BELGIUM
Anti-war forces bring U.S. general to court
By John Catalinotto
Belgian anti-war activists, working with 18
Iraqi and two Jordanian victims of U.S. aggression, have
charged the Pentagon--specifically Gen. Tommy Franks--with war
crimes. The charges, introduced in Belgian courts on May 13,
include the deliberate targeting of civilians during the
occupation of Baghdad.
The initial reaction of the Belgian government was to
formally accept the charges, but to direct their deliberation
to courts inside the U.S.
Belgian anti-war activists are attempting to mobilize world
opinion to demand the cases be tried in Belgium.
Washington has threatened it will move NATO headquarters out
of Brussels and other consequences if the Belgian government
allows this case to be accepted in its courts.
Belgian law allows people to bring charges of war crimes or
genocide against citizens of other countries--but only in cases
where the individuals are not expected to face trial in their
own country or in an international court of law.
This measure has not always been applied in a progressive
way. But it has occasionally been used to bring charges against
imperialist war criminals.
For example, Ariel Sharon, now the Israeli prime minister
but then minister of defense, has been charged for
co-responsibility in the slaughter of thousands of Palestinian
refugees in the Sabra and Shatila camps in Lebanon in 1982,
during the Israeli Army invasion and occupation of that
country.
Tommy Franks: war criminal
Belgian lawyer Jan Fermon, working with the Stop USA
Coalition--Stop United States of Aggression--brought charges
against the Pentagon on May 13, using Belgium's 1993
legislation dealing with war crimes and genocide.
A Stop USA Coalition document explains, "The complaint is
directed against soldiers--who are not identified at this
stage--who have committed war crimes. It mentions Gen. Tommy
Franks in particular for ordering war crimes and for not
preventing others from committing them or for providing
protection to the perpetrators.
"The plaintiffs have been seriously injur ed or have lost
relatives as the result of:
- the use of cluster bombs
- attacks on the civilian population, including
journalists
- acts of aggression against health services and other
Iraqi infrastructure
- looting protected by or under orders from the U.S.
Army.
"The plaintiffs and their relatives likewise have reason to
fear the devastating effects of depleted uranium munitions used
by the U.S. Army. Their effects have already been highlighted
in the previous wars against Iraq, Yugoslavia and
Afghanistan."
The statement continues, "The plaintiffs demand an
independent inquiry to identify those responsible for the war
crimes of which they were victims. They are also asking for
those guilty to be brought to justice."
Doctors bear witness
Physicians Colette Moulaert and Geert Van Moorter of
Medicine for the Third World spent most of the war period
inside Baghdad assisting at the understaffed hospitals and
witnessing the crimes the U.S. military committed against
civilians. They have documented the charges levied by the Iraqi
and Jordanian plaintiffs.
Moulaert and Van Moorter saw many civilian victims of the
bombing raids, including many children, during their time in
Baghdad.
The U.S. corporate media kept most images of wounded and
dead children away from its domestic population. Washington
fears that a trial in Belgium--or even publicity that repeats
the truth about U.S. crimes in Iraq---could have an impact on
public sentiment in the United States.
The doctors also saw evidence that U.S. troops fired on
Iraqi ambulances bringing wounded people to the hospitals.
Even the initial news that these charges would be accepted
by the Belgian court received world-wide publicity and produced
an angry reaction from the U.S. State Department.
U.S. spokespeople directed this anger at the Belgian
government and also at attorney Fermon, physicians Moulaert and
Van Moorten, and Dyab Abou Jahjah--a political activist among
Belgium's North African immigrants who initiated the
charges.
The Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel sided with the
U.S. and its characterization that the charges were
"frivolous."
Moulaert reacted with anger, saying that Michel "would do
well to look into the eyes of the Iraqi children, the victims
of the bombardments. What I saw was monstrous and I was only
able to see a small part of the truth. But the children
mutilated, destroyed--I saw dozens and dozens of them myself in
a few days. It would be good to put the people responsible for
these horrors in prison. To call that 'frivolous'? What world
do these people live in?"
Van Moorter explained why they helped the Iraqi victims
prepare the court charges. "We couldn't stay there and do
nothing. The Iraqi victims said they wanted those responsible
punished.
"If we had known earlier, we could without doubt have
collected many more witnesses to accompany the charges. I was
greatly shocked after the bombardment of the Shoala market in
which 15 children were killed. Nowhere nearby were there
military targets. For me, this was a war crime for which those
responsible should be punished."
The courts and people's struggles
The Belgian law on "universal jurisdiction" had been amended
on May 7 to give the Belgian government the option of filing a
case before the International Criminal Court (ICC) or
forwarding it to the country of origin of the accused.
But the United States refused to ratify the statutes of the
ICC. This makes transferring the case to the ICC court
impossible. And Washington made it clear it refuses to
recognize any foreign or international court's jurisdiction
over U.S. military or political figures, however horrible the
crimes they commit.
Of course the U.S. rulers reserve the right to try people
from other countries in their courts, and even to punish them
without trial, like the hundreds of prisoners the U.S. has
jailed at Guantánamo since the war against
Afghanistan.
Belgian law demands that a court in the country of origin
give guarantees of impartiality--unlikely in a U.S. court.
Asked about the possible impact of this case--since the
Belgian government wants to transfer it to the U.S.--Jahjah
responded: "I support this initiative entirely. But even if it
is mainly a symbolic act, the trial could reveal the people in
Bush's team as real criminals who don't hesitate before
committing a war crime. In the Arab world, the anger regarding
the events can only grow stronger."
For more information on this case see www.stopusa.be.
Reprinted from the May 29, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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