January 12, 2007

Professor Sarat on Hussein's execution

In an article titled “Pictures And Executions: The Real Scandal In The Hanging Of Saddam Hussein,” Professor Austin Sarat examines the Iraqi leader’s execution. “With so much attention being paid to the apparent recent scandal created by the surreptitiously produced video of that event, we should not lose sight of the real scandal of the execution it portrays,” Sarat writes.

Like the photography of the abuse at Abu Ghraib, it is not the filming of Saddam’s execution that is scandalous or criminal. If the images of his death are too gruesome, offensive, or unsettling to be seen, then perhaps the acts they purport to capture are too gruesome, offensive, or unsettling to be carried out on even someone as despicable as Saddam Hussein.

Brian Meacham '97 | January 12, 2007 12:58 AM | Faculty