the deposed president refused to sign the legal document confirming his understanding of the charges.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Pre-trial events

In a leaked transcript of a February 2003 meeting between Bush and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Aznar, Bush expressed a willingness to have Hussein tried at the International Tribunal of Justice in The Hague.^[16]

In December 2004, Clive Stafford Smith prepared a 50-page brief for the defense team arguing that Saddam Hussein should be tried in the US under US criminal law.^[17]

The London-based Arab-language daily newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported in early May 2005, that during a meeting with Donald Rumsfeld, "known only to a few Iraqi officials in Jordan", Hussein refused an offer of release if he made a televised request to armed groups for a ceasefire with allied forces.^[18] The British Daily Telegraph newspaper, quoting an unnamed senior UK government source, had reported two weeks before that Iraqi insurgents were being offered a "deal" whereby the former President of Iraq would receive a more lenient sentence if they gave up their attacks.^[19]

On 17 June 2005, former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, former minister of Foreign Affairs of France Roland Dumas and former President of Algeria Ahmed Ben Bella announced the formation, under their joint chairmanship, of an international Emergency Committee for Iraq, with a main objective of ensuring fair trials for Hussein and the other former Baath Party officials being tried with him.^[20]

On 18 July 2005, Hussein was charged by the Special Tribunal with the first of an expected series of charges, relating to the mass killings of the inhabitants of the village of Dujail in 1982 after a failed assassination attempt against him.

On 8 August 2005, Saddam's family announced that they had dissolved the Jordan-based legal team and that they had appointed Khalil al-Duleimi, the only Iraq-based member, as the sole legal counsel.^[21] In an interview broadcast on Iraqi television on 6 September 2005, Iraqi president Jalal Talabani said that he had directly extracted confessions from Hussein that he had ordered mass killings and other "crimes" during his regime and that he deserves to die. Two days later, Hussein's lawyer denied that he confessed.^[22]

Hussein's defense repeatedly argued for a delay in the proceedings, insisting that it had not been given evidence secured by the prosecution, had not been given sufficient time to review any prosecution documents, but so far these submissions have received no response from the court. International human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and UN bodies such as the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated that the Iraqi Special Tribunal and its legal process did not meet international standards for a fair trial. The United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Anan declined to support the proceeding, expressing similar concerns over fairness as well as over the possibility of a death sentence in the case.

[edit] Al-Dujail trial

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Iraqi authorities put Hussein and seven other former Iraqi officials on trial on 19 October 2005 four days after the 15 October 2005 referendum on the new Iraq constitution. The tribunal specifically charged the defendants with the killing of 148 Shiites from Dujail, in retaliation for the failed assassination attempt of 8 July 1982. Supporters of Hussein protested against the trial in Tikrit.^[23]

Hussein's co-defendants were:

• Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, his half-brother and former chief of intelligence
• Taha Yassin Ramadan, former Vice-President
• Awad Hamed al-Bandar Al-S'adun, a former chief judge
• Abdullah Kadhem Roweed Al-Musheikhi, Al-Dujail Baath party official
• Mizher Abdullah Roweed Al-Musheikhi, (son of Abdullah Kadhem), Al-Dujail Baath party official
• Ali Daeem Ali, Dujail Baath party official
• Mohammed Azawi Ali, Dujail Baath party official

As in his pre-trial appearance, Hussein at the opening of his trial on 19 October appeared defiant and rejected the tribunal's legitimacy and independence from the control of foreign occupation. "I do not respond to this so-called court, with all due respect to its people, and I retain my constitutional right as the president of Iraq," Hussein declared. He added, "Neither do I recognize the body that has designated and authorized you, nor the aggression because all that has been built on false basis is false."^[24]

When the judge asked for his name, Hussein said "I am the president of the Iraq", refused to state his name, but returned the question, asking Kurdish judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin, "Who are you? I want to know who you are." When Amin addressed Hussein as "the former president", Saddam objected emphatically, saying he was still the President of the Republic of Iraq and had not been deposed.

