On
this date, 20 March 2007, Saddam Hussein’s vice-president, Taha Yassin Ramadan
was executed by hanging in Baghdad, Iraq. I will post information about him
from Wikipedia and many news sources before giving a proposed Death Penalty Law
known as, ‘T.Y.R Law’.
Vice President of Iraq
|
|
In office
March 1991 – 9 April 2003 |
|
Preceded
by
|
Taha
Mohieddin Maruf
|
Succeeded
by
|
Ibrahim
Jaafari and Rowsch Shaways
|
Deputy Secretary of the Iraqi
Regional Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party
|
|
In office
16 July 1979 – September 1991 |
|
Preceded
by
|
Saddam
Hussein
|
Succeeded
by
|
Izzat
Ibrahim ad-Douri
|
Head of the Iraqi Popular Army
|
|
In office
1974[1] – 1991 |
|
Personal details
|
|
Born
|
February
22, 1938
Mosul, Iraq |
Died
|
March 20,
2007 (aged 69)
Baghdad, Iraq |
Political
party
|
Ba'ath Arab
Socialist Party
|
Taha Yasin Ramadan al-Jizrawi (February 22, 1938 – March 20, 2007)
(Arabic: طه ياسين رمضان الجزراوي)
was a prominent Iraqi Kurd, serving as Vice President of Iraq from March 1991
to the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003.
In
October 2002, four months before the United States invaded Iraq, Ramadan
suggested U.S. President George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein settle their
difference in a duel. He reasoned this would not only serve as an alternative
to a war that was certain to damage Iraq's infrastructure, but that it would
also reduce the suffering of the Iraqi and American peoples. Ramadan's offer
included the possibility that a group of US officials would face off with a
group of Iraqi officials of same or similar rank (President v. President, Vice
President v. Vice President, etc.). Ramadan proposed that the duel be held in a
neutral land, with each party using the same weapons, and with UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan presiding as the supervisor. On behalf of President Bush,
White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer declined the offer.
Following
the fall of Saddam's government, Taha Yasin Ramadan was placed on the U.S. list
of most-wanted Iraqis and depicted as the Ten of Diamonds in the most-wanted Iraqi playing cards. He
was captured on August 19, 2003 in Mosul, by fighters of the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK) and handed over to US forces.
He
was one of the defendants in the Iraq Special Tribunal's Al-Dujail trial. On November 5, 2006 he was
sentenced to life imprisonment. On December 26, 2006 the appeals court sent the
case file back to the Tribunal, saying the sentence was too lenient and
demanding a death sentence. On February 12, 2007 he was sentenced to death by
hanging. His sentence was carried out on the fourth anniversary of Iraq's US
invasion, before dawn on March 20, 2007.
 |
|
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein with Vice
President Taha Yassin Ramadan in Baghdad in 2000. (SOURCE: Karim Sahib/AFP -
Getty Images http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/20/world/middleeast/20iraq.html?_r=0)
|
INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/militia.htm
People's
Army / Popular Army / People's Militia
(Al Jaysh ash Shaabi)
Iraq
fielded a "people's" army. The Iraqi Popular Army (Jaysh al-Sha'abi)
consisted of a popular militia composed of civilian volunteers to protect the
Ba'ath regime against internal opposition and to serve as a power base (and
counter-balance) to the regular army.
The
Popular Army was organized on an area basis with a total of 19 divisions [also
termed Brigades]. Popular Army GHQ in Baghdad controled area HQs located in
Baghdad and each of Iraq's 18 administrative provinces (muhafazat, singular --
muhafazah) [in practice, these units did not effectively exist in the three
provinces controlled by Kurdish forces]. Each area HQ was commanded by a
district commander. Each district controled a number of "sectors"
headed by sector commanders. Each sector controled up to 10 "bases,"
led by platoon commanders.
There
were four types of bases: Infantry or combat bases with infantrymen; Command
bases with commanders; Close support bases with light mortars and MGs; and
Antiaircraft bases, with antiaircraft (AA) guns and MGs. Each base contained up
to 10 x squads of from 10 to 15 men. Personnel were assigned to squads based on
their residences, to ensure swift mobilization.
