Abstract
The execution of Saddam Hussein by hanging today in Baghdad could bring to a close the troubled proceedings of the Iraqi High Tribunal. Originally designed by U.S. occupation forces as the Iraqi Special Tribunal and subsequently renamed by the Iraqi government, the IHT was set to try Saddam for seven discreet crimes including the genocide of the Kurds, destruction of the Marsh Arabs, and multiple mass atrocities. But it was his conviction for the 1982 massacre of 148 Shi'ites from the opposition Dawa party in the town of Dujail that ultimately drew the death sentence and sealed the former Iraqi president's fate. Under Iraqi law, death sentences must be carried out within 30 days of a final appeal, and the appellate court in Saddam's case confirmed his death sentence this week.