While Hussein's seven co-defendants appeared in traditional Arabic male dress, Hussein wore a dark suit and a white shirt. Al-Bandar, sitting next to Hussein in the front row in a pen of white metal bars, complained that the defendants had been stripped of their head-coverings, upon which they were given back to them.

After the charges were read to them, all eight defendants pleaded not guilty. The first session of Hussein's trial lasted three hours. The court adjourned the case until 28 November 2005, as some of the witnesses were too frightened to attend, and also to allow the defense more time to study evidence.^[25] During an interview with the Arab news agency al-Arabiya following the opening of the trial, Hussein's eldest daughter Raghad branded the court a "farce" and claimed that her father behaved like a "lion" during the proceedings. "My father is brave, a lion, I am proud of him," she said. "He is a man who dedicated his life to serve his country, he was brave in his youth, so how can he be afraid now?" she added.

On 20 October 2005, attorney Saadoun Sughaiyer al-Janabi, charged with the defense of Awad Hamed al-Bandar, was abducted from his office by gunmen, and found shot dead near his office a few hours later.

On 8 November 2005, attorney Adel al-Zubeidi, who had been representing Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan and Abdullah Kazim Ruwayyid, was killed by three gunmen in Baghdad. Barazan Ibrahim's lawyer Thamer Hamoud al-Khuzaie was also wounded in the attack.

On 28 November 2005, Chief Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin adjourned the trial until 5 December to allow time to find replacements for two defense lawyers who were slain and another who fled Iraq after he was wounded. On 5 December, Hussein's legal defense team stormed out of the court after questioning its legitimacy and asking about return of defence papers seized by US Army troops and security issues regarding the protection of the defense. Hussein, along with his co-defendants, railed against Chief Judge Amin and the tribunal. The next day, after listening to hours of testimony against him, he lashed out at the judge. He said he was exhausted, did not intend on returning to the trial, and to "go to hell".

On 7 December 2005, Hussein refused to enter court, complaining of the conditions in which he was being held and the conduct of the trial. Hussein's complaints included, among other things, that he had not been able to change his clothes for four days.^[26]

On 12 December 2005, instead of cross-examining witnesses, Hussein used the time to accuse his American captors of torturing him, saying, "I have been beaten on every place of my body, and the signs are all over my body."^[27]

On 23 January 2006, Rauf Rashid Abd al-Rahman was nominated interim chief judge of the tribunal. He replaces former chief judge Rizgar Amin, also a Kurd, who resigned after complaining of government interference.^[28] Hussein and his co-defendants objected to the change in judge, citing bias after he ordered defendant Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti out of the court,^[29] and announced they would boycott the trial under Rahman. On 1 February they failed to show up to court.

On 15 March 2006, Hussein was called by the prosecution as a witness. On the stand, he began making political statements, insisting he was still President of Iraq. He got in an argument with the judge, who eventually closed the trial to the public in response.^[30]

On 19 June 2006, Chief Prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi called for the death penalty for Hussein and four other defendants including Barzan al-Tikriti, Saddam's half-brother, Taha Yassin Ramadan, former Iraqi Vice President and Awad Hamed al-Bander, former chief judge of Saddam's Revolutionary Court. The suspects face execution by hanging if convicted and sentenced to death.^[31]

On 21 June 2006, Hussein's chief defense lawyer, Khamis al-Obeidi, was assassinated in Baghdad. In protest of the lack of international protection for lawyers, Hussein began a hunger strike. On 23 June 2006, it was reported that Hussein ended his hunger strike, having missed one meal.^[32]

On 27 June 2006, two of Saddam Hussein's lawyers, Ramsey Clark, a former US Attorney-General, and Curtis Doebbler, held a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to call for immediate security for all the Iraqi defense lawyers and to complain in a lengthy and documented statement of the unfair trial being conducted by the American authorities using Iraqis as a front. The two lawyers claimed that the United States had refused to provide adequate protection for the defense lawyers despite repeated requests that were made and that the United States was intentionally ensuring an unfair trial.^[33]

