http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2754877.stm
Need I say more?’
Belgium rules Sharon can be tried
Hundreds were killed in refugee camps
Belgium’s highest appeals court has ruled that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon could face war crimes charges, but only after he leaves office.
The court was responding to an appeal by a group of 23 Palestinian survivors of a massacre in Lebanon more than 20 years ago, when Mr Sharon was Israel’s defence chief.
The killings in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps were carried out by Lebanese Christian militia allied to Israel, which then occupied southern Lebanon.
The court overturned an earlier ruling
Israel withdrew its ambassador to Belgium “for consultations” in response to the court ruling.
The suit was brought under Belgium’s 1993 “universal jurisdiction” law, which allows for the prosecution of alleged war crimes no matter where they took place.
Last summer a lower court ruled that Mr Sharon could not be tried under the law because he was not in Belgium, but the government has since moved to amend the legislation.
The change, which allows for prosecution even if the defendant is not in the country, is expected to be passed this spring.
Indirect responsibility
Mr Sharon was Israel’s defence minister at the time of the killings at Sabra and Shatila in 1982.
An Israeli investigation found Mr Sharon indirectly responsible for failing to prevent the killings of between 800 and 2,000 refugees.
Mr Sharon was forced to resign from government but never faced charges over the incident.
Mr Sharon resigned over the killings
In the run-up to the 2001 Israeli elections, he expressed regret about the “terrible tragedy” at the refugee camps – but rejected any responsibility.
Besides Mr Sharon, war crimes proceedings have been brought in Belgium against a number of world figures.
These include Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Cuban President Fidel Castro, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo.
But those trials were suspended in June, after the Brussels appeals court ruling.
So far, the only people tried under Belgium’s controversial war crimes law are four Rwandans sentenced in 2001 for their role in the 1994 genocide of the country’s Tutsi ethnic minority.
By: skythe - 14th February 2003 at 20:15
RE: Ohh boy
> BUT I would just put one thing straight: The belgian government
> CANNOT and MUST NOT be dishonoured by that, because here, Justice
> and Government (if you prever, executive part and legislative part)
> are independant.
Frank, I think you misunderstand the very essence of the problem, and from reports in the media it would seem the your government does too (or is at least playing stupid). The recent court decision is a catalyst, not the cause, and this has nothing to do with the separation between judicial, executive and legislative arms.
The fact that your judicial system engages in politics in legal robe is indeed regrettable, but that’s your problem, not anyone else’s. The real problem is not with your judicial arm but with your legislative and executive arms. The role of the courts is to uphold the law of the land as put down by your parliament. If anyone is going to lose face, it will be precisely your government and your parliament, for passing laws that allow your courts to persecute anyone they wish, without any relevance to Belgium whatsoever, for their self appointed role as the judge of nations. This whole affair is entirely political, not judicial, and it will mainly affect the political echelon.
> Now, the problem is going backwards without loosing face.
Indeed, that would be best, although I fear that time may have already passed. No one forced Belgium’s hand; no one made Belgian legislators pass such arrogant laws. Belgium’s parliament cared nothing for what other people and nations think of its self appointed role, and I suspect no one will give a second thought to preserving Belgian honor either.
The effort to put Ariel Sharon on trial in transparently political, and the arrogance that prompted a decision to try anyone you wish in your courts will only end up backfiring in your face. Israel has already recalled its ambassador from Brussels, what do you think other nations will do when you attempt to prosecute their leaders? Your courts already have several dozen cases pending, and with a possible war in Iraq soon, how long before someone tries to prosecute American and British leaders? Do you really think the US or Britain will accept your “moral authority”? Will they allow you to put their leaders on trial? Doesn’t anyone in Belgium see the inherent stupidity of this law?
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” So you think you are strong because you can survive the soft cushions. Well, we shall see. Biggles! Put her in the Comfy Chair! “
By: Arabella-Cox - 14th February 2003 at 10:37
RE: Ohh boy
I saw a short news item on the war crimes court and I was disgusted.
It related to an Iraqi military man who was in exile in europe. He was suspected of crimes against humanity and was to be tried… local Kurds brought a case against him.
Aparantly however the west wants him to form part of the new government they want to replace Saddam with so many factions are fighting for him to be released.
It seems that this wonderful justice system of punnishing criminals for crimes against humanity can be avoided (ie vetoed) by a certain Belgian official if it is “in Belgiums national interest” that the trial not take place.
What that really means is if you have lots of friends then you can probably get away with things others cannot… that sort of justice is already practised worldwide, so I don’t think this is anything to be proud of.
At the end of the day those who the “bad guys” will be punnished by this organistation. Those that are the “good guys” will not… no matter what the crime. Same old same old.
By: frankvw - 13th February 2003 at 20:29
RE: Ohh boy
It was, but at the end of his reign, he gave the Congo to Belgium.
