Home>News Center>World
         
 

Little testimony ties Saddam to crackdown
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-05 09:33

After four months and 26 witnesses, prosecutors in the Saddam Hussein trial have offered little credible testimony directly linking the former leader to the killings and torture for which he's charged.

But legal experts familiar with the case say the best may be yet to come — documents allegedly tying Saddam to the crackdown that followed an assassination attempt against him 23 years ago in Dujail, a mainly Shiite town north of Baghdad.

Without compelling evidence, a guilty verdict against Saddam may not provide closure for victims of Saddam's atrocities. But the experts caution that the documents — which include hand written notes, interrogation orders and death sentences handed down by the Revolutionary Court — may not alone be enough to win a conviction.

What is needed, they said, is to establish a clear chain of command that would show Saddam would have known what happened to the more than 140 Shiites killed and the others tortured after the 1982 attempt on the former ruler's life in Dujail, north of Baghdad.

Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein argues with new chief judge, Rauf Rashid Abdel Rahman, held in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, on January 29.
Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein argues with new chief judge, Rauf Rashid Abdel Rahman, held in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, on January 29, 2006.[AFP/file]
The evidence to date — mostly testimony from people who were arrested and allegedly tortured — has pointed to a brutal crackdown — but has not showed that Saddam played a direct role. Saddam and the seven co-defendants, charged in the Dujail killings, could face death by hanging if convicted.

"The testimonies we have heard so far are moving but they are not enough and that's causing us concern," said Nehal Bhuta, a Human Rights Watch lawyer following the Saddam trial.

"What is needed is evidence linking each of the eight defendants to what happened or evidence that Saddam could not have not known," he said by telephone from New York.

But the chief prosecutor maintains that he has the evidence to win a conviction that will be accepted not only by those Iraqis who are eager to see Saddam hang but also international legal institutions that have been skeptical of an Iraqi trial from the start.

Prosecutor Jaafar al-Mousawi told The Associated Press that the case's 800-page dossier includes documents showing Saddam ordered interrogations, executions and in some cases clemency.

"We have many such documents that we plan to present later in the trial," he said.

However, defense lawyers, as well as some foreign legal organizations monitoring the trial, say about a third of the documents are illegible after so many years.

Trial testimony so far has linked Saddam's half brother and co-defendant, Barzan Ibrahim, to the torture of Dujail residents in the Baghdad headquarters of Mukhabarat, or intelligence agency, that he led at the time. Some witnesses testified that Ibrahim had personally tortured them.

"Barzan is practically the top defendant in this case," said al-Mousawi.

Saddam's former deputy, Taha Yassin Ramadan, also has been implicated by witnesses in the reprisal destruction of Dujail fruit orchards shortly after the attempt on Saddam's life.

Marieka Wierda, a legal expert with the New York-based International Center for Transitional Justice, said Saddam's defense could argue that his security forces were not acting on his orders when they detained and tortured hundreds.

"But the prosecution could counter that by showing that torture was a widespread practice at the time and Saddam could not have possibly not known about it," Wierda said.
Page: 12



Syrians set embassies on fire
Egypt maritime tragedy
Ben Bernanke sworn in as 14th Fed chairman
 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

Iran vows enrichment after UN referral

 

   
 

Series of tragic errors doomed Egypt ferry

 

   
 

China may report EU to WTO over shoes

 

   
 

Syrians torch embassies over caricatures

 

   
 

NPC, CPPCC sessions slated for early March

 

   
 

NFL expects American football 'Yao Ming'

 

   
  Iran vows enrichment after UN referral
   
  Series of tragic errors doomed Egypt ferry
   
  Syrians torch embassies over caricatures
   
  Japan, North Korea begin talks on ties, abductions, nuke
   
  At least 74 killed in Philippine stampede
   
  Fierce fighting across southern Afghanistan kills 36
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  News Talk  
  Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
Advertisement