[edit] Verdict

On 5 November 2006, Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging, for the killing of 148 Shiites from Dujail, in retaliation for the assassination attempt of 8 July 1982. When the judge announced the verdict, Hussein shouted, "Long live the people. Long live the Arab nation. Down with the spies. God is great." ^[34] Chief defense lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi later quoted a statement from Saddam Hussein given just before the Court issued its verdict. Saying that the former Iraqi President urged his countrymen to "unify in the face of sectarian strife". Al-Dulaimi also added that Hussein's message to the people was to "pardon and do not take revenge on the invading nations, its civilians". ^[35]An appeal, mandated by the Iraqi judicial system, followed. There was speculation that the appeals could last years, postponing his actual execution. However, on 26 December, Hussein's appeal was rejected and the death sentence was given. No further appeals were possible and Hussein had to be executed within 30 days of that date. The decision still had to be ratified by the Iraqi President but could not be commuted. ^[11] Judge Arif Shaheen, one of the nine appeal judges, said, "It cannot exceed 30 days. As from tomorrow the sentence could be carried out at any time. The appeals court has issued its verdict. What we have decided today is compulsory."

On 30 December 2006 at approximately 6:05am Baghdad time, Saddam Hussein's sentence was carried out and he was executed by hanging.

Among Hussein's co-defendants, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, his half-brother and Iraq's intelligence chief at the time of the Dujail killings, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, who issued death sentences to Dujail residents as head of a Revolutionary Court, were also sentenced to death by hanging. The former Iraqi vice-president Taha Yassin Ramadan was sentenced to life in prison. ^[36] However, the sentence was later changed to death by hanging on 12 February 2007, [14] and Ramadan was executed on 20 March 2007. [15]

Former Baath party officials in the Dujail region Abdullah Kadhem Roweed Al-Musheikhi, his son Mizher Abdullah Roweed Al-Musheikhi, and Ali Daeem Ali were sentenced to 15 years in prison. Mohammed Azawi Ali, also a Baath party official in Dujail region, was acquitted due to a lack of evidence. ^[36]

[edit] Local reactions to sentence

[edit]  Iraq

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President Jalal Talabani said in a statement, "I think this trial was fair," and "I must respect the independence of the Iraqi judiciary. Until the end I must be silent."^[37]

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said the sentence may "help alleviate the pain of the widows and the orphans" who lived under Hussein's regime.^[37]

First Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi National Assembly Khaled al-Attiyah said "we expected the maximum penalty against the criminal Saddam Hussein and his henchmen because they committed horrible crimes against the Iraqi people, the Arabs, Muslims and the entire Western community." ^[37]

[edit] International reactions to the verdict

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[edit] Middle East

[edit]  Bahrain

In Bahrain, parliamentary candidate for upcoming elections Sheikh Ibrahim Bu Sandal said Hussein was the personification of tyranny and what happened to him was a drop in the sea compared to what he did to his people.

“We have a lot of Saddams in the region. He is the first to be convicted and I hope that the others would follow,” he said.

“I also hope that US President George W. Bush is brought to trial for his crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, because these are no less serious than those committed by Saddam,” Bu Sandal added.

[edit]  Egypt

President Hosni Mubarak warned that if Hussein was sent to the gallows, the violence in Iraq could escalate to unimaginable levels.

[edit]  Iran

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mohammed Ali Hosseni said "the Islamic republic of Iran welcomes the death sentence" but also said "we cannot forget the Western protectors of Saddam who by supporting him, prepared this ground for the execution of his crimes."^[37]

[edit]  Jordan

Prominent Jordanian lawyers denounced the verdict as pre-decided by the US-led multinational force in Iraq. They saw no possibility of the appeals court reversing the rulings, “because justice cannot be guaranteed for the defendants under the present political and security setup in Iraq.”

