Anfal Trial Judgement Now Available On Grotian Moment

On June 24, 2007, the Iraqi High Tribunal convicted “Chemical Ali” (Ali Hassan al-Majid) and five other military leaders of Saddam Hussein’s regime of international crimes related to their roles in a three-year crackdown of northern Iraqi Kurds known as the Anfal campaign. The Tribunal’s judgment marks one of the only times in history individuals have been convicted of genocide - the worst crime known to humankind.

The Iraqi High Tribunal and the US Regime Crimes Liaison Office have provided Case Western Reserve University the just-completed English translation of the Anfal Trial Judgment for us to post on the Grotian Moment Website. Click on Iraq High Tribunal Trials, Documents. This is the only place in the world where researchers can read the English translation of the historic opinion, whose 900 pages detail the legal and factual conclusions of the Tribunal. Note, at the request of RCLO all witness/victim/family names have been redacted for their safety.

The Anfal campaign, which began in 1986 and lasted until 1989, featured the use of conventional and chemical warfare against the Kurdish population. Over 100,000 people were killed and 4,000 villages were wiped off the map. Hassan al-Majid, one of Saddam Hussein’s most feared henchmen who directed the Anfal Campaign, and two other co-defendants were sentenced to death by the Tribunal, while two others received life imprisonment. Saddam Hussein himself was a defendant in the Anfal trial, but was executed half way through the proceedings in December of 2006 for crimes against humanity committed against the residents of Dujail.

The judges who presided over the Anfal trial will be making a live presentation at Case Western Reserve University School of Law on January 29, 2008. Through translators, the judges and other officers of the Iraqi High Tribunal will discuss the challenges faced, the precedent that their historic judgment set and the question of fairness in the proceedings. This will mark the judges’ first public appearance outside of Iraq. A transcript of the session will be posted on the “Grotian Moment” website after the event.

Posted @ 12:43 PM | Experts Debate the Issues: The Anfal Trial