Saddam's Trial Update

One has to wonder what kind of interrogation techniques were utilized by Saddam's minions when of the 146 people taken into custody following the Dujail assassination attempt nearly 1/3 never survived the interrogation to be executed for their 'crimes.'

However, the documents uncovered today showed that Barzan was personally deeply involved in following up the case and "interrogating" the suspects and their families.

The documents were presented in chronological order in a way that literally stunned Saddam and Barzan who barely uttered a few words during the more than an hour-long presentation.

Dozens of documents that look authentic and carried the signatures of Saddam, Barzan and other criminals were displayed; the earliest ones go back to as early as 2 days after the assassination attempt with the latest dated 7 years after that showing all stages of the massacre from interrogation to sentencing the 148 resident of Dujail to signing and approving and executing the death sentence to finally following up a couple of prisoners who mistakenly were let out to be later recaptured and executed.

The documents revealed some unbelievably terrifying facts about the Dujail massacre; can you imagine that when orders were given to execute the 148 "convicts" the prison authorities executed only 96 of them. Why?

Because the remaining 48 "convicts" had already passed away during "interrogation"!!
What kind of interrogation was that killed one third of the suspects?!

The people I spoke to during and after watching the session were pleased with the way the trial went this time. Today's session wiped away the bad impression many of us had about the last few sessions where the trial looked like a circus by all standards but today things were different and we were able to see a reasonably professional trial that relied on much more facts and much less rhetoric.

Actually no one had to say anything, the papers spoke for themselves and for the horrendous crimes of Saddam and his fellow criminals.

This is on the heels of Ramsey Clark's latest attempt to show just how incompetent he is (and perhaps set up a defense of incompetent counsel?). As I noted yesterday:

Jason at Generation Why notes Ramsey Clark's defense of Saddam didn't exactly go as planned today:

Ramsey Clark, the former US attorney general who is helping to defend Saddam, has submitted a motion recently claiming the judge "is not impartial and has a manifested bias against the defendant"...

The defence claims Abdel Rahman is biased because he is a native of the Kurdish village of Halabja, the target of a 1988 chemical attack in which some 5,000 people, including women and children, were killed.

Open mouth, insert foot. Or, in this case, open mouth and assist in assuring that Saddam dances at the end of a rope.

UPDATE:
Saddam doesn't think any crime was committed. Of course he doesn't. And he doesn't think razing entire farms was a crime either.

"I razed them ... we specified the farmland of those who were convicted and I signed," Saddam told the court trying him for crimes against humanity.

"It's the right of the state to re-own or compensate. So where is the crime?"

When you're the judge, jury, and executioner all at the same time, there's no way any of the people had a fair trial. These people were murdered by a dictator who controlled every aspect of his country, and sought to eliminate his opponents, down to razing their property.