BELGIUM: War criminal escapes prosecution

BELGIUM: War criminal escapes prosecution

BY ROHAN PEARCE

The Brussels Court of Appeals ruled on June 26 that a case against
Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for war crimes cannot be tried under
Belgian law. The case was brought by survivors of the infamous 1982 massacres
of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians at the Sabra and Shatila refugee
camps in Lebanon.

The court ruled that investigations into war crimes cannot be conducted
unless the suspect is found in Belgium. Human rights organisation Amnesty
International said the ruling was “inconsistent with international law”.

The massacres occurred during Israel's invasion of Lebanon. Around 3500
civilians were murdered, and others were tortured and raped. The assault
was carried out under the command of Sharon, Israel's minister for “defence”
at the time.

Amnesty International argued that “the four Geneva Conventions of 1949
authorise Belgium to open an investigation for grave breaches of humanitarian
law regardless of the location of the suspect and to seek the extradition
of any person suspected of grave breaches with a view to exercising universal
jurisdiction even if that person has never been in that country”.

The lawyers prosecuting the case against Sharon are considering lodging
an appeal.

More information on the case, including testimonies by survivors of
the Sabra and Shatila massacres, can be found at <http://www.indictsharon.net>.
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From Green Left Weekly, July 3, 2002.

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From GLW issue 498