 |
| Monument in Halabja, Iraq, to the victims of the gas attack against the Kurdish population |
Public prosecutor Fred Teeven's closing statement this week, including the sentence being sought against the accused, took up almost an entire day. Using modern presentation techniques, the lawyer laid out in detail the case against Frans van Anraat (63), who's accused of shared responsibility for poison gas attacks against thousands of Iraqi Kurds, carried out under the regime of former dictator Saddam Hussein.
Using dozen of documents, film fragments and animations, the prosecution demonstrated how the businessman supplied Iraq with a total of 538 tonnes of thiodiglycol which is used in the production of mustard gas. This quantity would be enough to exterminate the entire human race.
In the 1980s, Frans van Anraat - together with his Japanese business partner Hisjiro Tanaka - operated from offices in Brooklyn, New York, where he is alleged to have used various covert practices and false documents to circumvent a ban on the export of certain chemical products.
"Mister Frans"
The fact that he indeed managed to supply Iraq on numerous occasions is confirmed by, among other things, a long list drawn up by the Iraq authorities for United Nations weapons inspectors. This list includes the name "Mister Frans" and mentions his "companies" as the supplier of raw materials. According to the prosecution in the current trail, Frans van Anraat began by buying chemicals in Japan and later in the United States. These were then shipped via the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam to Aqaba in Jordan, from whence they were transported over land to Iraq.
The Dutch Public Prosecutor's office has carried out investigations in dozens of countries and questioned many witnesses, a number of whom have come to The Hague to testify. Also among the prosecution witnesses was former business partner Hisjiro Tanaka, who confirmed that the accused had indeed known that the raw chemicals were used in the production of chemical weapons.
The victims speak
In recent days, a number of victims of the 'final product' have also testified at the trial, some of them still clearly suffering from skin, eye and breathing problems brought on by the chemical attacks.
Those in court have seen how Frans van Anraat appears to have heard the witnesses without showing a trace of emotion. He has also remained seemingly unmoved by the horrific film material shown by the prosecution. Throughout the proceedings he has invoked his right to remain silent, although he has previously said that he does not feel responsible for the use of the chemical weapons in Iraq because he did not know the raw materials were used to make poison gas. He also argued that it was not he, but Saddam Hussein who had ordered the use of chemical weapons in the war against neighbouring Iran and later against Iraq's own Kurdish population.
 |
|
Victims of the attack on Halabja |
Meanwhile, the prosecution says that it can prove that chemicals supplied by Frans van Anraat were indeed used in a number of the aforesaid attacks. Prosecutor Fred Teeven has said that the businessman could have known as early as 1984 that Iraq was using poison gas against the country's Kurdish population. Moreover, even after the gruesome pictures of the 1988 attack on Halabja were shown around the world, Frans van Anraat continued to supply the Iraqi regime with thiodiglycol.
This is the first time someone in the Netherlands has stood trial on charges of being an accessory to genocide. Interestingly, the final verdict by the court in The Hague could prove to be of significant global interest because it will be the first one to rule on the use of poison gas by Saddam Hussein and his regime - an issue which the special tribunal in Iraq now trying the country's former leader will not be addressing.
It's now the turn of the defence to present its case, with court expected to issue its verdict on 23 December.
* translation by the RN Internet Desk
Tags: chemical weapons, Frans, Genocide, Halabja, Hisjiro Tanaka, Iran-Iraq war, justice, Mustard gas, Netherlands, poison gas, Saddam Hussein, The Hague, thiodiglycol, Van Anraat