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| So it is death for Saddam Hussein | | Was legal process flawless and above board? | | B L KAK
NEW DELHI: Despite his histrionics in the court, infamous Saddam Hussein was evidently shaken by the death sentence he was awared with on Sunday, November 5. It is hardly surprisng, given the make-believe world Saddam still inhabits. The verdict does not come as a surprise to the people of Iraq and trhe rest of the Arab and Muslim world. The proceedings of the court and its outcome have been totally predictable. This is nothing but a kangaroo court and the justice it has dispensed is victors’ justice at its worst.
While vehemently condemning Saddam’s crimes against his people and against humanity, a set of observers point out that this trial cannot be seen in isolation of the unjust war that has been imposed on Iraq and its unfortunate people. Without doubt, the despicable atrocities such as the killing of 148 Shia men in reprisal for a 1982 assassination attempt on Saddam and the gassing of Kurd villages and towns in the northern Iraq are totally unacceptable and the former dictator and his henchmen deserve strongest punishment for those crimes.
However, to maintain the sanctity of justice, it was vitally important that the process to try Iraq’s former leader was flawless and above board. Which has not been the case with the kangaroo court that has presided over one of the most important trials in history. Saddam Hussein is the first leader from an Arab and Middle Eastern country to be deposed and put in the dock like an ordinary criminal. Which is why it was absolutely critical to make the whole process of trying the former Iraqi leader and his men transparent and completely fair. Which has not been the case in this trial.
While the ‘court’ saw a change of three judges during the past one year, two lawyers defending the former dictator and other accused were assassinated, as a warning to others. So this trial had been anything but fair and honest. Also, the timing of this verdict is significant. It is no coincidence that the Saddam verdict has come two days ahead of the crucial mid-term elections in the US. The besieged Republicans — set to lose big time, according to opinion polls — were desperately hoping for some last minute miracle to rescue them. And the Saddam sentence may have provided them with just that, although it is doubtful if it can make a huge difference to the Republican prospects.
Back in Iraq, the death for Saddam is going to make little difference to the present or future of Iraqi people. It is naïve on the part of the US and the Iraqi government to presume that Saddam’s exit-- that is, if it happens indeed — will bring peace to the war-ravaged country. Iraq is stuck with hard times for a long time to come, Saddam or no Saddam. Saddam’s trial stretched over nine months in 39 sessions and many of them were farcical as Saddam’s antics turned one proceeding after another into a farce. The proceedings were also marred by the murder of three defense lawyers and the resignation of the court’s first chief judge. But the Iraqi judiciary made it to the finish line. Saddam will receive a punishment commensurate with the crimes he committed.
Be that as it may, the announcement of the death sentence is expected to set off further bloodshed in Iraq, thus Sunday's curfew, the complete ban on movement and the cancellation of all military leave. Any court ruling has its opponents as well as its supporters. Many Iraqis are predicting a full-scale civil war — as if there is not one already — in the wake of Saddam’s death sentence. On the other hand, majority Shiites, persecuted under Saddam but who now dominate the government, would have been enraged had he escaped the death sentence. The hope is that the verdict will act as closure to a very sad chapter in Iraqi and Arab life.
Still, the troubles that may lie ahead for Iraq have not stopped justice from prevailing. Saddam could have stood trial for many charges other than for the brutal crackdown he and his henchmen were guilty of in Dujail after an attempt on his life there in 1982. During nearly a quarter century of brutal rule, when tens of thousands of Shiites and ethnic Kurds were killed, Saddam should have been tried for a reign of terror. Such a thing would have also merited a death sentence.
So, too, Saddam could have faced justice for Iraq’s August 1990 invasion of Kuwait or for his 1980 attack on Iran, which killed over a million people and weakened the Muslim world. For sure, he would have received the death penalty for any of these since all were brazen crimes against humanity.
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