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Belgium amends war crimes trial policies in time for Bush and Iraq
By Rebecca Kallemeyn
Guest Writer
AP PHOTO
People light candles during anti-war vigil in Antwerp, Belgium.
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Belgium’s lower parliament has approved an amendment to its universal-competence law, hoping to avoid any lawsuits against United States President George W. Bush for possible war crimes committed in Iraq. The law presently gives Belgian courts the privilege of trying anyone for crimes against humanity, regardless of the location of alleged crimes or the nationality of the suspects.
Concern for the law arose in mid-March when seven Iraqi families filed a suit against former President George Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Vice President Dick Cheney for alleged crimes during the Gulf War in 1991. The night of February 12, 1991, the United States bombed a civilian shelter in Baghdad, killing 403 people, according to Agence France-Presse. During the war Cheney served as defense secretary while Powell was the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
In response to the lawsuit, United States officials claimed the target was a military command center that had been allowing civilians in to seek shelter in secret, says BBC News. The civilian presence had been unknown to them at the time.
The coming amendment gives a federal prosecutor power to pass on cases in which the alleged crime did not happen in Belgium and which involved non-Belgian perpetrators and victims.
Geraldine Mattioli, a Brussels campaigner for Human Rights Watch, was in favor of the changes. According to United Press International, she said, “Before, anyone could turn up in Belgium for two hours, file a complaint and leave. Instead of bringing justice, this just created diplomatic problems. The proposed changes limit the law quite a bit, but for the best.” She dismissed the lawsuit as “obviously political” and a “way of sending a message on the eve of war.”
Belgian senator Alain Destexe agrees, according to The Washington Post. Formerly one of the law’s strongest backers, Destexe changed his mind soon after the suit against the United States was filed. “Using the law to target democratic countries was not the intent,” he said. “The law started to be abused and perverted by those who used the law as a political tool rather than as a judicial instrument. Targeting the United States was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
Among the 30-odd current and former political leaders facing lawsuits in Belgian court are Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Cuban President, Fidel Castro. BBC News cites the only successful case under this law as the prosecution of four Rwandans jailed in 2001 for involvement in the 1994 genocide.
Needless to say, this law has severely strained relations between Belgium and several other countries. It has especially affected ties with the United States, which are already suffering given Belgium’s fierce anti-war stance.
The lower house of parliament passed the amendment with a 63-48 vote on Wednesday, says BBC News. The upper house, the Senate, is expected to approve it later this week.
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