Prosecute Iraq’s “Chemical Ali”
Saddam Hussein Aide Accused of Atrocities Against Kurds More News

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Prosecute Iraq’s “Chemical Ali”
Saddam Hussein Aide Accused of Atrocities Against Kurds

(New York, January 17, 2003) -- Human Rights Watch called today for the
immediate arrest and prosecution of Iraqi General Ali Hassan al-Majid,
the architect of the 1988 genocidal “Anfal” campaign against the Iraqi
Kurds, who is currently traveling through the Middle East.

General al-Majid arrived in Damascus, Syria, today for talks with
President Bashar al-Assad, reportedly as part of efforts to avert a
possible war against Iraq. According to press reports, he may also
visit Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon in the coming days.

Al-Majid commanded Iraq’s notorious “Anfal” campaign, which resulted in
the murder and “disappearance” of some 100,000 Kurds and was marked by
the use of chemical weapons, according to a Human Rights Watch book on
that campaign, Genocide In Iraq: The Anfal Campaign Against the Kurds
(http://www.hrw.org/reports/1993/iraqanfal/). Al-Majid is widely known
in Iraq as “Chemical Ali” for his repeated use of outlawed chemical
warfare. He was later in charge of Iraq’s brutal military occupation of
Kuwait. "Al-Majid is Saddam Hussein's hatchet man. He has been involved in some of Iraq's worst crimes -- including genocide and crimes against
humanity," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch.
"Bringing him to justice is an essential priority.”

Who is Ali Hassan al-Majid?

Ali Hassan al-Majid, as secretary general of the Northern Bureau of
Iraq’s Ba’th Party, held authority over all agencies of the state in the
Kurdish region from March 1987 to April 1989, including the 1st and 5th
Corps of the army, the General Security Directorate, and Military
Intelligence. This included the period of the “Anfal” genocide against
the region’s Kurdish residents. One of his orders, dated June 20, 1987,
directed army commanders “to carry out random bombardments…to kill the
largest number of persons present in…prohibited zones.”

Named after a Koranic verse, justifying pillage of properties of
infidels, the “Anfal” campaign unfolded as the 1980-1988 Iran/Iraq war
was winding down. The Anfal campaign, under al-Majid’s command,
resulted in the murder and “disappearance” of some 100,000
noncombatants, the use of chemical weapons against non-combatants in
dozens of locations, and the near-total destruction of family and
community assets, including agricultural and other infrastructure,
throughout the rural Kurdish areas. Documents captured from Iraqi
intelligence services demonstrate that the mass killings,
“disappearances,” forced displacement, and other crimes were carried out
in a coherent and highly centralized manner under al-Majid’s direct
supervision.

Ali Hassan al-Majid was subsequently in charge of Iraq’s military
occupation of Kuwait and led forces that suppressed the popular uprising
in the south of the country in March 1991. All of these campaigns were
marked by executions, arbitrary arrests, “disappearances,” torture and
other atrocities.

“Chemical Ali posing as a peace envoy is like Bosnian Serb war criminal
Ratko Mladic lecturing on human rights,” said Roth. “He should be
received by prison guards, not heads of state.” According to Iraqi opposition activists and refugee testimony, al-Majid also played a leading role in the campaign against Iraq’s Marsh Arab population in the 1990s, a campaign that included the systematic bombardment of villages, torture, “disappearances,” forced displacement, which reduced a community that once numbered over a quarter of a million people to less than 40,000 today.

“Chemical Ali” in his own Words

According to a 1988 audiotape of a meeting of leading Iraqi officials
published by Human Rights Watch, al-Majid vowed to use chemical weapons
against the Kurds, saying:

“I will kill them all with chemical weapons! Who is going to say
anything? The international community? Fuck them! the international
community, and those who listen to them!

“I will not attack them with chemicals just one day, but I will continue
to attack them with chemicals for fifteen days.”

The Legal Basis for a Prosecution

According to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon are state parties, these government are under an international legal obligation to prosecute -- or to extradite for prosecution -- persons on
its territory accused of torture, no matter where the torture was
committed. Similarly, under the United Nations Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which Egypt, Jordan,
Lebanon and Syria have ratified, these governments undertook to prevent
and to punish acts of genocide. Finally, all four countries have
ratified the Geneva Conventions, which prescribes that states parties
must search for persons alleged to have committed war crimes, and bring
such persons, regardless of their nationality, before their own courts.(keralamonitor.com)

India: Break the cycle of impunity and torture in Punjab

19 January 2003

"Torture and custodial violence continue to take place in Punjab, despite the end of the militancy period in the mid-1990s", Amnesty International said today in a new report on torture in the Indian state. Torture in Punjab persists as a result of the continuing culture of impunity developed within the criminal justice system in the state during the militancy period. "Unless this trend is reversed and the procedures and attitudes which facilitated abuses during that period are dismantled, custodial violence will continue to take place in the state", the human rights organization said.

