The judges who presided over the Anfal genocide proceedings, including the President of the Iraqi High Tribunal and the Presiding Judge of Trial Chamber II, are coming to Vanderbilt Law School Jan. 31 to participate in a panel discussion, which will provide analysis of the case. Many survivors of the Anfal live in the Nashville area.
“The Anfal Genocide Proceedings,” a panel discussion, is set for 5:30 pm CST in the Flynn Auditorium of the Vanderbilt Law School. The event is free and open to the public.
The presentation will include comments by Judge Aref Abdul Razaq Al-Shaheen, president of the Iraqi High Tribunal, who is also the head of the Appeals Chamber. The judicial panel includes several of the judges who participated in the trial, including Judge Mohammad Irebi Majeed Al-Khalefa, the presiding judge of Trial Chamber II. Also participating in the panel discussion is Munqith Takleef Al-Firaoon, the lead prosecutor in the Anfal case.
Tens of thousands of Kurds were killed during the Anfal campaign and thousands of villages were destroyed. Saddam Hussein, former president of Iraq, although a defendant in the Anfal proceeding, was convicted by the trial court in the Dujayl case and was executed prior to the conclusion of the Anfal case. Among those convicted in the Anfal case is the infamous “Chemical Ali.”
The panel was organized and will be moderated by Vanderbilt international law expert Michael A. Newton, who went to Baghdad several times to advise the judges and assisted in drafting the Statute of the Iraqi High Tribunal.
Nashville is home to the largest settlement of Kurds in the U.S., and panel members also plan to visit with the Kurdish community while in Nashville.