17 January 2003
"Address Saddam's Crimes Against Humanity," by Sermid Al-Sarraf
(Article for the Muslim Public Affairs Council) (640) The following article by Sermid Al-Sarraf, Iraqi-American attorney and member of the Iraqi Jurist Association, first appeared in the "Issues and Opinions" section of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) Web site. It is reproduced with permission © 2003 Sermid Al-Sarraf. (begin byliner) It is Immoral to Oppose War in Iraq and Not Simultaneously Address Saddam's Crimes Against Humanity By Sermid Al-Sarraf (Sermid Al-Sarraf is an Iraqi-American attorney and member of the Iraqi Jurist Association) Opposing a War in Iraq is essential because such a war would undoubtedly be detrimental most to the Iraqi people. At the same time, only opposing a war, without anything further, implies that Saddam Hussein should remain in power to perpetuate his well-documented crimes against the Iraqi people and others. In other words, while decrying what might happen to the Iraqi people during a war, the anti-war movement is forgetting that Iraqi's are suffering and dying at the hands of one of the most brutal dictators the world has seen since World War II. Anyone who knows anything about Iraq and the Iraqi people knows that they not only want to get rid of Saddam, but they have sacrificed greatly during many failed attempts. In the uprising in 1991, after the Gulf War, civilians in 14 of 18 provinces rose up against Saddam and overthrew his regime in those provinces. If Saddam had not used helicopter gunships and tanks (with U.S. and Allied knowledge if not consent) to strafe and shell civilians, they would have marched on Baghdad as well. It is immoral to ignore Saddam's crimes and it violates every humanitarian principle in Islamic jurisprudence, Christian theology and international law to accept or condone Saddam's crimes against the Muslim and Christian populations in Iraq. The alternatives are not just "War" or "Keep Saddam". There are other alternatives. Using established international law, Saddam could be indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity. His crimes are no less than the Serb, Rwandan or Cambodian defendants now facing trial in international war crimes tribunals. Anyone truly interested in the welfare of the Iraqi people must not only oppose war but also call for the freeing of the Iraqi people from Saddam's brutal rule, and hold him accountable for his crimes. OPPOSE WAR and INDICT SADDAM The following are from independent human rights organizations about Saddam's crimes: Human Rights Watch "The Iraqi government of President Saddam Hussain perpetrated widespread and gross human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests of suspected political opponents and their relatives, routine torture and ill-treatment of detainees, summary execution of military personnel and political detainees as part of a "prison cleansing" campaign, and forced expulsions of Kurds and Turkmen from Kirkuk and other regions." (2002 Report) UN Commission on Human Rights Adopted a resolution strongly condemning "the systematic, widespread and extremely grave violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law by the Government of Iraq [Saddam Hussein], resulting in an all-pervasive repression and oppression sustained by broad-based discrimination and widespread terror." (4/01) Amnesty International "Political prisoners and detainees were subjected to systematic torture. The bodies of many of those executed had evident signs of torture. Common methods of physical torture included electric shocks or cigarette burns to various parts of the body, pulling out of fingernails, rape, long periods of suspension by the limbs from either a rotating fan in the ceiling or from a horizontal pole, beating with cables, hosepipe or metal rods, and falaqa (beating on the soles of the feet). In addition, detainees were threatened with rape and subjected to mock execution. They were placed in cells where they could hear the screams of others being tortured and were deliberately deprived of sleep." (Latest Report) (end byliner) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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