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At Chaotic Trial of Hussein, Iraqi Victims Tell of Torture
Former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark, who is aiding the defense team, says the trial could have a healing effect for Iraqis if the proceedings are fair.
(Pool Photo/by Stefan Zaklin Via Getty Images)
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"They knew who was most beloved by his father. They took him, 16 years old. Before my father, they beat him. Then they said: Kill him."
Mohammed was followed on the witness stand by Jawad Abdul Aziz Jawad, who was 10 at the time of the assassination attempt. He described how giant bulldozers descended on the village three months after the shooting, ripping through farms and plowing over houses.
In one of many surprises in the trial, an outburst from co-defendant Ibrahim revealed that the former prime minister of Iraq, Mohammed Hamza Zubaidi, a top deputy to Hussein, died this week in U.S. custody.
U.S. military officials later said Zubaidi, 67, who was among the top wanted officials of Hussein's government, had been hospitalized for several days, complaining of chest pains. He died Friday and his body was being sent to the United States for an autopsy, according to Lt. Col. Guy Rudisill, a spokesman for detainee operations in Iraq.
"It was natural causes," Rudisill said. He said there was "absolutely no" suspicion of foul play.
Military authorities had announced Sunday that an unidentified "67-year-old civilian" had died at the hospital attached to Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad.
Rudisill said U.S. officials generally do not release names of deceased detainees because of the need to notify families. "We weren't hiding anything," he said.
The trial had been planned by Iraqi and U.S. authorities since Hussein's capture in December 2003. In a calculated gamble, they decided to try him in Iraq, rather than before an international tribunal abroad. Officials said an Iraqi trial likely would be swifter and might provide a good judicial model for a new Iraqi democracy.
But the trial has gotten off to a slow start, with much legal wrangling. It has been further clouded by violence. Two defense attorneys have been assassinated and one has fled. Authorities have said they discovered a plot to attack the courtroom.
One of the five judges on the panel excused himself Monday when he learned that one of the defendants had signed a death warrant for the judge's brother, court officials confirmed.
Television coverage has not shown the public a smooth judicial process. Chief Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin has been unable to silence the defendants, who have shouted at the judges, witnesses, defense attorneys and even the spectators.
"You are a dog," Ibrahim shouted to the VIP gallery at one point, leaping to his feet and spitting. He said someone had threatened him from the gallery.
