Commentary

Hussein’s death sentence

The Iraqi High Tribunal found Saddam Hussein guilty just two days
ago of crimes against humanity, and was sentenced to death by
hanging. The court set up to judge him also allows for an automatic
appeal of the verdict. This will likely postpone the execution by a few
months, and has denied Republicans a great election eve photo
opportunity.

Hussein and two other defendants were sentenced to death due to their
roles in the murderous repression of a small Shiite town after an assassin-
ation attempt against the dictator in 1982. A total of 148 men and children
from the town of Dujail were executed in a reprisal orchestrated by
Hussein and his henchmen, and this was followed by a barbaric campaign
of persecution against its citizens.

The Dujail trial was designed to be part of a foundation that would lead to
larger cases against Hussein and his cohorts that involved the deaths of
tens of thousands of Iraqis. A second trial, concerning the military
campaign against the Kurds that allegedly resulted in 180,000 deaths, is
under way, and Hussein is the key defendant.

The problem with the verdict in the Dujail case is that Saddam may be
executed before this second, much larger trial is completed. His appeal
will begin within thirty days, but if the verdict is upheld, Iraqi law requires
that the sentence must be confirmed by the presidential council and
carried out within a month. Many officials expect the execution to occur
within three months.

Hussein, the man who dressed like a B-movie mafia don and obsessed over
western, material trappings while ruling Iraq, yelled “God is great” after the
verdict was read, as he clutched a borrowed Koran. He then cursed the
occupiers and their stooges as he was led out of the courtroom.

The divisions that fuel sectarian violence could be seen in the bipolar
reactions to the verdict. The Sunni minority was as outraged as Hussein
himself, while the Shiite majority danced in the streets. An around-the-
clock curfew was in effect for Baghdad and other cities with mixed
populations as the verdict was announced. This will, at best, put
a temporary lid on sectarian warfare. But the curfew was widely ignored,
and the verdict will likely set off a new round of Sunni inspired violence
and Shiites reprisals.

The wobbly government of prime minister Maliki is desperate to restore
order to the streets of Baghdad. A swift execution of Saddam may be seen
as a solution to the escalating violence. But, this will not fix relations
between Shiites and Sunnis. This tribunal is being criticized in many Arab
nations and by human rights groups as a rush to justice orchestrated by the
new majority in Iraq. Another point to be considered is that in order to add
legitimacy to the legal process and the sentences handed down, Hussein
should be tried alongside other war criminals in an international court of law.

If Saddam is executed for his part in the execution of 148 Shiites before the
trail for the deaths of 180,000 is completed, the scope of his murderous reign
will never be determined. Carrying out this verdict in such a rushed fashion
will only further discredit an already questionable tribunal process. It would
be a tragedy for the man known as “The Butcher of Baghdad” to hang before
the true nature of his brutality is revealed. Questions will continue to linger,
and resentments will only root themselves more deeply unless this tribunal is
allowed to run its full course.

Greg Strid

© 2006 Splendid Marbles.