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Saddam Hussein's trial as media performance >

The trial of Saddam Hussein as a performance and associated media portrayal of the court proceedings.

Introduction

Saddam Hussein is a former president of the Republic of Iraq, a mostly Arab state encompassing the lands sorrounding the Euphrates and Tigris rivers both of which drain into the Persian Gulf. In November 2006, Saddam together with his allies in his former government were sentenced to death by hanging by a court in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. The court found Saddam and his co-defendants guilty of causing the deaths of hundreds of men, women and children in the village of Dujail, north of Baghdad.

The Republic of Iraq was founded soon after the Ottoman Empire collapsed with World War 1. Iraq had, throughout the 20th Century carved itself a niche as a radical proponent of Pan Arabism in the fight against outside powers. Saddam Hussein assumed Iraq's presidency in 1979, some say through brutal means. Between 1981 and 1988, Iraq fought with its neighbor, Iran, in a conflict that provoked instability in the region as well as domestically.

In 1990, Iraq overran the emirate of Kuwait but an alliance of multinational forces retook the tiny country from the Iraqi army. Between 1991 and 2003, Iraq was subjected to international sanctions over its potential threat to regional stability. The sanctions were enforced with bombing raids and missile attacks mostly from the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (U.K.). In 2003, the US and UK invaded Iraq, deposed Saddam Hussein, arrested him and charged him with war crimes and genocide.

The trial of Saddam Hussein has been described in varied quarters as a show trial whose outcome was known and predetermined before evidence had been presented in court. As one commentator put it, “the purpose of the trial was to legitimize what had been decided long before. It was felt by many in the US capital, Washington DC, that security in the Middle East could only be secured by getting Saddam Hussein out of Iraq's presidency. However, an outright execution would have been morally unjustifiable and could have instigate rebellion by Saddam's supporters worldwide. Therefore a trial had to be set up to convince the Iraqi people as well as to justify any planned execution of the former Iraqi president.

For close to thirty years, and especially during his presidency that began in 1979, Saddam had been accused of murdering opponents, confiscating private property, genocide and ruthless police tactics. The case that was brought before court was one that happened in a village called Dujail in which it was felt there existed proof of Saddam's personal involvement in the deaths of hundreds of villagers. In the early 1980's amidst the Iran-Iraq war, Saddam had driven north of Baghdad to rally support among the population. Dujail was one of the villages in which his motorcade made a stopover. After Saddam greeted local elders and addressed the people, the motorcade got onto its way but an ambush was laid by rebels not far from the village. The assassination attempt against Saddam failed but instead of speeding off towards Baghdad, Saddam turned round and headed back into the village. He expressed disappointment at having been betrayed by the villagers and ordered security agents to apprehend the perpetrators of the assassination plot. Many villagers were detained and later released but several did not survive the harsh detention conditions. This incident formed the basis of Saddam's trial.

The trial of Saddam Hussein began in 2005 and was punctuated by shouting matches, snide remarks and put downs from all sides, that is, the prosecution, the defence and the judge's chair. It was clear that the trial was aimed at swaying the public opinion of Iraq against Saddam and all sides in the trial engaged in behavior aimed at portraying what they thought would be an image to advance their particular courses. The judges of the trial would put up an appearance of sobriety and impartiality. The defence would attempt to undermine the authority of the court at every opportunity. The prosecution would try its utmost to depict Saddam and his cohorts as dangerous, barbaric men undeserving of mercy. Unfortunately, militants for both sides took the courtroom drama to the streets, engaging in shootings and kidnappings to force their respectively preferred outcomes.

Relatives of the prosecution were targeted by pro-Saddam militia groups. In turn, friends, relatives and lawyers for Saddam were similarly targeted by anti-Saddam elements. At one point, the defence had no lawyers willing to risk life to take up the job.

A performance may be defined as all the activity of a given individual(s) on a given occasion which serves to influence in any way any of the other participants. Those who contribute to the performance are the audience, observers or other co-participants. The pre-established pattern of action which is unfolded during a performance and which may be presented or played through on other occasions may be called a “part” or a “routine”. When an individual or performer plays the same part to the same audience on different occasions, a social relationship is likely to arise (Goffman, 1959).

Performances aren't necessarily done consciously as in the case of theatre or cultural performances.  A performance could be the fulfillment of a social role, what Goffman calls a “social relationship” as in the case of policemen, doctors, teachers and students. Each of these people assume a set of restored behavior in particular settings and at certain specified times and therefore engage in some sort of performance in order to better fulfill their assigned societal roles. In other words, “being” is performance (Schechner). To be a politician means talking and acting like one. Performing contrary to societal expectations of roles is likely to be viewed as anomalous.  

