Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, one of the 20th century's most notorious tyrants, was executed at dawn on Saturday in Baghdad, along with two senior members of his deposed regime.

The BBC has this story.

When Saddam's trial ended, the group Human Rights Watch -- which had observers present during the entire trial -- criticized the process in a Nov. 20 BBC story, saying:

"The result is a trial that did not meet key fair trial standards. Under such circumstances, the soundness of the verdict is questionable.

"In addition, the imposition of the death penalty - an inherently cruel and inhumane punishment - in the wake of an unfair trial is indefensible."

A further excerpt:

The disappointment of HRW is the greater because of what they perceive as the international importance of this trial and the one currently under way for alleged attacks on Kurds.

The report says: "The significance of the trials is difficult to overstate.

"For the first time since the post-Second World War Nuremberg trials, almost the entire senior leadership cadre of a long-lived repressive government faces trial for gross human rights violations committed during their tenure."

But the report concludes that the court did not take account of this international significance, and seemed unaware of international practice.

Regardless of whether the process was fair or not, let there be no doubt that the man was despicable, as seen in this BBC story, Hated by many, mourned by few:

Two groups of Iraqis, the Kurds and the Shias, make up a majority of the population and since the US-led invasion of 2003, they have taken control of the government.

Before then, they were the oppressed as Saddam Hussein ruled with absolute ruthlessness through his Sunni-dominated military and intelligence services.

The Anfal

The plight of the Kurds became well known around the world in 1988 when the Kurdish town of Halabja in eastern Iraq was gassed.

The atrocity was but part of a wider campaign against the Kurds, which had its own name - the "Anfal". Saddam Hussein did not trust them. He accused them of wanting a separate state and of helping the Iranians with whom he was at war.

Reporters who penetrated the Kurdish region of northern Iraq after the defeat of Saddam Hussein in Kuwait in the first Gulf War of 1991 found a wasteland.

Village after village had been destroyed. Piles of rubble told where houses had been.

In the midst of the destruction there lay a splendid palace built by Saddam Hussein for himself.

Thousands of Kurds fled into the mountains of southern Turkey as Saddam Hussein fought to regain control. Tolerated but not welcomed by the Turks, they huddled in "safe havens" set up by British and American troops until they could return and try to rebuild.

Shias rise up

In the south, the Shias, encouraged by a call to arms by the then US President George Bush senior, rose up. But there was no help from outside and Iraqi helicopter gunships established the control by violence that was the hallmark of Saddam Hussein's rule.

It is no wonder therefore that the Kurds and the Shias will not shed tears for him.