On Oct. 19, Saddam Hussein and his seven co-defendants came before the Iraqi Special Tribunal, or IST, to face trial for their alleged roles in the forced expulsion, torture and murder of Iraqis from the primarily Shiite Muslim town of Dujail, north of Baghdad.

These eight men are being tried for crimes against humanity. If convicted, Saddam and his co-defendants face sentences ranging from imprisonment to execution by hanging.

Saddam's regime allegedly carried out the Dujail massacres in retaliation to a July 8, 1982, failed assassination attempt, when villagers opened fire on Saddam's presidential motorcade as he passed through town.

In the days that followed, some 1,500 residents - including women, children and the elderly - were arrested and interrogated, according to IST investigators. Some were set free, others languished in prison for years, and about 143 were executed.

Witnesses at trial have described being electrocuted, strung up and beaten at the hands of Saddam's agents. Many claim that they witnessed and heard in neighboring cells the torture, rape and killing of other alleged victims. Some of the alleged acts took place at Abu Ghraib prison.

Defense attorneys have focused on inconsistencies in witness testimony and Saddam frequently interrupts the proceedings to complain of his own treatment. Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, who recently joined Saddam's defense team, has questioned the legality of the court and has urged greater security for defense lawyers.

Two defense attorneys have been murdered since the trial began, and a third was wounded in an attack. Adel al-Zubeidi was shot to death in November by masked gunman who attacked his vehicle, Saadoun al- Janabi was kidnapped from his office a day after the trial's first session and his body was later found with two gunshots to the head, and Thamir al-Khuzaie was wounded during the attack that killed Al- Zubeidi and he has since fled the country.

There are five judges presiding over the Dujail trial. The identities of all but one, Chief Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin, are kept confidential for their safety. One judge recently recused himself and was replaced after learning that one of the defendants may have been involved in his brother's execution.

The IST has set up a Web site at http://iraq-ist.org/ that is still a work- in-progress, but includes photos of mass graves uncovered in the Iraqi desert. Forensic evidence from these graves will be used in a future trial on charges related to the regime's "Anfal" ethnic-cleansing campaign, in which Iraqi human rights officials allege that as many as a half-million Iraqi Kurds died or were killed outright.