“We believe that the verdicts have been prepared beforehand, because what we have seen so far is nothing but a theatrical play,” Chairman of the Legal Committee at the Jordanian lower house of Parliament, Ghaleb Al-Zoabi, said.

[edit]  Kuwait

In Kuwait, the tiny emirate that Hussein occupied during the Gulf War, many were jubilant. "This is justice from heaven. He should have been hanged a long time ago. This is the smallest punishment for someone who executed tens of thousands of people," said Abdul-Ridha Aseeri, who heads the political science department at Kuwait University.

"Death to him is merciful," she said. "I wanted life in prison. He will die but people (he hurt) will continue to suffer."

[edit]  Palestinian Authority

Hamas condemned the verdict. Hamas is known to be ideologically close to Teheran but this did not prevent the Islamist Party from expressing its opinion on the issue. In its statement soon after the verdict was announced, Hamas recalled the help Hussein provided to the Palestinians in their hour of need: "We, as the Palestinian people, support whoever supports our people and President Saddam was one of those." The Hamas spokesman said that those who had participated in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse judged Hussein and that the same elements were party to the crimes being committed against the Palestinian people. He also pointed out that the trial was conducted at a time when Iraq was under American occupation.

[edit]  Syria

Asked about Syria’s view of the verdict, Information Minister Muhsin Bilal told reporters in Damascus: “Any trial conducted under occupation is illegitimate.”

[edit] Asia

[edit]  People's Republic of China

Hua Liming, a former Chinese ambassador to Iran, said the execution is not a matter of Hussein himself. "The guilty verdict for Saddam is expected to escalate the conflicts between hard-liners among Saddam's fellow Sunnis and the opposition Kurds. Besides, some anti-US military forces (Iraqi insurgency) might also avail of the opportunity to create conflicts," Hua said.

[edit]  India

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee reacted guardedly to the death sentence, saying such verdicts should not appear to be "victor's justice" and should be acceptable to the people of Iraq and the international community. In a statement, he said "such life and death decisions require credible due process of law." ^[38]

[edit]  Japan

In Tokyo, top Japanese government spokesman Yasuhisa Shiozaki said Japan "appreciates" the handling of the death penalty verdict on Hussein, but remained vague on actual support of the sentence.

"We appreciate the verdict was handed down under the new Iraqi laws," Kyodo News quoted Shiozaki as saying.

[edit]  Malaysia

Chandra Muzaffar, president of the Malaysian-based International Movement for a Just World, also voiced concerns that Hussein's trial was flawed because it "violated many established norms of international jurisprudence, such as in the way the court was constituted and how the charges were brought against Saddam. But Saddam was undoubtedly a brutal dictator, and even though I wouldn't subscribe to the death penalty, he deserves to be punished severely for the enormity of his crimes," said Chandra, a well-known Muslim social commentator.

Chandra said there was bound to be a violent reaction in Iraq to the verdict.

[edit]  Pakistan

In Pakistan, the opposition religious coalition claimed that American forces have caused more deaths in Iraq during the past 3 1/2 years than Hussein during his 23-year reign, and insisted President Bush should stand trial for war crimes.

"Who will punish the Americans and their lackeys who have killed many more people than Saddam Hussein?" asked Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a senior lawmaker from the Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal coalition, which is critical of Pakistan's military cooperation with the United States. What goes around comes around. ... in the future, Bush must face the same fate," Ahmed said.

[edit]  Sri Lanka

Score of Muslim leaders made a meeting at the Western Province Governor’s office in Colombo to condemn the death sentence passed on former Iraqi President Saddam Hussain, Governor Alawi Moulana said yesterday. The entire Muslim world is certain to rise up against the death sentence, Mr Moulana told the Daily Mirror .

[edit]  Thailand

"The hanging of Saddam Hussein will turn to hell for the Americans," said Vitaya Wisethrat, a respected Muslim cleric in Thailand. "The Saddam case is not a Muslim problem but the problem of America and its domestic politics," he said.

