Justice – in a way – has been done: Iraq’s brutal former dictator Saddam Hussein has been found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging.
Angry, shaking and defiant, Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death this morning by hanging after being found guilty of crimes against humanity.
He shouted: “Allahu Akbar!” (God is Greatest) and “Long live the nation!”, pointing defiantly at the judge.
Looking defiant and bitter as the verdict was delivered, he continued to shout “Long live the people and death to their enemies. Long live the glorious nation, and death to its enemies!”
He had refused to stand for the verdict and had to be lifted to his feet by two court bailiffs.
“Make him stand,” the judge ordered as the former president stayed seated.
Saddam was convicted of ordering the deaths of 148 Shia men and teenage boys in the town of Dujail in 1982.
This man was one of the most brutal dictators in the world during the last few decades. He might shout “long live live the people and death to their enemies. Long live the glorious nation, and death to its enemies”, but if someone never persuit what was in the best interest of the Iraqi people, it was (is) Saddam Hussein. Perhaps, of course, he means with ‘people’ the sunnis’ and with ‘glorious nation’ the sunni triangle but that’s about it.
If there is one person who deserves to die, it is Saddam Hussein.
That being said, I always have some difficulty rejoicing when someone is sentenced to death. Not because I do not believe that he does not deserve it, as I said he does, but because… killing someone in an actual fight or because it is necessary is defendable. Killing someone when that person is in no way able to do more harm (he could be locked up for the rest of his life for instance) is less defendable. The latter is not so much about protecting society, as it is about revenge.
Perhaps the above sounds strange coming from someone who passionately supported the Iraq war, but being true to myself, to my own convictions, is much more important than writing what people want or expect me to write and thus than gaining their approval.
Of course hanging Saddam is defendable, also for other reasons than ‘revenge’ or ‘justice’: one could argue that as long as Saddam would be alive he might make a difference. Perhaps one might argue that by hanging Saddam, his half-brother and his former chief judge in his Revolutionary Court, some Sunni insurgents will (finally) realize that the Saddam era has truly ended and with it their domination of Iraq. Besides that, it might also encourage the Shi’ite and Kurdish population of Iraq: perhaps they might, finally, realize that – indeed – the brutal dictatorship of Saddam has ended and that they must focus on re-building their country. Also one could also argue like Saddam’s lawyer does: that this might spark even more angry violence (watch the entire video, it is a good one, portraying Saddam as the ruthless *censored* he is).
That being said, I wonder whether it will have such a positive impact. If sectarian violence were minimal, this verdict might accomplish a lot in Iraq, but now ordinary Iraqis do not fear Saddam as much anymore as they simply fear the sectarian militias.
I use a lot of words to describe something very simple: I am divided. I am – of course – happy for the Iraqi people, for all his victims that justice has been done: that he will not be able to kill more (innocent) citizens and that he is held accountable for his horrific crimes, but privately I also have my resevervations because I simply find it difficult to rejoice about the coming death of a man (however evil he is) who is already locked up.
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