In the new report, "India: Break the cycle of impunity and torture in Punjab", Amnesty International shows that impunity for past abuses and the continuation of torture today are causally linked. "There is an urgent need to break this cycle and the recommendations contained at the end of the report are made as a contribution towards this objective", the human rights organization said.

Armed opposition ended in Punjab a decade ago, resulting in a marked decrease of human rights violations in the state. However, thousands of families are still waiting to know the fate of their relatives who "disappeared" during that period. "Until justice and truth is delivered to these families, the wounds left by the militancy period will remain open," Amnesty International added.

Only a small minority of the police officers responsible for a range of human rights violations - including torture, deaths in custody, extra-judicial executions and "disappearances" during the militancy period -- have been brought to justice. This has led some state officials to believe that they can violate people's fundamental rights with impunity even today. Some police in Punjab often use torture as a substitute for proper investigations, to extort money or for personal motives. Workload, lack of resources, intimidation or disinterest facilitate the recourse to custodial violence. "Victims of torture today are most often those who are socially and economically disadvantaged, including women, dalits and the poorer sections of the community. Human rights activists are often victims of harassment and ill treatment," the organization explained.

"Action is rarely taken against the perpetrators due to the tolerance of other elements of the criminal justice system, such as public prosecutors, the courts, the legal aid system and the doctors", Amnesty International continued.

The Punjab Human Rights Commission has so far not been given the powers, resources or institutional autonomy to function effectively as a check on torture and ill-treatment in the state.

Punjab today should serve as a warning to states in India presently effected by armed conflicts, such as Jammu and Kashmir and states in the northeast: perpetrators of human rights violations must be held to account in situations of widespread and prolonged violence, if long-term repercussions for the enjoyment of human rights are to be avoided after the end the conflicts.

The report is part of Amnesty International's global Campaign Against Torture. During this campaign the organization has expressed concerns about the use of torture in other Indian states, such as West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, as well as in a wide range of countries, including Brazil, China, Pakistan, the Russian Federation and the USA.

The decade of violent political opposition in Punjab -- which lasted from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s -- started when a movement within the Sikh community in Punjab turned to violence to achieve an independent state for the Sikhs. During that period armed opposition groups targeted and killed police officers, elected representatives and civil servants. The security forces resorted to unlawful and indiscriminate arrests, torture and extrajudicial executions. Thousands of civilians were the victims of the violence on both sides.(keralamonitor.com)

Malaysia: Restriction of freedom of expression hits the Internet

20 January 2003

The police investigation of the independent internet news site, Malaysiakini, under the Sedition Act calls into question the pledge by Malaysian authorities not to censor the internet, Amnesty International said today. "This demonstrates, yet again, how restrictive laws are used to curtail freedom of expression in Malaysia," the organization added. The police raided the Malaysiakini office on Monday, confiscating all nineteen of their computers, effectively preventing the site's publication. The raid came following a complaint alleging that a letter published on the site was seditious. The complaint was made by youth wing of the United Malay National Organization (UMNO), the largest party in the government coalition.

Part of the complaint reportedly refers to the letter's questioning of affirmative action for Malays. The 'special position' of Malays and indigenous peoples is enshrined in the Malaysian Constitution. These provisions include preferential treatment in many aspects of life, including education and work.

"The investigation of Malaysiakini makes the government's pledge not to censor the internet sound hollow. Laws like the Sedition Act, that fail to conform to international human rights standards, threaten the survival of an independent media and freedom of expression in Malaysia," Amnesty International said. Malaysia's restrictive laws are routinely used to curtail internationally recognized human rights, such as freedom of expression. Efforts by independent domestic and international media sources, as well as opposition politicians and Malaysian non-government organizations to comment on sensitive social issues, run the risk of fines, prosecution and imprisonment.

"It is time that the Malaysian government stopped eroding human rights in the name of stability and development. Real stability and development can only be achieved through guaranteeing the free expression of views on emerging social and economic problems, and protecting other fundamental human rights," Amnesty International concluded.

Background

In its efforts to promote Malaysia as a centre for Information Technology, the government has until recently restrained itself from using its array of restrictive laws in regard to the Internet. Under Section 3 of the Communications and Multimedia Act, the government prohibited the censorship of the Internet, although there are provisions to act against "defamatory and false information". However, recent events may signal an end to this restraint.

The Sedition Act (1948) places wide limitations on freedom of expression, particularly regarding sensitive political subjects such as race. Under Section 4(1) c of the Act anyone responsible for a "seditious publication" is liable to a fine not exceeding RM5000 or up to three years imprisonment. Sedition itself is broadly defined in Section 3(1) e as "to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between races or classes of the population of Malaysia."(keralamonitor.com)

 

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