BAGHDAD, Iraq – Defiant and alert, Saddam Hussein bickered with the judge, challenged prosecutors and vented outrage Monday on the opening day of his second trial.
This time around, Hussein faces charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to his regime’s scorched-earth “Anfal” campaign against rebellious Kurds almost two decades ago.
He is in the dock of the special Iraqi tribunal with six other ex-aides, the most notorious being his cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid, who earned the nickname “Chemical Ali” because of his purported sanctioning of the use of internationally banned chemical weapons.
Both Hussein and al-Majid could face the hangman if convicted for responsibility in the death of as many as 100,000 Kurds during a 1988 military campaign in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Not-guilty pleas were entered for the seven defendants, who are expected to argue that the regime used appropriate force to put down pro-Iranian Kurdish rebels during a critical stage of the bloody 1980s Iraq-Iran war.
Asked his name, Hussein’s once-ferocious commander replied, “The fighting comrade Staff Major General pilot Ali Hassan al-Majid.” He gave his occupation as “detainee.”
Hussein often parried the judge’s questions, refusing to respond when queried if he was innocent or guilty. “That would require volumes of books,” Hussein finally explained.
Hussein chided presiding judge Abdullah al-Amiri for silencing two defense attorneys, an Egyptian and a Jordanian, because they are not Iraqi.
The ex-Iraqi strongman never wavered during the almost five-hour court proceeding, occasionally taking a green-covered Quran in hand as he rose to challenge a point.
Hussein looked gaunt but appeared focused. He projected a sense of coiled power as he listened to the proceedings and frequently expressed indignation – especially at suggestions his soldiers had raped Kurdish women during the Anfal campaign.
“To say a … woman was raped and Saddam is president, this is intolerable,” said Hussein, wagging his fingers in disgust. “Whoever says this is my personal enemy. … Where is Saddam’s honor?”
He recalled a purported incident in “liberated” Kuwait – following the Iraqi invasion of the oil-rich kingdom in 1990 – when an Iraqi officer was found to have raped a woman. Hussein said the officer was court-martialed and, at Hussein’s orders, publicly hanged at the site of the alleged assault, where his body was left to hang for several days as an example.
Hussein also disputed the prosecutor’s interpretation of the word “anfal,” said to mean “spoils of war.” Hussein hinted at a more benign meaning, though he never spelled out an alternative definition.
The judge rejected a plea from Hussein and defense attorneys to throw the charges out because the tribunal was formed during the U.S. “occupation” government. A similar defense tactic failed in first case against Hussein.
Despite such tensions, the first day of trial ran smoothly compared to the chaos that prevailed at Hussein’s turbulent first trial. In that case, he and seven co-defendants were tried for the alleged killings of 148 Shiite Muslims following a 1982 assassination attempt targeting Hussein in the town of Dujail. A verdict in that case is expected in October. Hussein also faces hanging if convicted of the Dujail charges.
Testimony is expected to last until December, featuring many survivors of the alleged extermination campaign in Kurdistan.
The prosecution displayed gory pictures of mass graves where alleged victims were dumped. One photo showed the remains of a young girl with her milk bottle, which she apparently took to her grave.
“It’s time for humanity to know … the magnitude and scale of the crimes committed against the people of Kurdistan,” said the lead prosecutor, Munqith al-Faroon.
The prosecution accused Hussein of employing banned mustard gas and nerve agents during the campaign.
A courtroom wall featured a large map of Iraqi Kurdistan, with scores of red and orange dots. Officials said the orange dots indicated villages that had allegedly been destroyed during the Iraqi government’s Anfal campaign; the red dots specified villages in which gas allegedly had been used.
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