Posted on 12/26/2006 5:17:17 PM PST by RWB Patriot
NEW YORK (AFP) - Human Rights Watch urged the Iraqi government not to execute Saddam Hussein, describing the trial that convicted the former president for crimes against humanity as "deeply flawed."
"Imposing the death penalty, indefensible in any case, is especially wrong after such unfair proceedings," said Richard Dicker, director of Human Rights Watch's international justice programme.
"That a judicial decision was first announced by Iraq's national security adviser underlines the political interference that marred Saddam Hussein's trial," he added.
Saddam was sentenced to death in November after a trial lasting more than a year for ordering the deaths of 148 Shiite civilians from the town of Dujail, north of Baghdad, after an assassination attempt in 1982.
A panel of Iraqi judges rejected his appeal and upheld the sentence earlier Tuesday, setting the stage for the ousted dictator to be hanged within 30 days.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Funny, Terrorist Rights Watch never said anything when Saddam sentenced innocent people to death and threw them into plastic shredders.
*Slaps forehead and drags hand down face*
I goofed on the author slot again, so sorry. I think it's supposed to be New York AFP.
Could've stopped reading right there and known I wasn't going to agree with these wack-jobs.
Human rights are - by definition - reserved for humans. Since saddam is not a human but a beast, he necessarily does not, and cannot, have these rights and therefore is not covered by them. Thus the "human rights watch" has no standing to squeal on the topic. PETA might, though.
I'm sure that the Iraqi court might be willing to make a deal if Human Rights Watch has someone in mind they would like to substitute for Saddam. But, unless Maliki goes wobbly in the knees, Hussein is gonna swing in 30 days.
Doesn't this just figure? Is anyone surprised?
How many people do you have to kill to merit a death sentence according to the "Human Rights Watch"?
I'm sure they would support a death sentence for George W. Bush if he had an overdue parking ticket.
Apparently not all victims are created equal.
Liberalism IS a mental disorder.
Malaki gets no say. It's up to Talibani.
Why Talibani and what's he probably gonna do?
What was unfair about it. The trial lasted more than a year, Saddam had a dozen lawyers, witnesses testified, what was unfair?
You have to be a pro-American, anti-abortion, red-blooded Conservative Republican in order for Human Rights Watch to support your execution. Typical liberal thinking.
Because this issue is up to the President of Iraq (who usually has a largely representative role). He won't oppose the death sentence, since he already has indicated that, despite his opposiiton to the death penalty, Saddam deserves to be executed a thousand times.
The death warrant has to be signed by the President, and that's Talibani. Maliki is only Prime Minister.
Talabani personally opposes the death penalty in general, but he's allowed the vice-presidents to sign on his behalf for other recent executions.
I imagine great pressure will be put on him by the Ramsey Clark types in a last-ditch effort, but I'd guess he'll personally sign this one. He's a Kurd.
I agree. They should gently skin him alive and throw him in the ocean...
Damn, I was hoping for tomorrow. Looks like it'll be a little while longer if someone he has to sign off on it. And there's always a slim chance he'll balk out of fear of reprisals.
It'll be a great day when he is hanged. I wish they would televise it. Maybe they will since it's Iraq. I hope they have a mic that will catch that snap crackle pop and the lightening of the load. May he rot in hell.
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