Posted on 10/12/2004 5:36:26 PM PDT by cgk
Wednesday 13 October 2004, 1:47 Makka Time, 22:47 GMTInvestigators probing mass graves in Iraq have conducted their first scientific exhumation of bodies.
Hoping to unearth crucial evidence that could help in convicting deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, investigators said nine trenches in a dry riverbed at the Hatra site in northern Iraq contained at least 300 bodies, and possibly thousands.
Those buried included children still clutching toys.
"It is my personal opinion that this is a killing field," said Greg Kehoe, a US lawyer appointed by the White House to work with the Iraqi Special Tribunal.
"Someone used this field on significant occasions over time to take bodies up there and to take people up there and execute them".
"I have been doing grave sites for a long time, but I have never seen anything like this, women and children executed for no apparent reason," Kehoe said. "It's a perfect place for execution".
Kurdish victims
The victims are believed to be minority Kurds killed during 1987-88. One trench contains only women and children, apparently killed by small arms. Another contains only men, apparently killed by automatic gunfire.
Some of the mothers died still holding their children. One young boy still held a ball in his tiny arms.
International organisations estimate more than 300,000 people died under Saddam's 24-year rule and Iraq's Human Rights ministry has identified 40 possible mass graves countrywide.
Authorities hope careful investigations of the site will provide enough evidence to convict Saddam and other senior members of his regime.
Though investigators have excavated smaller mass graves before, scientific exhumation is being done for the first time.
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Saddam (R) is likely to face trial |
Saddam is expected to face trial for crimes against humanity next year. Investigators are still pursuing evidence.
He is accused of widespread abuses against the Kurds, including a particularly gruesome campaign in 1988 when mustard gas was deployed against the population.
During his reign, Saddam pushed hundreds of thousands of Arabs into Kurdish areas to force the locals out. He is accused of widespread abuses against the Kurds, including the "Anfal" (The Spoils) campaign in 1988, during which thousands died in a mustard gas attack.
Human Rights Watch estimates that more than 50,000 Kurds were killed during the campaign.
They showed the report on Brit Hume's show earlier
Doesn't that garbage drive you CRAZY? Those morons read these stories and say "hype!" or "it's from the iran WAR" ... sure. Those children dead there holding dolls and soccer balls? soldiers, all of 'em. grr.
The poll says it all about the UN.
Poll:
Will the growing accusations against the Sudanese government of non-compliance with UN resolutions lead to:
Sudan's compliance : 9%
Another UN resolution : 55%
Emboldening the rebels : 19%
Unsure : 17%
UN 'shied away' from Iraq nuke truths
Seems to me the UN is pretty dang shy about everything.
Greg Kehoe, a U.S. lawyer appointed by the White House to work with the Iraqi Special Tribunal, views a mass gravesite being excavated in the northern Iraqi town of Hatra, October 12, 2004. Investigators have conducted their first scientific exhumation of Iraq's 'killing fields,' discovering hundreds of bodies which they hope will help convict Saddam Hussein of crimes against humanity. They say nine trenches in a dry, dusty riverbed at the Hatra site in northern Iraq contain at least 300 bodies, and possibly thousands, including unborn babies and toddlers still clutching toys. REUTERS/Thannasis Cambanis/Pool
Archaeologist Michael 'Sonny' Trimble and Greg Kehoe (R), a U.S. lawyer appointed by the White House to work with the Iraqi Special Tribunal, views a mass grave site being excavated in the northern Iraqi town of Hatra October 12, 2004. Investigators have conducted their first scientific exhumation of Iraq's 'killing fields,' discovering hundreds of bodies which they hope will help convict Saddam Hussein of crimes against humanity. They say nine trenches in a dry, dusty riverbed at the Hatra site in northern Iraq contain at least 300 bodies, and possibly thousands, including unborn babies and toddlers still clutching toys. REUTERS/Thannasis Cambanis/Pool
That's an incredibly sad, yet accurate, statement.
I can't say I'm surprised to see that addition of "unborn babies" listed as the murdered in these graves with the women and children.
Yes, that stark line was the one that stuck out for me, too, and I think I will use it as a tagline for a while.
and unborn babies
HATRA, Iraq - Investigators have begun unearthing a mass grave near this northern Iraqi village, uncovering more than 100 bodies and seeking evidence to use in a future trial of Saddam Hussein.
The bodies, believed to be Kurds killed during Saddam's crackdown in 1987-88, are buried in nine trenches, according to Greg Kehoe, an American who works with the Iraqi Special Tribunal, which is preparing the trial of Saddam and his henchmen.
Kehoe said his team has removed 120 bodies from a trench believed to contain as many as 300 bodies.
He said that because of limited funds and resources, his team can excavate only one mass grave at a time. European teams who worked on Bosnian mass graves are not helping because of their concerns that Saddam could face the death penalty, he said.
"It is my personal opinion that this is a killing field," Kehoe told reporters during a visit to the site south of Mosul. "Someone used this field on significant occasions over time to take bodies up there, and to take people up there and execute them."
Kehoe said the bodies were apparently bulldozed into the graves.
"Unlike bodies that you've seen in many mass graves — they look like cordwood — all lined up," he said. "That didn't happen here. These bodies were just pushed in."
He said excavators found the body of a mother still clutching her baby. The infant was shot in the back of the head and the mother in the face.
Kehoe said that most mass graves in Bosnia largely contain men of fighting age. Graves near Hatra included many women and children, he said.
"Genocide is the attempt to eliminate, limit or exterminate a religious, ethnic, national or racial group," he said. "The Kurds are clearly a different nationality. So could it be considered genocide? It could be. Killing, ethnic cleansing, property relocations, all of those were used to try to limit the Kurdish population. What it is fundamentally is downright murder."
Human rights organizations estimate that more than 300,000 people were killed during Saddam's 24-year rule, which ended when U.S.-led forces toppled his regime in 2003.
Saddam is expected to stand trial for crimes against humanity and other offenses next year. No trial date has been set.
I won't be holding my breath to see this in the MMM.
Bears repeating..
John Kerry is a sick and evil man. If Americans elect him, we deserve four years of hell. I don't this we are that stupid. But then again we put Clinton in twice and brought ourselves 9/11, so who knows.
We've known for years that our network news and major papers were in the bag, politically, for the left-wing in this country, however it's freshly sickening that a story like this won't make any major media outlet. It's a crime against these murdered people that the information is pushed aside in what's supposedly the leading free country in the world, all in the name of political advantage.
Of course she did one heck of a number on the Bosnian Serbs. Unmarked mass graves seemed to interest her, even if the numbers claimed are unsubstantiated.
I now repeat what I have said before, bolstered by this information. George W. Bush is one of the greatest moral leaders to emerge in the last 100 years.
is it me or have liberals since the 16th Century been the instigator of everything bad (IE: FRENCH REVOLUTION, COMMUNISM)? There must be more morons on earth than I thought, seeing how they get elected (like Byrd).
Pfff. Bill would side with Saddam, and call you and I "right wing nutcases", while he preens himself as Mister Centrist, sucking up to the Liberal Media Machine and licking his chops at Dan Rather's slot. I give up on Bill O'Reilly. He has sold out.
Fascist see, fascist do.
Such a nuisance, eh Lurch?
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