Shunpiking Online Vo.4 No.1 Iraq: Listening to the survivors; the killing of Saddam Hussein's lawyers and the Iraqi testimonies

6 July 2005

"In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted." - Bertrand Russell

Part 1. Killing Saddam Hussein's lawyers

The day of the kidnapping, torture and brutal killing of Khamis al-Obeidi, one of the main lawyers defending Saddam Hussein at that dreadful mockery of Justice known as "The Trial Show", the New York Times reported:

"The Iraqi police found the body of Khamis al-Obeidi, one of Mr. Hussein's defense lawyers, riddled with bullets in east Baghdad, a ministry spokesman said. Mr. Obeidi's wife, Um Laith, said that early this morning while she, her husband and three children slept, about 20 men in civilian clothes burst into their house in the neighborhood of Slaikh, on the edge of the predominantly Sunni area of Adamiya, and identified themselves as members of a ministry security brigade.

"Mr. Obeidi, 39, had little chance to reply before he was seized, she said.

"Iraqi witnesses said that Mr. Obeidi was transported in a convoy of vehicles by people known as belonging to the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia known to be affiliated with the rebellious anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Witnesses said they wore flak jackets and shouted "terrorist" at one point.

"Mr. Obeidi was taken to a spot called Hamidiya, about six miles from his house, according to witnesses.

"His body was dumped in a place for construction debris, apparently retrieved again, and then dumped in a lot in Sadr City. It was then taken to the Tahtheeb police station there, an area known as a stronghold of the Mahdi Army, riddled with bullets in the head, chest and back. (1)

One of us has written on this story seven little notes "Lynching Saddam - Parts 1-7" (2) where also reported the statements by Leandro Despouy, the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers.

The international anti-war network BRussells Tribunal published [endorsed?] on its website Probing for the truth, MAX FULLER calls for independent criminal inquiries into Iraq's extrajudicial executions, Brussells Tribunal, Friday 30 June 2006 (3).

Max Fuller writes:

"If anyone bothers to investigate the death of Mr Obeidi, they will uncover much the same chain of intellectual authorship, with MOI [Ministry of the Interior] representatives in police vehicles hauling Mr Obeidi from his home in the middle of the night for "questioning."

"If such an investigation is carried out, those involved will rapidly discover that reports that Mr Obeidi had been taken away by members of the so-called Mahdi Army, which is loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, amounts to no more than saying that MOI forces were responsible.

"And, like any modern-day Sherlock Holmes, they will soon be forced to conclude that disposing of Mr Obeidi's tortured corpse under an image of al-Sadr's father and firing some shots in the air does not constitute proof of guilt acceptable in any courtroom in the world. [emphasis added]"

Max Fuller concludes:

"We are bombarded with accusations that this or that militia is responsible, but, if one single genuine investigation is undertaken, we might see an end to these crimes which amount to a genocide against the Iraqi people.

"It is high time that we all lent our voices to the calls coming out of Iraq for independent, international criminal inquiries into extrajudicial executions.

"This is not only vital to bring an end to the culture of impunity with which officials of the occupation-installed, backed and run MOI [Ministry of the Interior] commit massacres, it would also form an important step towards building a climate in which no-one can resist the call to bring the troops home."

We strongly agree with the necessity for a truly independent investigation.

We also strongly believe that while it's absolutely paramount to stress over again that:

1) Every single crime related to the occupation of Iraq falls under the responsibility of the Occupying Power, according to international Law;

2) The Occupying Power is obviously using the "traditional means" that have always been used in the whole history of colonialism and occupations;

as always, also in the case of the killing of Saddam Hussein's lawyers we must remember Bertrand Russell's teaching: "we ought always to entertain our opinions with some measure of doubt. I shouldn't wish people dogmatically to believe any philosophy, not even mine."

We believe that facts and evidence should not be selected, hidden or misrepresented to support one theory or the other and we think that only the Iraqi People know what's been happening in their own country.

Max Fuller's article published on the BRussells Tribunal's website reads:

"If anyone bothers to investigate the death of Mr Obeidi, they will uncover much the same chain of intellectual authorship, with MOI [Ministry of the Interior] representatives in police vehicles hauling Mr Obeidi from his home in the middle of the night for "questioning." (?)

"And, like any modern-day Sherlock Holmes, they will soon be forced to conclude that disposing of Mr Obeidi's tortured corpse under an image of al-Sadr's father and firing some shots in the air does not constitute proof of guilt acceptable in any courtroom in the world."

We opened our article with the New York Times' report on the same day of the killing of Saddam Hussein's lawyer:

"Mr. Obeidi's wife, Um Laith, said that early this morning while she, her husband and three children slept, about 20 men in civilian clothes burst into their house in the neighborhood of Slaikh, on the edge of the predominantly Sunni area of Adamiya, and identified themselves as members of a ministry security brigade. (?)

"Iraqi witnesses said that Mr. Obeidi was transported in a convoy of vehicles by people known as belonging to the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia known to be affiliated with the rebellious anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Witnesses said they wore flak jackets and shouted "terrorist" at one point."

The very same story, with the same details and many more interesting ones has been confirmed by numerous and different sources.

On 21 June Reuters reported:

"Shopowners told Reuters three gunmen dumped the body of Obaidi at a roundabout under a poster of a senior Shi'ite cleric killed by Saddam's agents in 1999. The cleric is the father of Moqtada al-Sadr, a cleric and leader of the Mehdi Army militia.

"'They fired into the air and said "This is the fate of Baathists!",' said a vegetable seller whose store is close by.

"The area is not far from the Sadr City slum, a stronghold of Sadr's militia. The body of Saadoun Janabi, the first lawyer to be killed, was also dumped nearby. Neighbors said then that he was seized by men saying they were from the Interior Ministry.

"The trial has also been marred by the resignation of the previous judge, who complained of government pressure." (4)

On 22 June 2006, Gulf News reported:

"Shopowners told reporters that three gunmen had dumped the body at a roundabout under a poster of a senior Shiite cleric killed by Saddam's agents in 1999. The cleric is the father of Moqtada Al Sadr, the leader of the Mehdi Army.

"'They fired into the air and said "this is the fate of Baathists!",' said a shopkeeper.

"The area is not far from the Sadr City slum, a stronghold of Sadr's militia." (5)

The Independent reported a similar version but forgot (?) to report that the cleric in that poster was "the father of Moqtada Al Sadr, the leader of the Mehdi Army." (6)