A little bit of belgian history: 🙂
Leopold II was also known as the “builder king”. He wanted to give his country a nice look, and impress the visitors (as was often the case back then). So, he ordered the construction of many buildings. The most famous is certainly the “Cinquantenaire”, this one, in the middle of Brussels, now houses the Arts & history museum, aswell as the army and aviation museums. In the center, you have a big place surrounded by columns. A nice building…
By: mongu - 13th February 2003 at 20:00
RE: Ohh boy
I always thought Congo was a personal posession of King Leopold, not Belgium ?
By: frankvw - 13th February 2003 at 19:44
RE: Ohh boy
Ok, I really don’t back this law because:
1) a country shouldn’t interfere in other countrie’s problems
2) it brings us lots of problems and will continue to do so
3) it costs huge amounts of money that could be better spent elsewhere, e.g. in the “local” police forces (understand those in charge of towns and cities), which lack huge amounts of money, and would be much needed to fight small criminality.
BUT I would just put one thing straight: The belgian government CANNOT and MUST NOT be dishonoured by that, because here, Justice and Government (if you prever, executive part and legislative part) are independant. Well, like everywhere the justice is politised, and that is sad, but they are politised when that please them, and when not, they ignore the politicians.
That law is, imho, flawed, and that was the problem at the origin, a law permitted inadvertantly this king of actions. Now, the problem is going backwards without loosing face.
By: Barak - 13th February 2003 at 11:33
RE: Ohh boy
Very good post Skythe. Very good indead.
By: Arabella-Cox - 13th February 2003 at 00:33
RE: Ohh boy
That’s EXACTLY why i said the international war crimes tribunal won’t work. You have people like Geforce expecting people from a democratic or similar countries that practice rule-by-law to submit their defendants while totally accept the fact that they won’t be able to touch the likes of Saddam….nevermind the extreme hypocricy, it’s extreme stupidity.
By: skythe - 12th February 2003 at 23:34
RE: Ohh boy
Let me explain something to you, Geforce:
As your article pointed out, the Sabra and Shatila massacres took place in September 1982 and were carried out by the Lebanese Falanges (Christian Arabs) against Palestinian refugees. The Kahn Commission, headed by Supreme Court justice Kahn, set up by the Israeli parliament to investigate the matter, revealed that the events took place without any foreknowledge by any Israeli official. It therefore found Sharon and others indirectly responsible for the massacres, by allowing the Falanges to enter the camps, failing to comprehend what was about to take place. All involved were forced to resign.
I do not give a damn about Ariel Sharon, I did not even vote for him. But when you say “Sharon should be tried for War Crimes” that is an insult not to Sharon but to all Israelis. Under all legal definitions the Kahn Commission is a legal judicial process. Therefore when you say “Sharon should be tried for war crimes” what you’re actually saying is : “I piss on Israel’s judicial system and I piss on Israel’s sovereignty.” That should begin to give you a clue what I think of your mini-me nation. It actually has the arrogance so say such a thing, it actually dares to claim moral ground above Israel. Considering Belgium’s Congo record, that high ground exists only in the self-indulged and self-congratulatory Belgian mind. Tell me Geforce, how many people were tried for offences in the Congo?
Syria never set up any commission to investigate the Hama massacre. 20,000 people died by Syrian army shelling in early 1982, only months before Sabra and Shatilla. Jordan never investigate “Black September” 1969 in which 20,000 Palestinians were killed. Only in Israel did 400,000 people take to the streets of Tel Aviv to protest the massacres (biggest protest in Israel’s history, much larger than any Arab protest against the event) and only Israel set up a commission to investigate the killing of about 1000 people by a Lebanese Christian faction. And still, only Israeli leaders are asked to pay for their supposed offences, only democratic Israel’s due process of the law is brushed aside. What hypocrisy. But then, I’ve come to expect nothing more from Europe.
Don’t tell me, you probably think Belgium is doing us some kind of favour, bringing justice to the region. Don’t make me laugh. By your actions you delegitimize our elected government, providing ammunition for those who question our very existance. The France-German minion nation has done it again – now, how about showing the same resolve tracking done arsonists torching synagogues?
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” So you think you are strong because you can survive the soft cushions. Well, we shall see. Biggles! Put her in the Comfy Chair! “
By: kev35 - 12th February 2003 at 20:56
RE: Ohh boy
Can you imagine the letter?
Dear Mr.Hussein,
we intend to try you for war crimes on such and such a date. You will need to be at the court for 9am. Please bring with you a change of clothes and some toiletries as you may be required to stay for a short while.
It may be advisable for you to have a lawyer present
yours, etc., etc.
Regards,
kev35
By: shorthome - 12th February 2003 at 20:49
RE: Ohh boy
Than we can do the same with Sadam for the occupation of Kuwait and the killing of an village with chemical weapons. I do not know the name of that village.
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February 12, 2003 at 8:04 pm