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>. n
From Green Left Weekly, July 3, 2002.
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