"The Americans are about to vote in a midterm election, so maybe Bush will use this case to tell the voters that Saddam is dead and that the Americans are safe. But actually the American people will be in more danger with the death of Saddam."

[edit] Europe

[edit]  Belgium

Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht believes that carrying out the death penalty on a 69-year-old would be "unethical" reported flandersnews.be.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt told the press that "justice has been done", although a spokesman for the Prime Minister later said that Verhofstadt felt that it would have been better to have tried Saddam Hussein at the International Court of Justice in the Dutch city The Hague.

[edit]  Croatia

President Stjepan Mesic said he opposed capital punishment.

[edit]  Czech Republic

The Czech Republic’s Prime Minister,Mirek Topolanek, welcomed the sentence, calling it “an act of justice” and a warning to other dictators.

[edit]  Denmark

Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq, also emphasized his country's opposition to the death penalty.

[edit]  Estonia

Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said that the EU has always called on countries to reconsider their use of the death penalty.

[edit]  France

France notes the sentence made by the Iraqi court at the end of the Saddam Hussein trial. This decision belongs to the Iraqi people.

In the climate of violence Iraq is currently experiencing, I hope this decision will not lead to new tensions and that the Iraqis will show restraint, whatever community they belong to.

Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy focused his remarks on Iraq's future, saying he hoped the already bloody sectarian strife in the country would not worsen as a result of the death sentence.

[edit]  Germany

German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the court judgement of Saddam Hussein, but said that the European Union had "a scepticism and a rejection on principle of the death penalty", the sentence handed to the former Iraqi president. Merkel affirmed that the death verdict was "a sound decision."

In a statement, released by the information department of the German Government, released early on Monday, Merkel said Hussein should "fully bear consequences of his acts like any other Iraqi citizen."

[edit]  Ireland

A spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs Minister said "Ireland and its EU partners have made it clear in the past to Iraqi authorities that we are opposed to courts applying the death sentence."^[37]

[edit]  Italy

Prime Minister Romano Prodi said "While not wishing to play down the crimes... I cannot but express the firm opposition of the Italian government - as well as mine - to a death sentence. As I reiterated again today (27 December 2006) at the cabinet meeting, Italy is opposed to capital punishment, always and in all cases. It is a general principle that I reiterated firmly also at the United Nations."^[39]

[edit]  Netherlands

The death penalty imposed on former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is a 'verdict that is fitting for a reign of terror,' Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said on tv programme Buitenhof. 'Justice has been done' to his victims, the prime minister said, adding that the Netherlands is opposed to the death penalty.

Foreign minister Ben Bot welcomed the announcement. Even though the Netherlands was opposed to the death penalty, he said he understood that the 'maximum penalty has been imposed, given the seriousness of the crimes.' Bot was speaking during his visit to Afghanistan.

[edit]  Norway

In Oslo, Norwegian Undersecretary of State Raymond Johansen described the sentence as "positive", but the Norwegian government regrets the death sentence against Saddam.

[edit]  Poland

President Lech Kaczynski called it “the only possible outcome.”

[edit]  Russia

Foreign affairs committee member Konstantin Kosachev made a cautious statement, saying he doubted the death penalty would be carried out. He said, "this is more of a moral ruling, revenge that modern Iraq is taking on the Saddam Hussein regime."^[40]

[edit]  Slovakia

A former Justice Minister, Daniel Lipsic, criticized his country for pandering to the European Union in opposing the Iraqi decision.

[edit]  Spain

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose country withdrew its troops from Iraq, said he found it "alarming" that conditions have worsened since the US-led invasion and called for a "change of strategy by the chief actors to this conflict.

[edit]  Sweden

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt called the verdict "deeply satisfying", despite the EU's distaste for capital punishment, but stressed that it would not solve Iraq's problems.

[edit]  Ukraine

The government said that the death penalty was wrong, while adding it respected Iraq’s sovereignty in sentencing Hussein.

