OutRage! New Service. Nov 10th..

Death won't bring repentance

The aim of Saddam's sentence should be for him to show some remorse
for his crimes; imprisonment is the answer, not hanging.

By Peter Tatchell

The Guardian – Comment is Free – 8 November 2006

 http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/peter_tatchell/2006/11/hanging_is_too_good_for_him.html

Hanging
Saddam Hussein is easy. But is it morally right? Will it best serve
the cause of justice? How will it help his victims and their loved
ones? Is the Butcher of Baghdad beyond redemption?

My first ever human rights campaign was in 1967, against the death
penalty in my home state of Victoria, Australia. Ronald Ryan was hung
for a killing he probably did not commit and almost certainly did not
intend. Ever since then, I have opposed judicial murder.

Despite his monstrous crimes, nothing about Saddam’s case moves me to
alter my view that democracies should live by a higher morality than
the crude revenge-motivated pay-back of “an eye for an eye.”

The Iraqi people are struggling to establish a democratic,
humanitarian state. Embracing human rights means rejecting the death
penalty. Having turned their back on Saddam’s dictatorship, now is not
the time to revert to his brutal methods.

I say this as someone who - unlike Mr Bush and Mr Blair - campaigned
against Saddam’s tyranny for over 30 years. My memory is crammed with
bloody images of the many Iraqis he tortured and massacred.

I remember, too, the small, lonely protest marches to the Iraqi
Embassy in the 1980s, when western governments ignored Saddam’s
terrorisation of communists, socialists, democrats, trade unionists,
students, journalists, lawyers, human rights advocates, Shia Muslims,
and minority nationalities like the Kurdish people.

I can understand why many Iraqis believe Saddam should pay with his
life for the hundreds of thousands of lives he snuffed out with a
casual click of his fingers. But I still believe judicial murder is a
step too far.

I have another idea:

Instead of hanging Saddam, sentence him to life imprisonment in a
secure prison outside of Iraq, under the supervision of the
International Criminal Court. Perhaps in The Hague?

Removing Saddam from the country of his crimes would help allay some
of the distress felt by the families of his victims. It would also
dash the dreams (and plans) of his die-hard supporters to spring him
from prison and restore him to power.

Given his monstrous crimes and lack of remorse, Saddam should be
subjected to a special prison regime.

The former dictator should be placed in a cell with all the walls, and
the entire floor and ceiling, covered with large photos of the
massacres he ordered and the faces of the victims. Every day, all day,
he would be forced to confront the reality of his crimes.

From 8am to 8pm daily, taped testimony from the people he tortured
should be played into his cell. He would be compelled to hear in
detail the terrible suffering he inflicted on others.

For a month, twice a year, Saddam should be put on minimum food
rations, so that he knows the pain of the hunger he inflicted on the
Marsh Arabs when he destroyed their environment and livelihoods.

To subvert his arrogance and egoism, Saddam should be forced to wear a
shocking pink prison jumpsuit emblazoned back and front with the
words: “I am a murderer. I am a torturer. I am guilty of genocide.”

Everything in his cell should be shocking pink – his blankets, sheets,
socks, shoes, towels, plates, cutlery, the wash basin and toilet –
even his underpants. Apparently, shocking pink has the psychological
effect of calming prisoners, curbing their violent and anti-social
instincts, and making them more likely to reform
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1892555,00.html

The ultimate aim of this suggested special prison regime is
redemption, not punishment or humiliation.

Give Saddam an incentive to change: his special prison regime should
be cancelled and he should be rewarded with normal prison rights if he
makes a video confession of his crimes against humanity, offers a
public apology, condemns the civil war and sectarian violence, and
expresses his support for democratic elections and human rights.

Fat chance Tatchell, I hear you say. But after a couple of years of
this special prison regime even a hard-man like Saddam might start
having self-doubts. Worth a try, I think.

Saddam is better alive and repentant than dead and without remorse.




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