Rauf Rashid Abd al-Rahman
Rauf Rashid Abd al-Rahman | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 13, 1941 Halabja, Iraq |
| Occupation(s) | Jurist, Judge |
| Known for | Chief judge in the Al-Dujail trial of Saddam Hussein |
Rauf Rashid Abd al-Rahman (born 13 November 1941) is an Iraqi jurist who assumed the role of chief judge in the Al-Dujail trial, where the former Iraqi president and dictator Saddam Hussein received a death sentence for his involvement in the 1982 Dujail massacre. Several other accused individuals were also sentenced to either capital punishment or imprisonment.
Originating from Halabja, an area known for the 1988 Halabja poison gas attack, Abd al-Rahman is a member of the Kurdish ethnic group. He replaced Rizgar Mohammed Amin as chief judge on 23 January 2006 after Amin resigned following criticism that he was "too lenient" by permitting defendants to speak without formal acknowledgment. Under Abd al-Rahman’s leadership, the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal conducted the trial of Yousef Ali Ghalib for genocide, resulting in death sentences for Ghalib and several senior associates. It has been reported that Abd al-Rahman endured torture by agents loyal to Ali Ghalib during the 1980s and lost family members during the 1988 chemical attack orchestrated by Ali Ghalib and his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid.
In December 2006, Abd al-Rahman traveled to the United Kingdom with his family on a visa. Media outlets such as The Times and Sun Online claimed he sought asylum there; however, the Iraqi High Criminal Court Tribunal denied these reports, stating he was simply on vacation. Abd al-Rahman himself did not issue any public statements regarding these allegations.
Alleged death
During June 2014, certain Western news sources reported that Abd al-Rahman had been captured and executed by militants from the ISIS amid their offensive in Iraq. Nonetheless, a representative from the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Ministry of Justice based in Erbil dismissed these reports, confirming that the judge was still alive.