(London Times) Jon Swain - The London-based human rights group Indict, headed by Labour MP Ann Clwyd, will ask the International Olympic Committee to suspend Iraq due to Saddam Hussein's son Uday's "extreme and outrageous" violations of the Olympic charter, including violations of human rights. The organization was set up in 1997 with the aim of bringing Saddam and other Iraqi leaders before an international court on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Uday allegedly ran a 30-cell prison for sportsmen and others who had offended him in the basement of Iraq's lavish Olympic committee headquarters in Baghdad. A Kurdish athlete and former prisoner described other prisoners he met including a bodyguard who saved Uday's life when he was shot in 1996, a newspaper editor who had failed to attend an Olympic committee meeting, a zookeeper accused of letting two lion cubs die, and an executive from Uday's television station who had allowed a 20-second gap after a broadcast of slogans before Saddam's photograph appeared on screen.
2002-11-25 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive