In the latest setback for the Belgian law of universal jurisdiction,
an appeals court in the country has ruled that it cannot investigate
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for war crimes, because he is
not present in Belgium.
The
case against Sharon was brought by survivors of the 1982 massacre
of Palestinians at the Sabra and Chatila refugee camps in Lebanon,
carried out by Lebanese Christian militias allied to Israel. Israeli
troops were positioned outside the camps when the killings took
place, and Sharon, who was Defense Minister at the time, was accused
of responsibility for the slaughter.
Under
a law passed in 1993, Belgian courts can try people for war crimes
committed anywhere in the world. However, the Belgian appeals court
ruled on June 26 that the law was "not applicable" in
Sharons case because the accused was not on Belgian territory.
"The
complaint against Sharon
is not admissible because of the principle
of Belgian law that crimes committed in other countries cannot be
prosecuted in Belgium unless the author or presumed author has been
found in Belgium," a spokesman for the court said.
Michael
Verhaeghe, one of the lawyers for the Palestinians who had brought
the case, warned that the decision could have severe consequences
for future attempts to use the Belgian law to pursue war crimes
suspects. "It completely undermines the scope of universal
jurisdiction," he said. "We are appealing to the Supreme
Court. The fight goes on, that's clear."
Last
February a case in Belgian courts against the former Congolese foreign
minister was also derailed, after the International Court of Justice
ruled that the minister enjoyed diplomatic immunity from prosecution
in the courts of other countries.
In
Sharons case, the Belgian appeals court did not comment on
the question of diplomatic immunity.
Another
lawyer for the Palestinians who brought the case against Sharon,
Chibli Mallat, described the ruling as a "temporary setback".
He said it was "a bad and unfair decision based on a narrow
procedural basis that violates the text and spirit of the Belgian
law."
However
the Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres welcomed the decision.
"One nation cannot judge another nation," he said. "A
nation that doesnt, fortunately, have to fight terror and
war will hardly understand a nation that has to do it."
In
the aftermath of the Sabra and Chatila killings, Israel launched
a commission of enquiry into the incident. The commission found
Sharon "indirectly responsible" and he was forced to resign
as Defense Minister in 1983. Sharons political rehabilitation
was completed last year, when he was defeated Ehud Barak in national
elections for prime minister.
Under
the Belgian law, prosecutions have also been launched against the
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Cuban President Fidel Castro,
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, and Ivory Coast President Laurent
Gbagbo. There have been suggestions that the Belgian government
has been embarrassed by the consequences of the law, and it has
promised to make it harder for international claims to be launched
in the country.
Related
chapters from Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know
Arab-Israeli
War
Command
Responsibility
Jurisdiction,
Universal
Related
Links
Israel/Belgium:
Dismay at Sharon Case Decision
Amnesty International, June 26, 2002
Judges
Decide Belgian War Crimes Law Cannot Be Used to Try Sharon
Ian Black
The Guardian, June 27, 2002
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