Training
in the Popular Army was limited to several weeks prior to mobilization,
although some instructors came from the regular army to help improve the
quality of training. Training was conducted in: Physical training; Use of arms
(mainly small arms); Obstacle crossing (including wire and mine obstacles);
Assaults on enemy positions; Searches in mountainous terrain; and Possible air
assault training for Popular Army commandos.
The
Popular Army was founded in 1970 as a party-controlled militia which would
provide Ba'ath cadre with basic military training and act as a counterweight to
the regular armed forces.
Beginning
in 1974, Taha Yasin Ramadan, a close associate of President Saddam Hussein,
commanded the People's Army, which was responsible for internal security. The
command of such a large military establishment gave Ramadan so much power, however,
that some foreign observers speculated that the primary function of his second
in command was to keep him from using the People's Army as a personal power
base.
The
People's Army grew rapidly, and by 1977 it was estimated to have 50,000 active
members. Subsequently, a phenomenal growth, giving the militia extensive
internal security functions, occurred. Universal conscription drew in
increasing numbers of Iraqis as the expanding defence budget allowed for a
spectacular growth in the size of the armed forces. In addition, the Popular
Army and the youth organisation brought ever larger numbers into the
paramilitary formations established by the regime.
Whereas
its original purpose was to give the Baath Party an active role in every town
and village, the People's Army in 1981 began its most ambitious task to date,
the support of the regular armed forces. The official functions of the People's
Army were to act as backup to the regular armed forces in times of war and to
safeguard revolutionary achievements, to promote mass consciousness, to
consolidate national unity, and to bolster the relationship between the people
and the army in times of peace.
The
People's Army dispatched units to Iraqi Kurdistan before 1980 and to Lebanon to
fight with Palestinian guerrillas during the 1975-76 Civil War. Foreign
observers concluded, however, that the primary function of the People's Army
was political in nature; first, to enlist popular support for the Baath Party,
and second, to act as a counterweight against any coup attempts by the regular
armed forces.
People's
Army members were recruited from among both women and men (who had completed
their regular army service) eighteen years of age and older. It was unclear
whether or not Baath Party membership was a prerequisite -- especially after
1981, when the numerical strength of the People's Army ballooned -- but,
clearly, party indoctrination was at least as important as military training.
Members usually underwent a two-month annual training period, and they were paid
from party funds. Although the extent of their training was unknown in early
1988, all recruits were instructed in the use of a rifle. Graduates were
responsible for guarding government buildings and installations, and they were
concentrated around sensitive centers in major towns. Militia members possessed
some sophisticated arms, and it was possible that disgruntled officers
contemplating a challenge to Saddam Hussein could rally the support of a force
of such militiamen.
During
the late 1970s and early 1980s new units were created and a continued arms
build up took place. With less than a year of Saddam's seizure of absolute
power in 1979, the Popular Army more than doubled, from 100,00 to 250,000 men.
This system of separation between the Popular (elite) Army and the regular army
(intended to deny the latter a monopoly of the State's means of violence) broke
down during the Iraq-Iran war.
Despite
its nominal strength of 250,000 the Popular Army was largely ineffective as a
combat force in the Iran-Iraq war; its most important role was to guard
buildings in the cities during the absence of the regular army. The Popular
Army duties of persons living in or on the periphery of the Marshes was
confined to the maintenance of security in those areas, particularly in the
governorates of Basra, Misan and Dhi Qar.
Early
in 1986 Saddam took the Iranian town of Mehran, and said he would trade it for
Al Faw. Instead of acquiescing, Iranian forces recaptured Mehran and drove off
the Iraqis, humiliating Saddam and raising doubts about his ability to
prosecute the war. A few days after the debacle at Mehran, the leaders of the
Baath Party held an "Extraordinary Congress" in Baghdad and decided
on a mobilization. The party enlisted men as old as 42 for the Popular Army
militia. The regime initiated a total call-up of available manpower in 1986.
The response was good. No draft riots occurred; young men -- even college
students -- reported without incident. The fact that the public answered the
call indicated that Iraqis supported their government.
By
1987 Iraq's total armed forced numbered over a million, with an additional
650,000 in the People's Army. Iraq tended to put excessively large forces into
battle, which made for some uneven quality. For example, the regime persisted
in using Ba'thist militiamen - the so-called Popular Army -- long after it was
shown that they were not reliable.