Performance as a display of skills is best exemplified in various sporting disciplines. Most games involve display of an in-born trait or an acquired skill. Athletics and wrestling matches are displays of physical strength. Football, tennis and chess are examples of acquired skills getting displayed for the benefit of an audience which is then expected to cheer the best performers. Some sporting disciplines are variations of day to day work and are meant to display skill as well. Boat racing challenges among communities living next to water bodies are designed to demonstrate superiority in the top performer who is then honored as a hero in the community.

An impressive degree of achievement is, in everyday language, described as “performance”. For instance, Kenya's mobile phone service provider, Safaricom, is often termed as a top performer for consistently posting record-breaking profits. A top student in school is customarily described as a “performer,” while certain members of parliament have been called “non-performers” for their lack of achievement.

The trial of Saddam Hussein qualifies as a performance and not just in an adjectival sense. The elements of patterned behavior, display of skills and measure of achievement were contained within the trial at several levels. Some of these elements may immediately be obvious to the untrained eye, while others necessitate a certain amount of elaboration to become evident.

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How the trial of Saddam Hussein can be described as performance

Saddam Hussein was captured and put into the custody of American forces in Iraq in December 2003. It was a major triumph for the multi national forces and it was believed at the time that Saddam's capture would discourage the armed resistance in Iraq. Saddam's pistol was taken to the residence of the American president, the White House, as a memento. Asked about it, President George W. Bush said Saddam's pistol was, “now the property of the United States government.” This was most likely a move aimed at demonstrating to Iraqis that Saddam's power and influence were no more and that he had been vanquished by a superior force.

Saddam's capture was graphically played out in the media complete with American doctors giving the former Iraqi president a medical check up. One of the better remembered scenes was one in which Saddam opened his mouth while an American conducted a medical examination. Saddam's underground hideout was denigrated as a rat-hole. Iraqis were asked why they were sacrificing their lives resisting the American led invasion while their leaders hid in holes. Stories  appeared in the media claiming that Saddam had actually been imprisoned by ethnic Kurd militia and that the American military had saved his life. Incidentally, the Kurdish ethnic group is frowned upon by the Arab population and Saddam had spent most of his presidency putting down Kurdish rebellion. These performances aimed at creating belief in the Iraqi people (and the Arab world at large) preceded the actual trial of Saddam.

It is typical to accuse unpopular leaders of crimes against their own people but proving the case in court can be embarrassing due to lack of credible evidence. Saddam's case proved just as challenging and while the American government and the new Iraqi government were determined to send Saddam before a criminal court, the question arose as to what charges would be preferred against him. The Dujail incident proved handy because it had been captured on film: Saddam had actually gone back to the village and expressed his anger and it's a fact that people did get detained after that particular failed assassination. Worth remembering is that many other deaths are blamed on Saddam but none had the direct indication of personal involvement like the Dujail incident. It was also easier to get witnesses from among the many villagers in Dujail and thus the trial of Saddam was all set to begin.

Saddam Hussein made his first appearance in court accompanied by his colleagues in government including former security chiefs, judges and top Ba'ath party leaders. The court proceedings were to be televised but the post invasion Iraqi government had control of the sound system so as to cut off Saddam in case he tried to make an impromptu speech for the cameras. Clearly security was tight. Witnesses would not be identified in public for fear of reprisals. Saddam and his co-defendants were enclosed in a bullet proof cubicle allegedly for their own security. The courtroom scene was clearly intended to subdue the defendants as well as their supporters among the public. The American military sent out press briefings saying that they had, on the morning of the trial, sent soldiers to Baghdad to buy the suits that the defendants were wearing in court. It was also said that Saddam appeared disoriented in his new environment. The re-enactment of the courtroom scenes consisting of robed judges, tight security, censored media clips and the handcuffed ex-president was in itself a performance. However, Saddam had his own performance up his sleeves.

The occupying authorities in Iraq assigned a 26-year-old law graduate as Saddam's first judge. Clearly overwhelmed by the task at hand, the young judge was quickly outflanked by the elderly Saddam who went to the trouble of reminding him of courtroom procedure. As the charges of murder were read out, Saddam and his co-accused appeared composed but refused to enter a plea saying they did not recognize a court created by foreign militaries. In front of television cameras, Saddam calmly asked the young judge which authority had appointed him. Later on, Saddam adopted a fatherly tone towards the judge and excused his inexperience. Not surprisingly, the judge was quickly replaced subsequent to Saddam's flaunt of public speaking skills.

In successive trials, Saddam and his co-accused would launch tirades against the US, UK and the new Iraqi government leading to further censorship of courtroom proceedings. A time delay broadcast system was introduced in which courtroom proceedings, still broadcast live, would have a 5 minute delay to give censors time to stop Saddam's speeches from getting to the airwaves. In his speeches, Saddam regularly calls for Iraqis to unite regardless of ethnicity or religious differences.

