Friday, 18 February 2005The former Iraqi general widely known as "Chemical Ali" has been accused by a human rights group of killing scores of Shia Muslims in Basra in 1999.
Ali Hassan al-Majid is one of 11 former Saddam Hussein lieutenants currently in US custody.
The general is already facing trial for his alleged role in gassing to death thousands of Kurds in northern Iraq.
Rights group Human Rights Watch said new charges could be made against him on the basis of evidence it had found.
"Al-Majid's role in the genocide against the Kurds is well-known, but it appears his hands are dirty in Basra in 1999 as well," Human Rights Watch official Joe Stork said.
List evidence
The New York-based body said witness statements, documents and mass graves it had uncovered implicated Mr Majid in the deaths of 120 men during the so-called "Basra uprising" of 1999.
Unrest erupted in Iraq's largely Shia south in the spring of 1999, sparked by the assassination of a leading cleric, Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, which many blamed on Saddam Hussein's regime.
Human Rights Watch discovered a handwritten list dating back to the period, which appears to name 120 Shia prisoners to be executed on the orders of the "Commander of the Southern Sector" - a title held at the time by Mr Majid.
Although the authenticity of the document has not been proven, its credibility appears to have been bolstered by the discovery in 2003 of a mass grave containing 34 bodies - 29 of which were identified as names on the handwritten list.
The report by Human Rights Watch concluded that "Iraqi security forces and Baath Party members, under the direct command and supervision of Ali Hassan al-Majid, engaged in systematic extrajudicial executions, widespread arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and collective punishment".
Trial deadlock
While the rights body suggested the new evidence could be used to bring fresh charges against Mr Majid, it warned that his chances of a fair trial could be prejudiced by the conditions of his detention.
The former general, whom experts say may be the first of Saddam Hussein's top aides to face trial, is not believed to have had any access to defence lawyers.
"The alleged crimes are so serious, it's very important to get these trials right," Mr Stork said.
"The Iraqi Special Tribunal must be independent of political pressure and adhere to international standards," he said, adding that the authorities in Iraq should abolish the death penalty.
Saddam Hussein and several of his lieutenants captured by the US have yet to be brought to trial because of apparent deadlock over the appointment of judges and lawyers.
Story from BBC NEWS |
Friday, 18 February 2005
Iraq
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