Iraq's
new "volunteer army" arose early in 1998. A letter Saddam had sent
the Bath party leadership on 16 January 1998 was read on Iraqi TV on 17
January, after his speech that day, marking the anniversary of the start of the
Gulf war, in which he proclaimed that Iraq "is irrevocably determined to
wage the greater jihad for the lifting of the blockade." A campaign to
enlist the population in "voluntary" paramilitary training followed.
A joint committee of Baath Party officials and officers of the security
services was formed to make people volunteer for the militia known as the
Popular Army. All students and teachers at secondary schools, colleges and
universities were pressured to "volunteer". Teachers were also being
forced to join. Military training for these "volunteers" took place
daily for 3-4 hours. The regime expected at least one volunteer from every
household and threatened the ration card of those not complying.
While
the Popular Army, Al Jaysh ash-Shaabi, has been demobilized except for
emergency cases, active training continues, and Saddam's Fedayeen remains an
institution serving the leader himself.
The
civilian Ba'athist Party-based popular militias (believed 1 million-strong
before the Gulf War) have reportedly been disbanded, as have the 100,000-strong
"pro-regime" Kurdish militias. Following the renewed
Israeli-Palestinian violence in late 2000, Iraq created the Al Quds (Jerusalem)
Volunteer Army in early 2001 to ostensibly liberate Palestine and Jerusalem and
defeat the Zionists (Israelis). Iraq reported that this force is made up of 7
million Iraqis divided into 21 divisions. However, it is more likely that this
force was propaganda designed to show Iraqi support for the Palestinian cause,
has fewer personnel, and is an ineffective fighting force.
Saddam Cubs
More
than 40% of the population of Iraq is under the age of twenty-five, and the
youth of the country had been shaped to Ba'thist ideology. They were instilled
with the principles of Saddam Hussein himself to produce the new man,
fulfilling a vision aspired to by every fascist regime. Young Iraqis were
indoctrinated at an early age through Ba'th teaching, and through organisations
which were part of the regime such as youth groups. They learned to adulate
Saddam Hussein as a person. Between the age of five and seven primary school
children were enrolled in "Saddam's Cubs" (Ashbal Saddam) and
remained members until the age of fifteen or seventeen when they became
Saddam's Fidayi. School boys aged between 12-17 years could attend a month long
military training camp for 3 weeks during the summer holidays. Dubbed the
"lion cubs of Saddam" the school boys allegedly received training in
small arms at the camp. Saddam's Cubs prepare young volunteers for Saddam's
Fedayeen.
Saddam
Hussein had held 3-week training courses in weapons use, hand-to-hand fighting,
rappelling from helicopters, and infantry tactics for children between 10 and
15 years of age. Camps for these "Saddam Cubs" operated throughout
the country. Senior military officers who supervised the courses noted that the
children held up under the "physical and psychological strain" of
training that lasted for as long as 14 hours each day. Sources in the
opposition reported that the army found it difficult to recruit enough children
to fill all of the vacancies in the program. Families reportedly were
threatened with the loss of their food ration cards if they refused to enroll
their children in the course. The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in
Iraq reported in October 1999 that authorities were denying food ration cards
to families that failed to send their young sons to Saddam Cubs compulsory
weapons-training camps. Similarly, authorities reportedly withheld school
examination results to students unless they registered in the Fedayeen Saddam
organization.
INTERNET SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2333287.stm
Obituary: Taha Yassin Ramadan
|
|
Taha Yassin Ramadan was a member of Saddam Hussein's inner circle and
was known as one of the Iraqi president's "enforcers".
He was captured by Kurdish
fighters in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in 2003, about four months after
the regime fell.
One of the few surviving
plotters from the 1968 coup that put the Baath party in power, he held
numerous senior posts during the party's 35-year rule.
His style was as hardline as
Saddam Hussein's.
When made industry minister
in the 1970s, he reportedly told colleagues: "I don't know anything
about industry. All I know is that anyone who doesn't work hard will be
executed."
Three decades later, as a
judge at Iraq's High Tribunal sentenced him to death for his role in the
killing of 148 Shias in 1982, Ramadan defiantly protested his innocence.
"God knows I didn't do
anything wrong," he told the court. "God will take revenge on
everyone who oppressed me."
Senior envoy
The passing of the death
sentence, imposed after he stood trial alongside Saddam Hussein for the
killings in the village of Dujail, marked the end of a long career in Iraqi
politics.
