Fifteen former Iraqi government officials go on trial today for their role in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in the wake of the first Gulf War. The uprisings were brutally suppressed, with artillery used indiscriminately against civillian areas, and helicopter gunships firing on those who tried to flee. In the aftermath, thousands were detained without charge, tortured, raped, or murdered. The overall death toll is estimated by the Iraqi Human Rights Ministry at between 100,000 and 180,000 in Southern Iraq alone.
Again, I hope that they make a better job of this trial than they have over the previous farces. Unfortunately, if the previous standard of Iraqi "justice" is anything to go by, they won't be interested in telling the story of these atrocities as a memorial to the world and proving the accused's guilt beyond any shadow of a doubt; instead they'll be aiming for a death sentance as quickly as possible.