[edit]  United Kingdom

Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said "it is right that those accused of such crimes against the Iraqi people should face Iraqi justice."^[41][42] Prime Minister Tony Blair stated that he is "against the death penalty, whether it is Saddam Hussein or anybody else."^[43]

[edit]  Switzerland

Switzerland has criticised the death penalty.

"Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein deserves a harsh punishment for his serious crimes. The maximum sentence under Iraqi law is the death penalty", a statement by the Swiss foreign ministry said.

But it said the death penalty, which is outlawed in the Swiss constitution, was not an acceptable form of punishment. Switzerland is active in calling for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide.The government said it recognised the difficult task faced by the judge and the lawyers of the defendants during the one-year trial.

Foreign ministry spokesman Jean-Philippe Jeannerat added that he hoped the court proceedings against the members of the former Iraqi rulers would help the country leave its past behind.

Switzerland also expressed concern about the security situation in Iraq.

[edit]  Vatican City

The head of the Vatican's Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, opposed the death sentence for Saddam Hussein, saying, "For me, punishing a crime with another crime — which is what killing for vindication is — would mean that we are still at the point of demanding an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."^[44]

[edit] America

[edit]  Canada

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said "my understanding is there is an appeal process to follow, so given that fact, I think it would be pre-emptive to be passing any judgments or making any firm public declarations until all of those avenues have been exhausted."^[45]

[edit]  United States

The White House spokesman Tony Snow said the trial showed "absolute proof" that the judiciary in Iraq are independent.^[46] President George W. Bush in a statement said, "Saddam Hussein's trial is a milestone in the Iraqi people's efforts to replace the rule of a tyrant with the rule of law," and "today, the victims of this regime have received a measure of the justice which many thought would never come."^[47]

[edit]  Venezuela

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez criticised the imposition of the death penalty on Hussein and said that US President George W. Bush, rather than Hussein, deserved to be sentenced to death. “If sentencing is to be done,” said Chavez in November 2006, “the first one to be given the most severe sentence this planet has to offer should be the president of the United States, if we’re talking about genocidal presidents.

[edit] Africa

[edit]  Zimbabwe

A group of Zimbabwean exiles in South Africa have welcomed Hussein's death sentence, and hopes it sends a message to Zimbabwe's dictator Robert Mugabe, as well as deposed dictators Augusto Pinochet of Chile and former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, saying:

"[We] believe that together with the Pinochet, Taylor, and other recent cases, this case sends an unequivocally clear and resounding message to dictators and perpetrators of serious crimes under international and national laws. [We] hope that this loud message will not escape the ears of tyrants like President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and all those who serve under him in the commission of torture and other crimes against humanity."

[edit] Oceania

[edit]  Australia

Prime Minister John Howard said, "They could've easily allowed him to be arbitrarily executed as has happened in so many other countries, yet no, he could've been shot ... or something like that, but no, they were determined to have a transparent trial they were determined to demonstrate to the world that there was a new Iraq.".

Mr Howard said he was opposed to the death penalty, but could not govern what another country did. Howard stated that the death penalty is not the issue of significance. "The real issue is that he was tried in an open, transparent fashion and one of the great marks of democratic society is due process and the rule of law and this mass murderer was given due process."^[48]

[edit]  New Zealand

Prime Minister Helen Clark stated that the guilty verdict was appropriate but that she has "a long-standing objection to the death penalty and that will always be a concern to me." She declined to make a comment on whether the trial was fair, saying it was hard to determine from so far away.^[49]

[edit] International organizations

[edit]  Arab League

The Arab League regarded Hussein's death sentence as a tragic end for the former regime. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said he hoped that the verdict will not exacerbate the security situation in the war-torn country, according to the Egyptian news agency MENA.

[edit]  European Union

The Finnish presidency of the EU called for Iraq not to use the death penalty against former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, a statement said.

The presidency recalled EU's longstanding position of opposing the death penalty. The EU opposes capital punishment in all cases and under all circumstances and it should not be carried out in this case either.

