Chemical Ali Receives Fourth Death Sentence

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq – On January 15 Ali Hassan al-Majid was sentenced to death by hanging by an Iraqi court. Saddam Hussein’s senior aide, also known as “Chemical Ali,” was convicted of ordering the gassing of the Kurds in the Iraqi town of Halabja in 1988. The attack killed an estimated five thousand people and took place near the end of the Iran-Iraq War. This marked the fourth time that Majid has been sentenced to death.

During the 1988 attacks, Iraqi jets swooped over the small north eastern Iraqi town. The jets proceeded to spray Halabja for five hours with a deadly cocktail of mustard gas and Tabun, Sarin and VX, all nerve agents. The was part of Iraq’s Anfal campaign, which Majid was in charge of overseeing. Most of the five thousand Kurds that died were women and children. Majid said “thanks be to God” as the sentence was being read.

Majid was a close cousin of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. He earned his moniker from ordering the poisonous gas attacks in a campaign of bombings and mass deportations that killed over one hundred eighty thousand Kurds during the 1980s. He received his first death sentence from these attacks.

“Chemical Ali” received his second death sentence in December 2008 for war crimes committed during a 1991 Shi’ite uprising in southern Iraq that proved to be ill-fated. His third death sentence came in March 2009 for the 1999 murders of dozens of Shi’ites in Sadr City and Najaf.

It is not clear when Majid will ultimately be executed. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said that it woudl take place soon. Dabbagh told Reuters that “it will not take a long time for Hassan al-Majid to receive his just punishment for the crimes he committed against the Iraqi people.” Despite the wishes of Iraqi authorities, Majid still has the right to appeal to the sentence.

Majid’s first execution was due to be carried out by October 2007. It was ultimately delayed so as not to coincide with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Majid was first captured in August 2003, five months after US-led forces invaded Iraq.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Iraq’s ‘Chemical Ali’ Sentenced to Death – 17 January 2010

Al Jazeera – ‘Chemical Ali’ Sentenced to Death – 17 January 2010

BBC – Fourth Death Sentence for ‘Chemical Ali’ – 17 January 2010

Reuters – Iraq’s “Chemical Ali” gets 4th Death Sentence – 17 January 2010

Author: Impunity Watch Archive