ZGram - 6/10/2003 - "Belgium Clears Way For War Crimes Case Against Israeli General"

[zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org]

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

June 10, 2003

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

I am sending you an interesting news piece impacting on the global 
scene while I am working on something else:

[START]

Belgium Clears Way For
War Crimes Case Against
Israeli Gen Amos Yaron

6-10-3

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A Brussels court on Tuesday cleared the way for 
a war crimes investigation into the alleged involvement of an Israel 
Defense Forces general in the 1982 massacre of Palestinians in 
Lebanon, a lawyer said.

The Brussels appeals court ruled that a complaint against former IDF 
Forces commander Amos Yaron by a group of Palestinians was admissible 
under Belgium's controversial human rights law. The complaint had 
been dissociated from a frozen lawsuit against Prime Minister Ariel 
Sharon.

The court said it was not necessary for Yaron to live in Belgium for 
the investigation to proceed. "It's an important victory. The path 
has now been cleared for the investigation to continue," said Luc 
Walleyn, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs.

The examining magistrate handling the case could now start 
interviewing witnesses to the massacre by Israeli-backed Christian 
militiamen in occupied Beirut, or travel to Lebanon, he said. But 
Walleyn said the Belgian government might refer the case to Israel to 
investigate if it wanted to avoid a fresh diplomatic crisis.

The plaintiffs are using a Belgian law that claims universal 
jurisdiction, allowing the country's courts to try people for crimes 
against humanity and genocide no matter where they were committed.

In February Belgium's Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling 
that Sharon, the prime target of the complaint, and Yaron could not 
be prosecuted over the massacre in Sabra and Chatila camps because 
they were not living in Belgium.

But it also said the lawsuit against Sharon could only go ahead once 
he no longer had immunity as a head of government. That prompted 
Israel to recall its ambassador for several months until the Belgian 
parliament voted to water down the law.

Survivors of the massacre of Palestinian refugees hold Sharon 
responsible for the deaths of hundreds of their kin. He was defense 
minister at the time of the massacre and in 1983, after the Kahan 
Commission found him indirectly responsible, he resigned but was 
never prosecuted.

A recent amendment allows Belgium to send a lawsuit to the 
defendant's country if that country has a legal system that 
guarantees to handle a complaint properly. The law was changed to 
stem a flood of complaints against foreign political figures that 
threatened to clog Belgium's courts and compromise its foreign policy.

Israel applauded the reform that eased tensions which could now flare 
up again. Last month, the government applied the amendment to a war 
crimes suit filed against Tommy Franks, the commander of U.S.-led 
forces in Iraq. It referred the case to the United States.

[END]

(Source:  http://www.rense.com/general38/case.htm )