Before his ouster from office, Saddam habitually appear on national television dressed in military uniform and calling on Iraqis to stand firm against one or other threat to the country. With time, the figure of Saddam on television became an expected feature. He would also appear at military parades and one famous television clip shows him firing a traditional Arab rifle with one hand. As Goffman (The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life) puts it, Saddam's performances had created for him a social role among the Iraqi people as father and defender of the nation, very similar to an Arab patriarch defends his extended family.There was a defined pattern of behavior to Saddam's television performance that began with prayer and the Islamic slogan of “Allahu Akbar!” meaning “God is Great!” There would be a slight explanation of the problem at hand, its background then exhortations to sacrifice for the survival of the Iraqi nation illustrated with accounts historical figures such as Saladdin. It is this social role that Saddam seeks to perform from the courtroom albeit with much less decorum.

Among the several judges who had presided over Saddam's trial was a fairly experienced judge of Kurdish ethnicity. Considering that Saddam had spent a greater part of his rule fighting Kurdish insurgency, this was a portrayal ot a turning of the tables - the hunter becoming the hunted. Judge Amin's predecessor was said to have become too soft on Saddam allegedly giving him what was considered too much leeway to make speeches. Judge Amin came in as a no-nonsense court official who, on several occasions, sent Saddam and his co-defendants out of the courtroom for causing commotion. Nonetheless, Judge Amin did not last very long either as he too was viewed as having fallen for Saddam's magic. Amin lost his job after telling Saddam that he was not so bad after all. “You were not a dictator but the people around you made you look bad,” Amin told Saddam who then made a respectful curtsy.

One aspect of looking at performance is as a measure of achievement and in Saddam's trial, Judge Amin was dismissed for non-performance. Amin was no doubt an experienced, qualified practitioner of the law but by embellishing Saddam's public image, he had failed to live up to the intended outcome of blemishing Saddam's public profile. For there is no doubt that the trial was intended as a justification for severe punitive measures to be carried out on the person of Saddam and by claiming that Saddam had not been such a bad man, then the objectives of the trial would not be realized. The outcome would be in jeopardy because Judge Amin's remarks were contrary to the expectations of the trial.

The trial was concluded in November 2006 with Saddam and his co-defendants sentenced to death by hanging. Saddam rejected the verdict in court, protesting at the illegality of the American invasion of his country. Whether the US, its ally the UK and the new government in Iraq implement the verdict is another performance that remains to be seen.

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Media portrayal of the trial as performance

The media as the mirror of society were more interested in the social roles played out by participants in the trial. This was more so considering that the outcome of the trial was fairly clear from the start.

During his presidency, Saddam had sought to portray himself as the patriarch of the Iraqi people, leading and protecting them from internal strife and external threats. Saddam would appear on national television dressed in combat dress and exhort his people to sacrifice personal comfort for the survival of the nation. Saddam would use Arab folklore as well as quoting Quranic verses to prove his point. Over time, Saddam became not just an individual but a social role to be played out. That is why the media were keen on seeing how Saddam would fulfil his social roles within the confines of the courtroom amidst restrictions and high security.

The media were very interested in Saddam's performance and terms such as “calm,” “disoriented,” “bearded,” “impassive,” “dismissive,” “agitated,” “skilled,” were used to describe him at different points throughout the trial. There are pictures of Saddam showing him seated calmly, others showing him raising his fist in anger, eyes glowing in rage. One of the most memorable pictures of Saddam in court was of him lost in laughter, bending back in his seat, his face and eyes beaming with joy after receiving greetings from an Iraqi village sent through a court witness. Saddam knew he was too important to ignore, he was aware of intense media scrutiny on his conduct throughout the trial and he used this knowledge to put up a performance aimed at creating an impression of being in control, of being unbreakable. He displayed knowledge of current affairs in Iraq and in one of his many speeches accused the new leaders of Iraq of having provoked his ire in the past through engaging in subversive activities. “These people own private militia and that's why there's so much killing in Iraq,” Saddam said, “I have known about their intentions for many years.”

Saddam Hussein's co-defendants consisted of Ba'ath party leaders, judges and security chiefs all of whom were highly visible during Saddam's presidency and consequently played important social roles on the national scene. Among them was Tariq Aziz, former Iraqi deputy prime minister who represented Iraq in international meetings. Just as in the case of Saddam, the media were interested on how changed circumstances would impact on the accused's former social roles. How would they react to a judge from a minority ethnic group they had loved to despise? How would they react to evidence of crimes against humanity? Would they beg for forgiveness? Did they have a conscience, a sense of humanity?

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References

1). Goffman, Erving. The Representation of Self in Everyday Life. New York. Anchor. 1959
ISBN: 0-385-09402-7

2). Schechner, Richard. Performance Studies.