Born to a peasant family in
the Mosul area, Ramadan worked as a bank clerk after completing his secondary
education.
He rose through the ranks of
the Baath Party, and joined the regime's powerful Revolution Command Council
after the coup.
|
|
He once led the Popular Army, a large paramilitary
force tasked with protecting the regime. It was disbanded in 1991 when he
became vice-president.
He was often sent abroad as the Iraqi leader's
envoy.
He apparently followed Saddam Hussein's orders
faithfully - including once losing 27kg (60 pounds) after the Iraqi leader
criticised his ministers for getting fat.
Known abroad as a hawk who did not mince his words,
he once suggested that Saddam Hussein and US President George W Bush should
settle their differences in a duel with weapons of their choice.
He lambasted the Saudi foreign minister, Prince
Saud al-Faisal, when the Saudis proposed that Saddam Hussein step down in early
2003 to avoid a US invasion.
"You loser. You are a minion and a
lackey," he said, telling the Saudi prince to "go to hell".
'Victory'
Ramadan
once described the 1991 Gulf War as a victory for Baghdad since it marked
"the beginning of saying 'no' to the forces of aggression".
Together
with Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and Foreign Minister Naji Sabri, he made
the rounds of Arab nations during the pre-war stand-off with the United States.
"US
threats will not scare us," he was quoted as saying.
Washington
showed considerable interest in him well before the 2003 invasion, after
opposition forces claimed he hosted Osama Bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri,
in Baghdad in 1998.
Shortly
before the war, he told the pan-Arab MBC television channel the Bush
administration "is Zionist... more Zionist than the Jews".
Ramadan
survived a number of assassination attempts, including two in 1997 and one in
1999.
There are
reports that he disagreed with Saddam Hussein over economic policies in the
1980s.
Unlike
others who took issue with the Iraqi leader, Ramadan lived to tell the tale,
eventually standing beside his leader in court as some of his final dramas
unfolded.
In the
end, however, he suffered the same fate, following Saddam Hussein to the
gallows.
INTERNET SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2297371.stm
Thursday, 3 October, 2002, 20:37 GMT 21:37 UK
Bush challenged to 'duel' with
Saddam
 |
|
Ramadan
- a hidden capacity for dark humour?
|
Taha
Yassin Ramadan suggested that United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan
should referee the duel on neutral territory.
Mr
Ramadan, who is not noted for a sense of humour but occasionally resorts to
sarcasm, made the proposal in an interview with the Associated Press.
Mr
Bush's spokesman Ari Fleischer rejected the idea saying, "there can be no
serious response to an irresponsible statement like that".
His
remarks came as the UN Security Council discussed the Iraqi offer for arms
inspectors to return to Baghdad - the more straightforward route to avert war.
Leader versus leader
"Bush
wants to attack the whole [of] Iraq, the army and the infrastructure," the
Iraqi vice-president said.
"The
American president should specify a group, and we will specify a group and
choose neutral ground with Kofi Annan as referee and use one weapon with a
president against a president, a vice-president against a vice-president, and a
minister against a minister in a duel."
Mr
Fleischer poured scorn on the proposal saying:
"In
the past when Iraq had disputes, it invaded its neighbours. There were no
duels; there were invasions. There was use of weapons of mass destruction and
military. That's how Iraq settles its disputes."
INTERNET SOURCE:
W.H. rejects Bush-Saddam duel offer
October
03, 2002|From Kelly Wallace (CNN Washington Bureau)
The
White House scorned an Iraqi leader's suggestion that President Bush and Saddam
Hussein could resolve their differences in a duel, calling it an
"irresponsible statement" that did not justify a "serious
response."
"I
just want to point out that in the past when Iraq had disputes, it invaded its
neighbors," White House press secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters.
"There
were no duels; there were no invasions. There was use of weapons of mass
destruction and [the] military. And that's how Iraq settles its disputes."
Fleischer
was responding to comments made Thursday by Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin
Ramadan in an interview with Abu Dhabi television that was also broadcast by
CNN.
The
Iraqi leader argued that instead of going to war with Iraq, Bush should
participate in a personal duel with Saddam.
