June 22, 2007
Barzan Ibrahim al-Hasan al-Tikriti, President Saddam Hussein's half brother, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former head of Iraq's revolutionary court, were murdered on January 15, 2007, after a kangaroo court trial.
According to the Iraqi "goverment" spokesperson, Barzan Ibrahim suffered decapitation in the hanging.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said that Barzan Ibrahim’s head was severed from his body during his hanging.
"In a rare incident, the head of the accused Barzan Ibrahim al-Hassan was separated from his body during the execution," al-Dabbagh told reporters
Ali al-Dabbagh insisted there was "no violation of procedure" during the executions of Barzan and former judge Awad Hamed al-Bander. (...)
"The convicts were not subjected to any mistreatment," Dabbagh said describing the beheading by the rope as a rare mishap. "Their rights were not violated"
But Barzan’s son-in-law, Azzam Salih Abdullah, denounced the mutilation as "the grudge of the Safavids".
"They have only came to Iraq for revenge," he said on Aljazeera television . "May God curse this democracy."
The defence team of the assassinated Iraqi President Saddam Hussein charged that Barzan Ibrahim al-Hasan al-Tikriti and Awad Hamed al-Bandar were 'killed and tortured' and not executed as claimed by the Iraqi authorities.
In a statement sent to the media the Amman-based defence panel appealed to the UN Secretary General as well as international legal and human rights organizations to stage a 'serious and immediate investigation' to divulge the truth and to punish 'the culprits responsible for those savage and ugly crimes.'
They also urged them to pressure the US administration 'not to hand over more Iraqi prisoners of war to the Iraqi government, which is controlled by criminal militias,' a reference to Iran-backed Shiite militias such as the Mehdi Army and the Badr Forces.
'The repetition of President Saddam's execution scenario proves that the two martyrs were killed in a brutal and ugly murder committed under the protection of the Iraqi authorities and collusion by the US occupation troops,' the statement said.
'The separation of Barzan's head cannot be the outcome of hanging which we doubt to have taken place altogether, but rather resulted from killing him and torturing his body after death by criminals who enjoyed the protection of the Iraqi government,' it added.
Now a leaked autopsy report from the Iraqi ministry of Health shows that President Saddam Hussein's lawyers were right: Barzan Ibrahim Al-Tikriti was widely tortured and was beheaded while still alive. His head was very slowly slit with a sharp instrument whilst his body showed bruises from kicks.
The Republic of Iraq
Ministry of Health
No:-------
Date:-----
Sub/Autopsy Report
The examination of the corpse of (Barzan Ibrahim Al- Tikriti) reveals the
following:
· The head was separated
from the body at the upper part of the neck which was tainted with thick blood
and the tissues were shredded.
· A thorough visual and microscopic examination evidences that the
wounds have the shape of graded cuts produced by a sharp dented cutting device
and the tissues covered with bruises.
· The trachea aorta contains blood indicating that it was
breathed.
· The examination of
other parts of the corpse reveals the existence of three bruises on the
scalp.
These observations lead to the following conclusions:
1. The separation of the head from the body was done by a sharp cutting
instrument.
2. The cutting was done gradually.
3. The person was handcuffed during the cutting process.
4. The cuttings in the mild tissues are vivid due to the existing of bruises
on the tissues.
5. The existence of blood in the trachea indicates that the person was still
breathing during the cutting which evidences that it was done while still
alive.
6. The existence of bruises and scratches on the down limbs was due to
kicking during the cutting of the head.
7. The existence of bruises on the head is due to external brutality.
8. It clearly appears from the above observations that the real cause of the
death is the truncation of the head with a sharp instrument.
Name and signature of the specialized doctor
And stamped with official stamp
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