Execution of Saddam Hussein
Iraq President Saddam Hussein on trial for
war crimes in July 2004.
The execution of Saddam Hussein took
place on December 30, 2006. He was sen-
tenced to death by hanging, after being
found guilty and convicted of crimes against
humanity by the Iraqi Special Tribunal for
the murder of 148 Iraqi Shi’ites in the town
of Dujail in 1982, in retaliation for an assas-
sination attempt against him.[1]
Saddam Hussein was President of Iraq
from July 16, 1979 until April 9, 2003, when
he was deposed during the 2003 invasion of
Iraq by U.S.-led Allied Coalition. After his
capture in ad-Dawr, near his hometown
Tikrit, he was incarcerated at Camp Cropper.
On November 5, 2006, he was sentenced to
death by hanging.
On December 30, 2006, he was taken to
Camp Justice to be executed. The Iraqi gov-
ernment released an official videotape of his
execution, showing him being led to the
gallows, and ending after his head was in the
hangman’s noose. International public con-
troversy arose when an unauthorized video-
phone recording of the hanging showed him
falling through the trap door of the gallows.
The audio, which was not in the official video,
revealed taunts between Saddam and the ex-
ecutioners, many of whom were strong sup-
porters of Muqtada Al-Sadr, an Iraqi theolo-
gian, political leader and militia commander
who is a strong opponent of the Coalition
Provisional Authority, the succeeding (and
current) Shiite dominated Iraqi government
and the overall idea of the presence of the
United States in Iraq. The unprofessional and
undignified atmosphere of the execution
drew criticism around the world from nations
that both oppose and support capital punish-
ment, including the Bush Administration.
On December 31, 2006, Saddam Hussein’s
body was returned to his birthplace of Al-
Awja, near Tikrit, and was buried near the
graves of other family members.
Trial
Held in custody by U.S. forces at Camp Crop-
per in Baghdad, on June 30, 2004, Saddam
Hussein and eleven senior Ba’athist officials
were handed ov