"Bush
wants to attack the whole Iraq, the army and the infrastructure," Ramadan
said. "If such a call is genuine, then let the American president and a
selected group with him face a selected group of us and we choose a neutral
land and let [U.N. Secretary-General] Kofi Annan be a supervisor and both
groups should use the same weapon."
"A
president against a president and vice president against a vice president, and
a duel takes place, if they are serious," the Iraqi vice president said.
"And in this way we are saving the American and Iraqi people."
In
other developments, the White House voiced confidence that the United Nations
would ultimately approve a tough new resolution, even as Russia rejected the
U.S.-British draft, which calls for a timetable for Iraq to comply with U.N.
disarmament demands and military action if it does not comply.
"I
think what you're seeing is diplomacy unfold, and in the end, the president
remains optimistic the outcome will be solid," Fleischer said.
The
press secretary disputed any notion that Bush is getting frustrated with the
pace of negotiations; three weeks after his U.N. speech, there is no sign an
agreement is imminent.
"I
think the president understands how the U.N. works," Fleischer said.
"And when the president went up there, he said that this would be a matter
of days and weeks, not months. And it is not a matter of months."
Fleischer
repeated that the United States believes inspectors should not return to Iraq
without a new inspections regime in place.
"If
they go in under the current regime, it is a fool's errand to call them
inspectors. They will be nothing more than tourists who get a run-around,"
Fleischer said.
(Page 2 of 2)
"There is widespread recognition in the
Security Council that the existing regime failed to do the job," he said.
"It failed to disarm Saddam Hussein and it has left a threat in
place."
Hans Blix, chief of the U.N. weapons inspection
team, briefed the U.N. Security Council Thursday on his meetings with Iraqi
officials. Blix will be in Washington Friday to update U.S. officials.
Fleischer said Bush remained convinced that any
U.N. resolution has to lay out how Saddam has defied U.N. resolutions, what it
would take for him to comply and the consequences if he does not comply.
"Those
are the three pillars that the president has outlined and that is what the
president expects, and that's what the president will fight for, and that's
what the president expects," Fleischer said, refusing to say whether those
requirements are non-negotiable.
The
Senate Thursday debated the question of whether to use U.S. forces to disarm
Iraq, the chamber's senior Democrat warning that a pre-emptive strike would
turn the United States into a "rogue nation." (Full story)
With
White House officials confident the president will have strong bipartisan
support in the Congress for a war resolution with Iraq, Bush has turned his
focus on pressing the United Nations to act and stressing that if it doesn't,
the United States would not have to act alone.
"The
choice is up to the United Nations to show its resolve," Bush said in a
speech to Hispanic leaders. "The choice is up to Saddam Hussein to fulfill
his word. And if neither of them acts, the United States, in deliberate
fashion, will lead a coalition to take away the world's worst weapons from one
of the world's worst leaders.
"My
intent is to put together a vast coalition of countries who understand the
threat of Saddam Hussein," Bush said.
Fleischer
would not say how many countries have agreed to be part of any military
coalition or what help various countries have agreed to provide.
At
least two countries, Romania and Bulgaria, have announced they would allow U.S.
forces to use their air bases and resources in a war against Saddam Hussein.
"I
think the days of anybody saying the United States would do anything unilateral
are over," Fleischer said. "I think it's very clear to everybody what
the United States is doing, it's doing with the support of many nations around
the world."
INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/13163805/#.UUcNJVeSKuJ
Iraqi court upholds
Saddam’s death sentence
Ex-leader must be hanged
within 30 days for killing of Shiites, judge rules
Updated
12/28/2006
2:42:37 PM ET
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq’s highest appeals court on
Tuesday upheld Saddam Hussein’s death sentence and said he must be hanged
within 30 days for the killing of 148 Shiites in the central city of Dujail.
The
sentence “must be implemented within 30 days,” chief judge Aref Shahin said.
“From tomorrow, any day could be the day of implementation.”
On
Nov. 5, an Iraqi court sentenced Saddam to the gallows for ordering the 1982
killings following an attempt on his life.
Under
Iraqi law, the appeals court decision must be ratified by President Jalal
Talabani and Iraq’s two vice presidents. Talabani opposes the death penalty but
has in the past deputized a vice president to sign an execution order on his
behalf — a substitute that was legally accepted.