Over the years, the EU has repeatedly condemned the systematic, widespread and extremely grave violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law committed by the regime of Saddam Hussein, the statement said.

Establishing the truth and ensuring accountability for the crimes committed during the past regime will assist in furthering national reconciliation and dialogue in Iraq in the future. The nature of the crimes as well as the necessity of national reconciliation mean that all the trials have to be conducted respecting all the requirements for a fair process, the statement added.

[edit]  United Nations

Louise Arbour, the UN human rights chief, called for a moratorium on executions after Hussein was sentenced to death.

She also called for the rights of defendants to a fair appeal to be "fully respected".

"A credible appeals process is an essential part of fair-trial guarantees," she said in a statement.

"This is particularly important in this instance, in which the death penalty has been imposed. Those convicted today should have every opportunity to exhaust their appellate remedies in a fair way, and whatever the outcome of an appeal, I hope the government will observe a moratorium on executions. Guaranteeing the right of a fair trial of persons accused of major human rights violations is key to consolidating and strengthening the very important process of ensuring justice and countering impunity that Iraq has embarked upon."

[edit] Execution

Main article: Execution of Saddam Hussein

Hussein was executed by hanging after being convicted of crimes against humanity following his trial and conviction for the illegal killings of 148 Shi'as in the town of Dujail in 1982. He was hanged on the first day of most important Islam holiday Eid ul-Adha, (hanging on holiday was considered a sacrilege under Hussein) 30 December 2006 at approximately 06:05 AM local time (03:05 UTC). The execution was carried out at “Camp Justice,” an Iraqi army base in Kazimain, a neighbourhood of northeast Baghdad. There were some foreign groups who wanted Hussein dead after Eid, on 1 January between 3 and 6 AM but prime minister Maliki wanted Hussein gone before New Year.

[edit] Criticism

• Critics, including Hussein's sole remaining legal counsel Khalil al-Dulaimi, have alleged that American officials have a heavy influence on the court. ^[50] In a statement, Khalil said, "this court is a creature of the US military occupation, and the Iraqi court is just a tool and rubber stamp of the invaders." ^[51]
• Khalil al-Dulaimi and various international commentators have alleged that the date on which the verdict was read live to the world, 5 November 2006, was deliberately selected and expedited by the Bush Administration in order to influence the US midterm elections which occurred two days later. This has been called a November Surprise. ^[51][52] The verdict was expected to be on 16 October 2006, but was postponed to consider recalling some of the witnesses. ^[53] Even as the verdict was released verbally on 5 November, the written, final verdict was not to be released until days later. ^[54]
• The television link of the trial is provided by a US company which frequently edits out the sound of what Hussein and the others say, and sometimes edits the video as well.^[55]
• Some Witnesses were told by court staff what to say. ^[56]
• Judges were replaced numerous times, reportedly because of "leniency" towards the defence. ^[57]
• All Defence lawyers who questioned the court's legitimacy were ejected. ^[58]
• A Defence lawyer who showed images of US torture was ejected. ^[59]
• Witnesses claimed to be forced or tortured to testify. ^[60]
• Evidence is allegedly forged in numerous circumstances. ^[61]
• Numerous Witnesses' statements claim the accused's innocence. ^[62]
• An unidentified witness claims chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi offered him $500 to give false evidence and said his family was threatened. ^[63]
• Three Witnesses discredit the prosecution by telling the court people allegedly killed by Hussein in Dujail are actually alive. ^[64]
• A Defence lawyer is abducted and killed. ^[65]

[edit] General arrangements

The Washington Post reported that "Americans have drafted most of the statutes under which Hussein and his associates are being tried". It also reported that "A US official in Baghdad confirmed last weekend that only the United States and Britain had contributed experts to advise the court on how to prosecute governments for war crimes and other such matters". ^[66]

The human rights organization Amnesty International criticized the death sentence and said the trial was "deeply flawed and unfair." The process was marred by "serious flaws that call into question the capacity of the tribunal," Malcolm Stuart, director of Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa program, said. "in particular, political interference undermined the independence and impartiality of the court." ^[67] The specific concerns raised by Amnesty International include the status of the trial as a "Special Trial" (unconstitutional according to the Iraqi Constitution), political interference in trial proceedings by the removal of a judge mid-trial, exclusion of members of the defense team at points in the trial, assassination of multiple members of the defence team, and the closure of the trial before the defence team had completed presenting its legal case.

