T
he first, and to date only,
criminal case filed against Saddam stems from the 1982 killing of approximately 160 men and boys in the Shiite town
of Dujail, about 35 miles north of Baghdad.
Saddam was visiting Dujail
to drum up support for the war with Iran. Many villagers
there were against the war and were angry with Saddam over state?ordered
assassinations of Shiite religious leaders. A group of residents affiliated with the conservative Shiite religious party
Daawa decided to try to kill Saddam. They hid in palm groves on the
edge of town and fired shots on his
convoy, but missed.
Retribution was swift, violent
and indiscriminate, according to Tribunal documents. Saddam?s
security forces shot some townspeople dead
in the streets. As many as 1,500 people, including whole families, were
rounded up by secret police and taken to detention centers in Tikrit and Baghdad. Three years later, 143 men
and boys were sentenced to death by Saddam?s revolutionary court and
hanged in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad. Many more
were shipped off to a desert prison near the Saudi border. Survivors
said miserable conditions there caused the deaths of dozens, including women, children and infants. Back in Dujail,
more than 250,000 acres of palm groves and orchards were bulldozed, destroying
the city?s economic base for years to come.
Charges and evidence
The Dujail case was selected
as the first to be tried against Saddam because it is seen as relatively straightforward to prosecute. Prosecutors possess documents and videos that
show Saddam?s role in the crimes. According to a 2003 Associated
Press report, a presidential decree ordering the execution of Dujail
men was discovered in a secret police office ransacked after the fall
of Baghdad.
Seven other men face charges
in the Dujail case along with Saddam. They include Saddam?s
half?brother, Barzan Ibrahim, Iraq?s intelligence chief at the time,
and Taha Yassin Ramadan, Iraq?s vice president from 1991 to 2003. Awad
Haman Bander Sadun, chief of Iraq?s Revolutionary Court, is being tried for issuing death sentences to 143 Dujail residents.
Four Ba?ath Party officials from Dujail face charges as well. Saddam will be tried for crimes against humanity and possibly
for manipulating the judiciary after the assassination attempt.
Back to top
Next: The Missing Barzanis