Raed
Juhi, a spokesman for the High Tribunal court that convicted Saddam, said the
judicial system would ensure that Saddam is executed even if Talabani and the
two vice presidents do not ratify the decision.
“We’ll
implement the verdict by the power of the law,” Juhi said. He did not
elaborate.
The
appeals court also upheld death sentences for Barzan Ibrahim, Saddam’s half
brother and intelligence chief during the Dujail killings, and Awad Hamed
al-Bandar, head of Iraq’s Revolutionary Court, which issued the death sentences
against the Dujail residents.
The
appeals court concluded the sentence of life imprisonment given to former vice
president Taha Yassin Ramadan was too lenient and returned his file to the High
Tribunal. Ramadan was convicted of premeditated murder in the Dujail case.
“We
demand that he be sentenced to death,” said Shahin, the appeals judge.
Claims of assassination attempt
At his trial, Saddam argued that the Dujail residents who were killed had been found guilty in a legitimate Iraqi court for trying to assassinate him in 1982.
The
televised trial was watched throughout Iraq and the Middle East as much for
theater as for substance. Saddam was ejected from the courtroom repeatedly for
political harangues, and his half brother, Ibrahim, once showed up in long
underwear and sat with his back to the judges.
The
nine-month trial inflamed Iraq’s political divide, however, and three defense
lawyers and a witness were murdered during the course of its 39 sessions.
Saddam
is in the midst of a second trial charging him with genocide and other crimes
during a 1987-88 military crackdown on Kurds in northern Iraq. An estimated
180,000 Kurds died during the operation.
Saddam
was found hiding with an unfired pistol in a hole in the ground near his home
village north of Baghdad in December 2003, eight months after he fled the
capital ahead of advancing American troops.
INTERNET SOURCE:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6354205.stm
Top Saddam aide
sentenced to hang
Iraq's High Tribunal has sentenced Saddam Hussein's former
vice-president Taha Yassin Ramadan to be hanged.
He was
tried alongside the former Iraqi leader over the killing of 148 Shias in the
village of Dujail in the 1980s.
The trial
court jailed him for life for his role, but an appeal court recommended the
death penalty.
The death
sentence was confirmed despite a plea by UN human rights chief Louise Arbour,
who said an execution would violate international law.
 |
|
Taha Yassin Ramadan
addresses a press conference in Baghdad in 2003. The body of Saddam Hussein's
former deputy Taha Yassin Ramadan, who was executed by hanging before dawn
Tuesday, was buried in Awja village, Saddam's hometown in north of Baghdad on
Tuesday. (SOURCE: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200703/21/eng20070321_359622.html)
|
 |
|
Ramadan
would be the fourth man executed over the Dujail killings
|
Anger
Ramadan
continued to maintain his innocence as the verdict was handed down.
"God
knows I didn't do anything wrong," the Reuters news agency reported him as
saying shortly before the judge sentenced him to death.
But
his insistence made no impact on the final verdict.
"The
condemned Taha Yassin Ramadan shall be sentenced to hanging until death for
committing deliberate killing crimes," Judge Ali al-Kahachi announced to
the court.
The
sentence would automatically be reviewed by an appeals panel, the judge added.
Ramadan
reacted angrily to the sentence, declaring: "I swear to God that I'm
innocent, Allah is my supporter and will take revenge on all who treated me
unjustly."
Controversial hangings
Saddam
Hussein and two other key figures in his regime have already been executed.
The
former president was hanged on 30 December 2006. Leaked video footage of the
execution - with onlookers shouting sectarian taunts as he stood on the gallows
- caused an international outcry.
Two
top aides, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, were put to
death last month.
Barzan
was decapitated by the noose around his neck, provoking more anger among Iraq's
Sunni community.
Three
other men were given 15-year jail terms.
 |
|
Men pray near the body of Iraq's former vice
president Taha Yassin Ramadan during a funeral in Awja, near Tikrit, 175 km
(110 miles) north of Baghdad, March 20, 2007. Saddam Hussein's former vice
president Ramadan was hanged for crimes against humanity early on Tuesday, the
fourth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein from
power. (SOURCE: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200703/21/eng20070321_359622.html)
|
INTERNET SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6468495.stm
Last Updated: Tuesday, 20 March 2007,
08:30 GMT
Former Iraq vice-president hanged
Former Iraqi Vice-President Taha
Yassin Ramadan has been hanged on the fourth anniversary of the US-led invasion
which overthrew Saddam Hussein.
