THE EXECUTION OF SADDAM HUSSEIN – A LEGAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

On December 30, 2006, Saddam Hussein was led into a dank execution chamber in Baghdad, Iraq. A heavy noose was slipped around his neck while several guards in the room began hurling sectarian taunts at him. Saddam Hussein stared ahead, mocking his guards before reciting the most sacred of Islamic prayers-"There is no God but God, and Muhammed is his prophet." The trap door beneath Saddam Hussein swung open at 6:10 a.m. Saddam Hussein never finished his prayer. This article analyzes the legal rules governing Mr. Hussein's last moments of life. In particular, this article sets forth the legal requirements that govern implementation of the death penalty in Iraq and opines that the Iraqi government did not follow these rules when carrying out Saddam Hussein's capital sentence. To accomplish this goal, the article (1) analyzes whether the Iraqi government had legal authority to execute Saddam Hussein and (2) sets forth abstractly the procedural steps that apply to implementation of a capital sentence in Iraq; and (3) applies these abstract procedural steps to the specific facts of Saddam Hussein's execution. The purpose of this exercise is to understand more broadly what went wrong in the days leading to Saddam Hussein's execution so that legal scholars and policy makers can draw broader conclusions about what this event might mean about the rule of law in Iraq.