UN appeals to Iraq on executions

"UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has appealed to Iraq not to execute two top officials from former president Saddam Hussein's rule.

Ms Arbour said concerns she had about the fairness of Saddam Hussein's trial also applied to his co-defendants";

news.bbc.co.uk...

Verdicts in detail;

news.bbc.co.uk...

I'm not sure whether killing such men will actually hold any benefit for the people of Iraq- IMHO, it probably won't. The men are caught and captured and no longer hold any harm to the general public, so i think things should just be left as they are for now Executing them could just cause more instability in the country- as far as i am aware there is not any strong pressing need or reason to have them executed right now.
And if they are to be executed, i think they should only be so until after the controversy surrounding Saddams trial has been sorted, as otherwise America could just be digging itself into a deeper hole. Sometimes people are simply more good alive rather than dead.
What are your feelings/opinions on this article?

Yes.....and what happens where large groups of regualr Iraqi's are kidnapped or some iraqi offical and the demand is the release of these GUILTY prisoners?

Hang 'em high and get it over with................

Originally posted by ferretman2
Yes.....and what happens where large groups of regualr Iraqi's are kidnapped or some iraqi offical and the demand is the release of these GUILTY prisoners?

Hang 'em high and get it over with................

That actually hasn't happened yet as far as i know, and i havn't seen any evidence that it will do- you cannot just kill people because of paranoid fears...On the flip side though, what do you do when people start car bombing innocent civilians when the Americans execute such people like they did with Saddam? If you kill these guys, its highly unlikely the killing will stop as a result of their deaths.
If there's controversy surrounding the fairness of their trail, don't you think there will be more hate against the Americans if they continue to push ahead with killing despite large and widespread fears about the fairness of such trials? Such actions can only tarnish america's image...The Americans will probably gain more respect by prolonging the trails so they can sort out such issues properly, instead of just ignoring the people they are supposed to be gaining support from.

Originally posted by Tokis Phoenix
The Americans will probably gain more respect by prolonging the trails so they can sort out such issues properly, instead of just ignoring the people they are supposed to be gaining support from.

Well, as far as I know, we tried to postpone Saddam's sentence, but the Iraqi government wasn't hearing it, the shiites wanted revenge quick. We, at least on the surface, are not calling the shots as far as the trials and sentences are concerned....

Originally posted by 27jd

Originally posted by Tokis Phoenix
The Americans will probably gain more respect by prolonging the trails so they can sort out such issues properly, instead of just ignoring the people they are supposed to be gaining support from.

Well, as far as I know, we tried to postpone Saddam's sentence, but the Iraqi government wasn't hearing it, the shiites wanted revenge quick. We, at least on the surface, are not calling the shots as far as the trials and sentences are concerned....

Do you have any evidence/links that actually happened though?

Originally posted by Tokis Phoenix

Originally posted by 27jd

Originally posted by Tokis Phoenix
The Americans will probably gain more respect by prolonging the trails so they can sort out such issues properly, instead of just ignoring the people they are supposed to be gaining support from.

Well, as far as I know, we tried to postpone Saddam's sentence, but the Iraqi government wasn't hearing it, the shiites wanted revenge quick. We, at least on the surface, are not calling the shots as far as the trials and sentences are concerned....

Do you have any evidence/links that actually happened though?

I don't think the White House wanted to postpone the hanging. Its the way it was handled. Like the taunting of Saddam by the Iraqis themselves.

Saddam was exectued quickly for 2 reasons.

(Once again) Iraqi law prevents executions to people over 70 years old. Sadamm would have turned 70 in April.

They also wanted to prevent the meddling of the UN and others that was sure to come. If we waited for the UN's approval, Sadamm would have been 80 years old, and unexecutable.

Originally posted by RRconservative
Saddam was exectued quickly for 2 reasons.

(Once again) Iraqi law prevents executions to people over 70 years old. Sadamm would have turned 70 in April.