The execution happened before dawn at a prison in
northern Baghdad. An Iraqi official said it had gone smoothly.
One of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants, he was
sentenced to life for his role in killing Shias in the 1980s, but his
punishment was increased at an appeal.
The execution was described as "a political
assassination" by his son.
Ahmad Ramadan was speaking to al-Jazeera TV from
the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.
He said his father would be buried in or near the
Iraqi city of Tikrit, near Saddam's burial place.
Ramadan, who was thought to be in his late 60s, was
the third senior former official to be hanged since Saddam Hussein was executed
on 30 December. All were found guilty of crimes against humanity.
Two of Saddam Hussein's former aides, Barzan
Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Ahmed Bandar, were put to death on 15 January.
'Smooth' execution
The official said care was taken to avoid a repeat
of Tikriti's bungled execution, which led to the condemned man being
decapitated during the hanging.
"The execution was smooth with no
violation," he said.
He
said officials from the prime minister's office and the justice ministry were
present at the hanging, along with a doctor, a prosecutor, a judge and a lawyer
representing Ramadan.
Ramadan
had said he had no fear of death and that he would "die bravely",
according to his lawyer.
He
was held in US custody until shortly before the execution, when he was handed
over to Iraqi authorities.
The
sentence was carried out at a prison on a military base in northern Baghdad, an
official said.
Ramadan
had maintained his innocence throughout the legal proceedings.
He
was convicted along with the deposed Iraqi leader and others over their part in
the killing of 148 Shias in the town of Dujail in the 1980s, in apparent
revenge following a failed assassination attempt against Saddam Hussein.
Ramadan,
who was born in the late 1930s, lost his final appeal last week and under Iraqi
law had to go to the gallows within 30 days.
He
was captured by Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Mosul in August 2003
and handed over to US forces.
 |
|
Men pray near the body of Iraq's former vice
president Taha Yassin Ramadan during a funeral in Awja, near Tikrit, 175 km
(110 miles) north of Baghdad, March 20, 2007. (SOURCE: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200703/21/eng20070321_359622.html)
|
INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2007/mar/21/guardianobituaries.iraq
Taha Yassin Ramadan
Long-serving Saddam enforcer notorious
for his violence and Mafia-style trade links
- Lawrence Joffe
- The Guardian,
In a republic infamous
for its rule by fear, few matched the ruthlessness of the former Iraqi
vice-president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, who has been hanged at the age of 69.
There were plenty of examples of it. In 1970, he ordered the summary execution
of 42 people accused of plotting the overthrow of the government; in January
1991, he threatened to mutilate anyone investigating human rights abuses in
Iraqi-annexed Kuwait.
Meanwhile,
he transformed the Ba'ath (Renaissance) party from a clique into a
million-strong conglomerate. His masterstroke was identifying the initially
unprepossessing Saddam Hussein (obituary, January 1) as Iraq's future leader.
Saddam, Ramadan and Izzat Ibrahim Al-Douri, who is still at large, were the
only members of the July 17 1968 coup who survived. They jailed or eliminated
most of their former compatriots.
Soon
after Saddam became president in July 1979, Ramadan stage-managed a gruesome
meeting where he denounced an "atrocious Syrian plot". Fellow members
of the 21-member revolutionary command council were forced to confess, led out
and shot - and Ramadan became deputy prime minister. Though later overshadowed
by Saddam's cult of personality, he showed bizarre panache of his own. In
February 1991, he demanded the assassination of "Bush, Major, Mitterand
and the rest of the dirty dwarves, like agent Hosni [Mubarak] and traitor Fahd
[of Saudi Arabia]." In October 2002 he challenged US vice-president Dick
Cheney to a duel.
The
pendulous chandeliers that decorated his palace on the Tigris dazzled many.
They were certainly in sharp contrast to his peasant background. He worked as a
bank clerk, and then became a junior army officer. Born Taha al-Jazrawi in
Mosul, northern Iraq, a mixed Arab-Kurdish city, Ramadan was of Kurdish origin
himself, unusually for Saddam's clique and an identity he seemingly wanted to
disguise. As a youth he detested social disparities and the pro-British
government of King Faisal - the Harrow-educated cousin of Jordan's King
Hussein.
