saddam hussein

Saddam Hussein 1937-2006

Submitted by rickeyre on December 30, 2006 - 7:07pm

Saddam Hussein was killed today. He was put to death by hanging at the direction of the Iraqi Government following a trial for one of his lesser alleged crimes against humanity. His death means that other, even more serious, charges against him will never be brought to account - notably the use of chemical weapons against Kurds in 1988. Likewise, the complicity of governments friendly to Iraq prior to the 1990 invasion of Kuwait will be more difficult to explore.

I can never understand how, if the taking of human life is such a heinous crime, the punishment can be the taking of human life. I have no sympathy for Saddam Hussein over his actions across the past forty years. But he should have been locked away for the term of his natural life.

Iraq: Dujail Trial Fundamentally Flawed

Submitted by rickeyre on November 20, 2006 - 4:41pm

Iraq: Dujail Trial Fundamentally Flawed - Court Should Overturn Verdict, Death Penalty
The trial of Saddam Hussein and seven other defendants before the Iraqi High Tribunal for crimes against humanity was marred by so many procedural and substantive flaws that the verdict is unsound, Human Rights Watch said in a 97-page report released today. The shortcomings of the trial, for the killings of more than 100 people from the Iraqi town of Dujail, also call into question subsequent proceedings at the tribunal. [Human Rights Watch]

Capital punishment: Just don't do it.

Submitted by rickeyre on November 6, 2006 - 12:03am

I certainly have no sympathy for Saddam Hussein. But he should not be executed for his crimes. No more and no less than any other human being.

Why, in any case, should anyone's monumental lack of respect for human life be even partly condoned through the state-organised termination of his?

One can only hope that further charges of crimes against humanity continue to be heard against Hussein, especially with regard to the chemical weapon attack on Kurds in 1988.