In the opening statement of the Jury of Conscience of the World Tribunal on Iraq, keynote speaker Arundhati Roy retorted, "Saddam Hussein is being tried as a war criminal even as we speak. But what about those who helped to install him in power, who armed him, who supported him—and who are now setting up a tribunal to try him and absolve themselves completely?"^[68], referring to the assistance provided by the US government under President Ronald Reagan during the Iran-Iraq War, as revealed incontrovertibly by documents declassified by the National Security Archive.^[69]

[edit] Ongoing war/instability in Iraq and "Prisoner of War" status

As the UK and USA have failed to stabilise Iraq as yet (arguably war is still ongoing, and has not yet been won in fact), it could also be argued that the trial of Saddam Hussein and his co-defendants was premature and wholly inappropriate: that Hussein's status is that of a prisoner of war with the right to the benefit of the Geneva Conventions unless and until the country is actually stabilised by the USA and UK, and that he ought not to have been put on trial at all as yet.^{[citation needed]}

However, Articles 82-88 of the Third Geneva Convention [16] would have allowed the US military to try Saddam Hussein—or any prisoner of war—for war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity or other crimes by court martial or potentially even a civilian federal court in the USA.

Before the trial Saddam was officially transferred from US custody as a POW to Iraqi government custody as a suspected felon awaiting trial. This could theoretically be considered the "repatriation" of a POW under the Geneva Conventions. However, although legally in the custody of the US-backed Iraqi authorities, Hussein remained in the physical custody of the US military.

[edit] U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Opinion 31/2006

Even prior to the conclusion of the trial, the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, in its Opinion 31/2006 dated 1 September 2006[17]: (a) has held that the detention is arbitrary within Category III of the Working Group’s categories (failure to provide a fair trial) [see para. 27]; and (b) has called upon the governments of Iraq and the USA to remedy the situation by providing a fair trial. [see para 28]

[edit] See also

• Execution of Saddam Hussein
• 2003 invasion of Iraq
• Victor's justice
• Show Trial

v • d • e Saddam Hussein Biography Human rights record · Relations with the United States · Relationship with Al-Qaeda (timeline) · Rumours of death · Alleged shredder · Trial · Execution Books Zabibah and the King · The Fortified Castle · Men and the City · Begone, Demons Family Father: Hussein 'Abid al-Majid · Mother: Subha Tulfah al-Mussallat · Wives: Sajida Talfah, Samira Shahbandar, Nidal al-Hamdani, and Wafa el-Mullah al-Howeish · Uncle and Father-in-Law: Khairallah Talfah · Sons: Uday, Qusay, and Ali · Daughters: Rana, Raghad, and Hala

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Saddam's final message/letter to the world - on his Baath party's website 2 January 2007

• Execution on Muslim Holiday Eid Not Allowed
• Streaming Video of Saddam Hussein in Trial
• To the victor belongs the judge's gavel
• 3000 american troops dead, 3000 on december 28th, two days before hanging
• Saddam died a Holy Martyr as he wished, on a most Holy day of Sacrifice 6:10 Am, 3:10 GMT
• Saddam's last hours
• Iraqi Special Tribunal (IST) homepage
• Grotian Moment: The Saddam Hussein Trial Blog
• Bombings kill over 60 people,mostly Shiites, 3 American soldiers, revenge for Saddam's death, 12 30 2006
• [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/23/africa/ME-GEN-Iraq-Professor-Killed.php

Shiite professor dies in Iraq, Diya al-Meqoter, one of many]

• Daoud al-Qaissi, Saddam's singer executed

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