In
1956 he joined the Ba'ath party. A military coup toppled Iraq's monarchy in
1958. One year later, Ba'ath gunmen - including a young Saddam Hussein - tried
to kill Baghdad's new ruler, Abdel Karim Kassem. The CIA helped the Ba'athists
regroup, seeing them as a bulwark against communism and Egypt's President
Nasser's pan-Arabism. Ramadan joined the Ba'ath leadership in 1966 and in 1968
participated in its putsch, entered the revolutionary command council and immediately
began purging perceived enemies. As industry minister in the 1970s, he
reportedly admitted: "I don't know anything about industry. All I know is
that anyone who doesn't work hard will be executed." A book he wrote
listed Shia Muslims, Jews and flies as three things Allah should not have
created.
In
1974 he took command of the 250,000-strong paramilitary army that protected the
regime, not least from Iraq's regular army. In 1980 he pushed for war against
Iran.
While
Ramadan deserved credit for funnelling oil money into social services, it was
his brutality that won him Saddam's gratitude. After the first Gulf war, Shias
died in their thousands when he crushed their southern revolt. He was then
promoted to vice-president. In 1997 he damned UN weapons inspectors as American
stooges. The next year he infuriated the Arab League when he questioned the
validity of the UN-demarcated Iraq-Kuwaiti border.
None
the less, he spearheaded Iraq's rapprochement with Russia, India, Iran and
regional neighbours. According to the Middle East analyst Amir Taheri, he also
headed a "Mafia-style crime syndicate that controlled imports from France
and Germany". In 2000 and 2001, he signed free trade agreements with
Jordan, Egypt and Syria, thus eroding US attempts to isolate Iraq.
As
US threats mounted, Ramadan called on Muslims to become "human
bombs". He failed to negotiate a way out of the impasse in February 2003
via Syria and Turkey, and on March 20 2003 the Americans and British invaded
Iraq. Two days later his career literally crumbled around him when US missiles
destroyed his villa. That same day he damned UN general secretary Kofi Anan as
a "colonialist high commissioner" pushing the despot oppressors in
Washington and London towards eliminating Iraq. He predicted the US would
"suffer the biggest losses of human life in their history". After the
fall of Baghdad, he was named on the US "most wanted" list, and was
captured by Kurds on August 19 2003.
That
December Saddam was captured, and in 2005 the two of them were put on trial for
their roles in the 1982 massacre of 148 men and boys in the Shia city of
Dujail. Initially, Ramadan just received life imprisonment until a prosecution
appeal against supposed leniency resulted in his death sentence on February 17.
Ramadan's
son called yesterday's hanging a "political assassination not an
execution". Be that as it may, his father will now never be quizzed for
his more serious crimes, some which implicate foreign powers: like the gassing
of 5,000 Kurds in Halabja in 1988, the 1990 invasion of Kuwait or the crushing
of the 1991 Shia revolt.
Ramadan
survived two assassination attempts in 1997, and another in 1999. Yet the
loyalty that guaranteed his political longevity prevented his independent claim
to absolute power. In his latter years, he lost ground to Saddam's two sons.
Several kin are thought to survive him, and he was apparently married to four
wives.
· Taha Yassin Ramadan, political enforcer, born 1936; died
March 20 2007
CHECK
THIS VIDEO:
PROPOSED
LAW:
I
recommend a new Death Penalty Law for countries that plan to reinstate capital punishment;
it is call T.Y.R Law, abbreviation for Taha Yassin Ramadan Law.
Here are some rules:
1. If the guilty criminal was sentenced to
life imprisonment, the courts can change it to the death penalty if he appeals
his sentence.
2. If the guilty criminal was sentenced to
life imprisonment, the courts can change it to the death penalty if they had
enough evidence of his guilt.
3. If the state had abolished the death
penalty and had reinstated it again, those guilty inmates who earlier had their
death sentence commuted to life imprisonment should be immediately sentenced to
death again.
I
hope this T.Y.R Law can be used to ensure that justice will be served. I wish
it can be applied to those guilty former death row inmates in Illinois and
those States and countries that had previously abolished the death penalty. This
proves that capital punishment is a better idea than life imprisonment, Ramadan
was most probably afraid when the court changed his life sentence to a death
sentence.
No comments:
Post a Comment