Iraqi justice for ‘Chemical Ali’
Posted: Monday, June 25, 2007 3:08 PM
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Baghdad, Iraq
By Richard Engel, Middle East bureau chief
Very few people are going to cry for Ali Hassan Al-Majid, "Chemical Ali," who was sentenced to death by a U.S.-supported Iraqi court on Sunday. Al-Majid was clearly guilty of horrible crimes. He admitted in court to ordering the destruction of Kurdish villages in 1988.
I have watched videos of mass executions of Kurds, lined up in what is now a public park in Irbil. They were shot for allegedly cooperating with Kurdish fighters, the Peshmerga. Kurdish villages, in particular Halabja, were also attacked with chemical gas, massacring about 5,000 men, women and children, their twisted dead bodies filmed by horrified international news crews.
But did Al-Majid, like Saddam before him, receive a trial that was free of political intervention? It doesn’t seem so.
Political pressure?
The Iraqi government has consistently pressured the court, making guilty verdicts near forgone conclusions and undermining the tribunal's credibility.
It started right at the beginning.
In January 2006, the first judge to try Saddam, Rizgar Amin – a polite, methodical, conscientious man and a firm believer in the rule of law – withdrew from the case. He told me it was because of political pressure.
Amin was replaced by Judge Rauf Abdel Rahman. Rahman was much harsher. He threw defendants out of court, and ignored the boycotts of defense lawyers.
The government also quietly replaced two other judges who worked on Saddam’s case. The move was meant to assure that Saddam would be given the death penalty.
Rahman sentenced Saddam to death in November 2006.
Al-Majid’s trial followed a similar pattern.
In September 2006, the government sacked Judge Abdullah al-Ameri because he was seen as too soft on Saddam and his cohorts. Ameri angered Iraqi government officials when he said in court that Saddam was "not a dictator." Ameri was replaced by Judge Mohammed Al Oreibi Al Khalifah who on Sunday sentenced al-Majid to the gallows.
Miranda Sissons, head of the Iraqi program at International Center for Transitional Justice, is one of the few people who has followed all of the twists and turns of these trials.
Tonight she told me, "Political interference in the tribunal has been shameless, but seems to have gotten better as interest in the proceedings has waned after Saddam’s death."
Yesterday, Al-Majid was given five death sentences. The sentences will automatically be appealed
He shouldn’t expect much.
Improvement, but still far from perfect
When Saddam’s former vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, issued his appeal in December 2006, the tribunal actually made his sentence harsher.
Ramadan was initially sentenced to life in prison. The appellate court said, "no, it will be death." It was like a frustrated parent warning a disobedient child, "If you keep complaining, you will only make it worse on yourself!"
It was not American justice. It was Iraqi justice, better than under Saddam, but still deeply flawed.