They also wanted to prevent the meddling of the UN and others that was sure to come. If we waited for the UN's approval, Sadamm would have been 80 years old, and unexecutable.

Well he could have been executed in March of 2007. Was it a rush? Don't know. Its been 3 years since his capture. Long time for a war criminal.

I don't think the White House wanted to postpone the hanging. Its the way it was handled. Like the taunting of Saddam by the Iraqis themselves.

"like the taunting of Saddam by the iraqis themselves" is not a completely true statement- Saddam's execution, and the way it was conducted, have provoked anger among many of Iraq's Sunni Muslims, who have responded by taking to the streets in mainly peaceful demonstrations across the country.



The fact that Saddam was executed on the holy time of Eid ul-Adha (see en.wikipedia.org... for more info) is in very poor taste- muslims do not worship or celebrate execution, Eid ul-Adha is a time for celebrating family and showing tolerance and compasion to everyone, and by the Americans deliberately setting the execution on a holy week it is being very arrogant/ignorant of their culture and religion.
If the Americans want more support in the country, they need to take more care not to offend people and their religions. It would be a bit like them executing Bush on Christmas day. When you look at the meanings of such holy times, it is not good to mix the blood of public execution with them when such times are actually about tolerance and compassion etc.

edit: sp

[edit on 4-1-2007 by Tokis Phoenix]

Originally posted by Tokis Phoenix

The fact that Saddam was executed on the holy time of Eid ul-Adha (see en.wikipedia.org... for more info) is in very poor taste- muslims do not worship or celebrate execution, Eid ul-Adha is a time for celebrating family and showing tolerance and compasion to everyone, and by the Americans deliberately setting the execution on a holy week it is being very arrogant/ignorant of their culture and religion.
If the Americans want more support in the country, they need to take more care not to offend people and their religions. It would be a bit like them executing Bush on Christmas day. When you look at the meanings of such hold times, it is not good to mix the blood of public execution with them when such times are actually about tolerance and compassion etc.

[edit on 4-1-2007 by Tokis Phoenix]

We set the date for his execution or the Iraqis themselves? Most Americans probably don't even know about the significance of that day to Muslims.

Originally posted by deltaboy

Originally posted by Tokis Phoenix

The fact that Saddam was executed on the holy time of Eid ul-Adha (see en.wikipedia.org... for more info) is in very poor taste- muslims do not worship or celebrate execution, Eid ul-Adha is a time for celebrating family and showing tolerance and compasion to everyone, and by the Americans deliberately setting the execution on a holy week it is being very arrogant/ignorant of their culture and religion.
If the Americans want more support in the country, they need to take more care not to offend people and their religions. It would be a bit like them executing Bush on Christmas day. When you look at the meanings of such hold times, it is not good to mix the blood of public execution with them when such times are actually about tolerance and compassion etc.

[edit on 4-1-2007 by Tokis Phoenix]

We set the date for his execution or the Iraqis themselves? Most Americans probably don't even know about the significance of that day to Muslims.

The Americans approved the trial even though the U.S. government appears to have been concerned with the perception of the legal validity of the execution. The president Jalal Talabani is an Iraqi politician, who was elected State President of Iraq on April 6, 2005, (sworn in the next day, April 7, and once again on April 22, 2006, by the Iraqi National Assembly) and is anti-death penalty and tried to prostpone the executions.

As i said before though, the Americans need to pay more attention to the actual people of Iraq- a lot of the conflict over there right now comes down to religious extremism and intolerance. If the Americans are to handle such situations with any degree of success, they are going to have to do a lot of learning about the religions and people they are facing, otherwise the situation will only worsen.

Originally posted by Tokis Phoenix
Do you have any evidence/links that actually happened though?

The New York Times also reported that the US government had wanted to postpone Saddam's execution, with US officials appealing to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki hours before Saddam's death to delay the hanging until after the important Eid al-Adha Sunni Muslim feast of sacrifice.
rawstory.com...

It was obviously more about shiite revenge than justice for Saddam...