The Prosecution of Saddam Hussein, Part Two

Defiant and alert, Saddam Hussein bickered with the judge, challenged prosecutors and vented outrage Monday on the opening day of his second trial.

This time around, Hussein faces charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to an Iraqi military campaign against rebellious Kurds almost two decades ago.

He is standing trial before the Iraqi Special Tribunal along with six former aides, the most notorious being his cousin Ali Hassan Majid, who earned the nickname Chemical Ali because of his purported sanctioning of the use of internationally banned chemical weapons.

Hussein and Majid could face the death penalty if convicted of being responsible for the slayings of as many as 100,000 Kurds during the 1988 Anfal campaign in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Pleas of not guilty were entered for the seven defendants, who are expected to argue that the regime used appropriate force to put down pro-Iranian Kurdish rebels during a crucial stage of the bloody Iraq-Iran war.

Although seven years younger than the 69-year-old Hussein, Majid appeared frailer, trudging into court on cream-colored sandals and using a cane to steady himself. Majid donned a red-checked tribal head covering and Arab robe, while Hussein opted for a black suit and an open-necked white shirt.

Asked his name, Hussein’s once-ferocious commander replied, “The fighting comrade Staff Maj. Gen. pilot Ali Hassan al Majid.” He gave his occupation as “detainee.”

Hussein often parried the judge’s questions, refusing to respond when asked if he was innocent or guilty. “That would require volumes of books,” Hussein finally said.

Hussein chided presiding Judge Abdullah Amiri for silencing two defense lawyers, an Egyptian and a Jordanian, because they were not Iraqi.

The former Iraqi leader never wavered during the almost five-hour court proceeding, occasionally taking a green-covered Koran in hand as he rose to challenge a point. He was seen to crack a smile only once: when Majid and another former regime official stood up in respect after Hussein returned from a short break.

“Sit down!” commanded the enraged Amiri, who frequently jousted with Hussein. “Sit down!”

At another point, the judge warned Hussein not to interrupt comments from the bench.

“I’m sorry,” Hussein responded, with unusual deference. “I thought you had finished.”

Hussein, sporting a close-trimmed salt-and-pepper beard, looked gaunt but appeared focused. He projected a sense of coiled power as he listened to the proceedings and frequently expressed indignation -- especially at suggestions that his soldiers had raped Kurdish women during the Anfal campaign.

“To say a ... woman was raped and Saddam is president, this is intolerable,” said Hussein, wagging his fingers in disgust. “Whoever says this is my personal enemy.... Where is Saddam’s honor?”

He recalled a purported incident in Kuwait after the Iraqi invasion of the oil-rich kingdom in 1990 when an Iraqi officer was found to have raped a woman. Hussein said the officer was court-martialed and, at Hussein’s orders, hanged at the site of the alleged assault, and his body was left for several days as an example.

Hussein also disputed the prosecutor’s interpretation of the word Anfal, said to mean “spoils of war.” Hussein hinted at a more benign meaning, though he never spelled out an alternate definition.

The judge rejected a plea from Hussein and defense lawyers to throw out the charges because the tribunal had been formed during the U.S. occupation. A similar defense tactic failed in the first trial against Hussein.

Despite such tensions, the first day ran smoothly compared with the chaos that prevailed at Hussein’s first trial. In that proceeding, he and seven codefendants were tried in the slayings of 148 Shiite Muslims after a 1982 assassination attempt on Hussein in the town of Dujayl. A verdict in that case is expected in October. Hussein faces the death penalty if convicted of the Dujayl charges.

U.S. and Iraqi officials are determined to avoid the delays and outbursts that led some independent observers to label the first trial a kangaroo court. Three defense lawyers were assassinated during the course of the trial.

Testimony is expected to last until December and feature many survivors of the alleged extermination campaign in Kurdistan.

“Humanity cannot believe what happened,” said the lead prosecutor, Munqith Faroon. “Entire villages were razed to the ground.... It is as if genocide itself was not enough.”

The prosecution displayed pictures of mass graves. One photo showed the remains of a young girl and a milk bottle, which she apparently took to her grave.

“It’s time for humanity to know ... the magnitude and scale of the crimes committed against the people of Kurdistan,” Faroon said.

Prosecutors accused Hussein of using banned mustard gas and nerve agents during the campaign.

A courtroom wall featured a large map of Iraqi Kurdistan, with scores of red and orange dots. Officials said the orange dots indicated the thousands of villages allegedly destroyed during the Iraqi government’s Anfal campaign; the red dots specified villages in which gas was allegedly used.