Saddam facing genocide trial in his absence
Iraq is preparing to put deposed dictator Saddam Hussain on trial in his absence for war crimes and genocide .
The US installed interim government established a special tribunal today to deal with crimes against humanity committed by Saddam’s regime.
The Governing Council said Saddam will be tried in his absence but no decision has been made on bringing back the death sentence.
“This tribunal will show the world the horror of the crimes committed against this people,” said Dara Noor al-Din, head of the Governing Council’s legal committee.
The new court will cover crimes committed from July 14, 1968 – the day Saddam’s Baath Party came to power – until May 1, 2003 – the day President George Bush declared major hostilities over.
“Today is an important historic event in the history of Iraq,” said Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, the current president of the Governing Council
He said the tribunal will also look at crimes committed during the wars against Iran and Kuwait, in addition to crimes against the people of Iraq in Kurdistan, during the suppression of the Shiite uprising in 1991, and the campaign against the inhabitants of Iraq’s southern marshes.
US authorities are holding several dozen of Saddam’s top aides who could be tried under the new measure. These include former Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz and Ali Hassan al-Majid – also known as Chemical Ali – who gained notoriety for his savage campaign against the autonomy-seeking Kurds.
Noor al-Din said a decision on using the death penalty, which was suspended by the US occupation authority, would be made by a transitional government scheduled to assume sovereignty by July 1.
Noor al-Din, a former appeals court judge, said the tribunal will try to convict defendants in absentia.
“Saddam Hussein will be accused and charged for committing major crimes against humanity and against the Iraqi people and he will certainly fall under the jurisdiction of this court,” said Ahmad Chalabi, a key member of the Governing Council.
The trials would be open to the public, human rights groups and could be televised.
Defendants will have the right to a lawyer and the right to appeal, and the Iraqi penal code – except for some additions introduced by Saddam’s regime - will be applicable.
The violence continued in Iraq today.
Rebels pressed their attacks against American forces, killing two soldiers and hitting a giant transport plane with a missile as it took off from Baghdad airport.
The US Air Force C-17 Globemaster was forced to return to Baghdad after it was hit by a surface-to-air missile, said a senior Pentagon official.
In Baghdad, military spokeswoman Captain Carrie Clear said the plane reported an engine explosion on take-off and that one of the 16 people on board was slightly injured by the blast.
The incident was similar to last month’s targeting of a DHL cargo plane which was hit by a SAM while departing the airport.
Two American soldiers were killed in separate attacks in the northern city of Mosul today.
One died and another was wounded when gunmen fired on troops guarding a petrol station.
Soldiers returned fire and killed one assailant, a military spokesman said.
But witnesses said the attackers escaped and US troops opened fire on passing cars, killing a driver in the line of fire.
A few hours later, guerrillas detonated a roadside bomb and opened fire on a military convoy in the city, killing another American soldier and wounding three others.
Residents said other troops on the convoy responded by shooting in the streets, killing a 19-year-old man and injuring his mother and father.
Since the US led invasion on March 20, 450 American soldiers have died in Iraq. Of those, 310 have died as a result of hostile action. The British military has reported 52 deaths, Italy, 17, Spain, eight, and Denmark, Ukraine and Poland one each.
