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Kuwaitis want to see Ali on rope(Kuwait Times Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) KUWAIT: With Saddam Hussein's Dec 30 execution some might believe justice for his victims was finally served, but for many Kuwaitis who suffered at the hands of his cousin known as "Chemical Ali", who headed the invasion into Kuwait and was later appointed the military governor of the occupied state, justice has yet to be rendered. During the 1990 invasion and subsequent occupation of Kuwait by Iraq, Iraqi forces committed crimes against civilians in Kuwait ranging from torture and rape to abductions and murder, not to mention the property crimes of massive looting, environmental destruction all falling under the over-arching crime against the state of Kuwait of Iraq's violation of Article 2 (4) of the United Nations Charter wherein the vary invasion itself is criminal. Even with documented cases of war crimes committed in Kuwait at the direction of Saddam Hussein and carried out by his pointman Ali Hassan Al-Majid Al-Tirkriti (Chemical Ali), Kuwaitis and all those violated at the hands of Iraqi forces have yet to see those responsible tried for their war crimes and countless human rights violations. Chemical Ali is currently standing trial for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against other Iraqis, most prominent among the charges are Ali's leadership in the now notorious Anfal campaign in which thousands of Kurdish Iraqis were slaughtered in their villages with chemical weapons. The trial is set to continue in early January and may well end in the same judgement as Saddam received and seeing Ali escorted to the gallows without standing trial for his crimes against the Kuwaiti people. Kuwaitis remembering war crimes under the occupation headed by Ali recall Iraqi troops terrorising entire families. Abu Nedal said, "They killed my brother in front of our mother, father, and two younger sisters. Right in front of our house, they shot him in the head and then just drove away. When they took him from the house the day before they took everything of value they could find in the house and my mother wailed as they escorted my brother outside. But they showed no emotion. We thought they were releasing him when they came to the house again...but they brought him to our home to kill him in front of us all...they left his dead body there in the yard and left as quickly as they arrived." He went on to say, "There is no justice for my brother (the martyr) or our family...Ali will hang like Saddam for what he did to his own people and God will give us justice for what the animal did in Kuwait!" During the occupation there were many cases of torture against Kuwaitis -- some of which were documented by Amnesty International and the Red Crescent among other NGOs who took detailed reports from eye-witnesses and from family members and physicians who examined the bodies of victims. Um Nassar said of Ali's occupation war crimes -- "He is an animal like Saddam! There is no justice except by God! God will provide Kuwaitis with justice! The animal took my son for one month. They held him at the police station and when he wandered back to our house his body was broken. He was never the same and still will not say what the animals did to him. But he is alive. Thanks to God! I want the dogs to suffer for what they did!" While there are many documented cases of torture and murder of civilians during the barbaric regime inflicted on Kuwaitis by Chemical Ali, many Kuwaitis did not report the crimes inflicted on them and instead remained silent. A Kuwaiti male in his mid-thirties who did not want to be named, told this reporter, "I could not tell my family what happened to me. What good would it serve? What would my mother do but shed more tears...I wanted her to forget what happened to us and she will never know what happened to me. God will bring me justice...I hope the dog is hung like his cousin!" Abu Khaled recalled the pervasive feeling of fear among locals during the military rule of Chemical Ali. "We were subjected to constant curfews and threatened with death if we went out after curfew even if we needed medical help. My neighbours gathered in the basement of my grandfather's house...we stayed together, shared our food and water and our fears. We kept our sons and daughters close to us but tried not to show our desperation and fear to the little ones." He continued, "...but when our neighbour's house was burned by the Iraqis in front of us and all the men were taken away...the fear became too much... I am not certain if any of us will ever get over that feeling and the loss of our dear family members and friends who were killed and broken by the sick things done to them." When I asked Abu Khaled if he ever talks to his family about the atrocities they experienced during the occupation, Abu Khaled said, "We do not speak about those things. But after Saddam's execution I heard many men in my diwaniya utter the name of the dog Ali Hassan Al-Majid as the one who should go to the gallows next...We all know what happened to us at his hand but we don't go into details. We want to forget....you will not see any celebrations when he is hung...it is too long overdue just like the judgement on Saddam. Our hate is silent rage now." Copyright 2006 Kuwait Times. Source: Financial Times Information Limited - Middle East Intelligence Wire. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] |