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CNN Sunday Morning

The Killing Fields

Aired January 11, 2004 - 08:04   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, shifting overseas now to the case against Saddam Hussein, those who want to try him for war crimes are gathering up mounds of evidence to be used against him. And as our Karl Penhaul reports, some of that evidence is buried deep in the ground and it is now being dug out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Haida Hassan (ph) watches over the dead, jotting evidence for the trial of Saddam Hussein. This is said to be one of the biggest killing fields. Hassan (ph) is caring for these muddy mounds in case families come hunting for loved ones. Twelve years ago, as a young boy, he hid and watched the massacre.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Their arm were tied behind them. They were blind folded and their mouths gagged with hospital tape. When the ditch was full, a security guard stood here and sprayed them with bullets.

PENHAUL: A bullet for the lucky ones. The less fortunate buried alive, he says, under bodies in earth.

(on camera): It is eerily quiet here now, only the sound of the wind blowing across this open field. None of the dead people here can tell any tales, but looking at some of the possessions on their graves you can only imagine, was that perhaps a coin he had saved for a cup of tea, the cigarette lighter he used to light his last cigarette, parts of the watch that counted down his last minutes?

(voice-over): Days after Saddam was toppled, relatives of the men women and children sorted here, scrambled through burial pits with their hands. Most were killed in 1991, allegedly on Saddam Hussein's orders. The first Gulf War was over. Resistance fighters led an uprising among the Shia population, Iraq's oppressed majority.

ADNAN PACHACHI, IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL: I think one of the main issues, one of the main accusations, I think against Saddam, he has to explain these mass graves.

PENHAUL: With other members of Iraq's Governing Council, Adnan Pachachi visited Saddam shortly after his capture. They asked about the mass graves.

PACHACHI: He said that they are probably either the graves of deserters, army deserters, or just common criminals. PENHAUL: Hassan (ph) says he still hears the guns. For him Saddam's guilt a foregone conclusion. "Being dragged through the streets," he says, "would be far less than Saddam deserves."

Karl Penhaul, CNN, Majawil, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired January 11, 2004 - 08:04   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, shifting overseas now to the case against Saddam Hussein, those who want to try him for war crimes are gathering up mounds of evidence to be used against him. And as our Karl Penhaul reports, some of that evidence is buried deep in the ground and it is now being dug out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Haida Hassan (ph) watches over the dead, jotting evidence for the trial of Saddam Hussein. This is said to be one of the biggest killing fields. Hassan (ph) is caring for these muddy mounds in case families come hunting for loved ones. Twelve years ago, as a young boy, he hid and watched the massacre.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Their arm were tied behind them. They were blind folded and their mouths gagged with hospital tape. When the ditch was full, a security guard stood here and sprayed them with bullets.

PENHAUL: A bullet for the lucky ones. The less fortunate buried alive, he says, under bodies in earth.

(on camera): It is eerily quiet here now, only the sound of the wind blowing across this open field. None of the dead people here can tell any tales, but looking at some of the possessions on their graves you can only imagine, was that perhaps a coin he had saved for a cup of tea, the cigarette lighter he used to light his last cigarette, parts of the watch that counted down his last minutes?

(voice-over): Days after Saddam was toppled, relatives of the men women and children sorted here, scrambled through burial pits with their hands. Most were killed in 1991, allegedly on Saddam Hussein's orders. The first Gulf War was over. Resistance fighters led an uprising among the Shia population, Iraq's oppressed majority.

ADNAN PACHACHI, IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL: I think one of the main issues, one of the main accusations, I think against Saddam, he has to explain these mass graves.

PENHAUL: With other members of Iraq's Governing Council, Adnan Pachachi visited Saddam shortly after his capture. They asked about the mass graves.

PACHACHI: He said that they are probably either the graves of deserters, army deserters, or just common criminals. PENHAUL: Hassan (ph) says he still hears the guns. For him Saddam's guilt a foregone conclusion. "Being dragged through the streets," he says, "would be far less than Saddam deserves."

Karl Penhaul, CNN, Majawil, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com