← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Zoroaster
Thread ID: 4978 | Posts: 5 | Started: 2003-02-13
2003-02-13 05:12 | User Profile
[url=http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=22748]http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=22748[/url]
Belgian court to try Sharon after he leaves office
BRUSSELS, 13 February 2003 ââ¬â Belgiumââ¬â¢s supreme appeals court ruled yesterday that a genocide lawsuit against Ariel Sharon could go ahead once he no longer enjoyed immunity as prime minister of Israel, the plaintiffsââ¬â¢ lawyer said.
The ruling opened the way for survivors of a 1982 massacre of Palestinian refugees to press their case against the Israeli leader, whom they hold responsible for the deaths of hundreds of their kin in Israeli-occupied Beirut.
ââ¬ÅThis is a victory for international justice and for the victims,ââ¬Â Luc Walleyn, one of lawyers for the plaintiffs, told Reuters at the courthouse. The survivors had appealed a lower court ruling last June that Sharon could not be prosecuted for the massacre by Israeli-backed Christian militiamen in the Sabra and Shatila camps because he was not in Belgium.
The plaintiffs are using a Belgian human rights law which claims universal jurisdiction allowing the countryââ¬â¢s courts to try crimes against humanity and genocide, no matter where they were committed.
Sharon was defense minister at the time of the massacre. In 1983, an Israeli commission found him indirectly responsible but Sharon was never prosecuted.
In a later development, Israel recalled its ambassador to Belgium for "consultations" after Belgium court ruling. Ambassador Yehudi Kenar has been "called to Jerusalem for consultations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Yoni Peled said.
In the occupied territories, Israeli soldiers shot dead two Palestinians near a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip yesterday, who the army alleged were involved in an attempt to carry out an attack with grenades and knives.
The violence flared one day after Israel sealed off the West Bank and Gaza, imposing travel curbs on Palestinians celebrating Eid Al-Adha. Shortly before dawn yesterday, soldiers opened fire at two Palestinians approaching the Dugit Jewish settlement in the northern Gaza Strip, military officials said. (Reuters)
2003-02-14 11:35 | User Profile
[url=http://www.iht.com/articles/86693.html]http://www.iht.com/articles/86693.html[/url]
JERUSALEM Israeli officials reacted with outrage Thursday to a decision by Belgium's highest court that Belgium could try Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for war crimes once he leaves office. . Benjamin Netanyahu, the foreign minister, lashed out at the decision as "an affront to truth, justice, and the right of the state of Israel to defend itself against terrorism." . "We in Israel and the Jewish people as a whole have had enough of blood libels on the soil of Europe, and we are going to fight this one with everything we have," he said. . Israel recalled its ambassador for consultations, while Netanyahu summoned Belgium's ambassador for a dressing-down. Israeli officials said the ambassador replied that he was not authorized to speak about the matter. . Human rights group were delighted by the court's decision. They hailed it as permission for victims of genocide and war crimes to pursue justice regardless of where in the world the crimes were perpetrated. The Israeli case is one of many pending in Belgium that involve violations of human rights. . Sharon and a senior official in the Defense Ministry, Amos Yaron, are being sued by survivors of a 1982 massacre of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon by Lebanese Christian militiamen, who were backed by invading Israeli forces. Sharon was defense minister at the time of the massacre, in the Sabra and Chatila refugee camps. . An Israeli commission later held Sharon indirectly responsible. He resigned his post but was not prosecuted. . In an interview, Netanyahu said that Belgium's decision was a blow to the idea of international law, warning that American officials risked a similar fate over wars in Afghanistan or even Vietnam. . At issue is a 1993 Belgian law allowing the courts "universal jurisdiction" over crimes against humanity or war crimes. The court's ruling Wednesday accorded high officials immunity, but implied that they could be pursued once they left office. The ruling overturned a lower court's decision last year that accused people had to be present in Belgium to be investigated. . Netanyahu connected the decision to resistance by several European nations, including Belgium, to a U.S.-led war in Iraq. He said that the stress of the war on terrorism was revealing weaknesses in European security alliances first exposed by the end of the Cold War. . Israel's president, Moshe Katsav, dispatched a severe letter to Belgium's king. Sharon remained silent Thursday about the matter.
===================================================== King Albert and the citizens of Belgium ought to be concerned. Brussels could be niked; no doubt the MOSSAD would link it to Arab terrorists; or, Bush the Younger and Tony Blair might take a more humane, compassionate approach, and muster an invasion force across the English Channel.
-Z-
2003-02-14 14:47 | User Profile
Zoroaster,
From the 'Strappado Wrack' article - [url=http://pages.zdnet.com/sartre65/wrack/id13.html]French Foreign Policy[/url]
Their highest court has indefinitely shelved an appeal hearing, on this ruling. Wonder if that same technicality would be envoked towards all other like circumstances?
Consider a look at the link source for more details.
SARTRE :ph34r:
2003-02-15 00:50 | User Profile
Sharon and his ilk will not recieve their just desserts in this world, although the Belgian court is to be applauded.
A larger hypocrite would be difficult to find.
2003-02-15 17:22 | User Profile
Great link, Sartre:
The Bush worshippers, if they had any loyalty for America, should ask themselves if a greater Israel--an Israel built upon mounds of Christian and Muslim corpses--is worth all the blood and treasure America has to offer.
Traitors are odious. It must be the reason they don't call Bush's policy treason.
-Z-