JURIST - Paper Chase: 'Chemical Ali' to face new genocide charges

[JURIST] Iraqi prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi announced additional charges Monday against Saddam Hussein's cousin and former Iraqi defense minister Ali Hassan al-Majid [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] for the violent response to the predominately Shi'a uprising [HRW backgrounder] in southern Iraq following the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Al-Majid, also known as Chemical Ali, is being charged with genocide, mass murder, and crimes against humanity. He has already received a total of five death sentences [JURIST report] for his role in the 1988 Anfal campaign [HRW backgrounder] that slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Kurds. Al-Moussawi said the trial, which will include 14 other defendants, is expected to begin on August 21.

Al-Majid and four other defendants are currently appealing [JURIST report] their sentences in the Anfal trial to the Appeals Chamber of the Iraqi High Tribunal [official website]. If the defendants' death sentences are upheld, Iraqi law requires the executions to take place within 30 days of the court ruling. The new trial will be the third involving Hussein-era officials. The first was the Dujail case [BBC timeline] involving crimes against humanity committed in that Iraqi town in 1982, which resulted in the hangings of Hussein and his co-defendants. AFP has more.

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