Kurdish genocide trial resumes with Saddam in attendance

Kurdish genocide trial resumes with Saddam in attendance
The trial regarding the Iraqi military campaign against the Kurds was restarted today. The former dictator of Iraq, Saddam Hussein and six of his aides are facing charges in this trial. All seven of them were present at the trial.

Saddam Hussein's lawyers had previously submitted a letter from him to the judge to be allowed to remain in his cell and not attend the trial. In his letter he referred to the trial being a farce and complained of insulting behavior toward him by the judge and prosecutors. However in a surprise move Saddam attended the trial and was seated with his co-accused aides.

In the Kurdish campaign codenamed Anfal or “spoils of war” Iraqi government troops attacked Kurdish settlements using artillery, air strikes and poison gas attacks, particularly mustard gas. Nearly 182,000 Kurds are alleged to have been killed in this campaign.

The trial started on August 21 and has already heard the testimony of more than 70 witnesses. In spite of announcing that it would not hear any more witness account the court heard the testimony of a Kurdish health worker who had treated the wounded. The witness said that in spite of the paramilitary Peshmerga forces, which were the original target of the government troops, leaving the village the civilian population was bombarded with chemical weapons. After the witness phase the trial will examine documents relating the accused to the crime.

The defense lawyers had boycotted this session complaining of partiality in the hearing of witnesses. They were also against American experts testifying in the trial on the grounds that they could not be neutral.

Beside Saddam Hussein his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as Chemical Ali, also faces charges of genocide. All defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them. They have stated that the campaign was a legitimate operation to suppress rebellion of the Kurds who had supported Iran in the Iraq-Iran war earlier. All of them face death if convicted.

Saddam Hussein is already facing a death sentence over his order to execute 148 Shias who he charged with an assassination attempt of him in 1982. The former dictator is currently appealing that sentence.