2006年VOA标准英语-Making the Legal Case of Genocide Against Sadda

By Brian Padden
Irbil, Iraq
11 September 2006
 
watch Iraq Genocide report

Kurdish leaders in Iraq say they want to be sure prosecutors¹ build the strongest case possible against Saddam Hussein and six of his military commanders. They are charged with genocide in the Anfal military operation against Iraqi Kurds. Prosecutors say 180,000 people were killed.  VOA's Brian Padden reports from Irbil, in the heart of the Kurdish region of Iraq.

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Dr. Yusif Aziz 
  
Dr. Yusif Aziz treated many victims of chemical attacks during the Anfal campaign against Iraqi Kurds in the 1980s. "I am one of the witnesses of this place.  I have personally smelled the mustard gas.  I have treated many people -- hundreds, thousands of people I have treated them."

Dr. Aziz is the minister of human rights for the Kurdistan regional government in northern Iraq.  He has been working on the government's case against Saddam Hussein and six of his military commanders. They are charged with genocide against the Kurds.  Prosecutors say 180,000 people died in the military campaign.

 
A victim of the Anfal campaign 
  
Dr. Aziz says the Kurds do not want revenge.  They want justice under the law.  "We will use the law against him.  Only the law will be the answer of Saddam Hussein."

Dr. Aziz is confident that the evidence is overwhelming -- mass graves, testimony² from survivors³ and official Iraqi government documents ordering mass killings⁴.

But Civil Rights Association Director in Kurdistan Haval Maaroof is unsure about the government's ability to prosecute⁶ this case.

 
Haval Maaroff
  
"A case like this, it is a genocide.  It is like the Holocaust⁷.  So, I was expecting more from the prosecution⁸."

Maaroof says there is no clear definition of the crime in Iraqi law.

"We have created the special criminal court to deal with this case, the case of mass killings, which happened in Saddam's regime.  But, legally, if we want to define it, we do not have legal articles, or legal text that define it," he says.

He also says the prosecution instead will rely on proving that Saddam violated international human rights accords.

Saddam's lawyers argue that the operation was aimed at wiping out Kurdish separatist guerrillas, who sided with Iran in its war with Iraq.

Dr. Aziz says the prosecution's response concedes that Kurds were fighting for independence. But it maintains the response of the Saddam regime far exceeds what is acceptable, even in a time of war.

"Killing⁵ innocent people, as a woman and children.  There is not any law in the world that will give you the right to do this," says Aziz.

Maaroof agrees that the abundance of evidence is indisputable.  But he says the prosecution needs to make a strong case linking Saddam to the killings.

"We have to look after the chain of command.  Who gave the orders?  We know that, in Iraq, the only person who could give an order was Saddam Hussein."

Officials expect the trial to last for several months.

1 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

2 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

7 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

8 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。