revolutionary spirit
11th July 2002, 02:38
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>>>>>> Sharon off the hook for war crimes
Only a few hours after G.W. Bush's recent speech effectively
sanctioning the reoccupation of the Territories, the Belgian
Court of Appeal called a halt to the trial against Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon, a "man of peace" in Bush's own words.
Sharon is accused of war crimes for his responsibilities in the
Sabra and Chatila massacre (16-18 September 1982) in which scores
of Palestinian refugees were slaughtered (800 according to the
Israelis, 4,000 for the Palestinians), carried out by the Israeli
proxi militia of the Christian Falangists.
It took the Belgian court a full eight months to discover and
come up legal cavil (the non-presence of the accused in Belgium)
capable of preventing the Israeli prime minister's indictment. In
1982, Ariel Sharon was Minister for Defence, the true architect
of the invasion of Lebanon (30,000 deaths) and the person
ultimatly responsible for the dispatch of the Falangist militia
(Israel's ally) into Sabra and Chatila, to "cleanse them of
terrorists".
The decision of the Belgian court is a heavy blow for the law,
passed in 1993 and amended in 1999, governing universal
jurisdiction in matters of war crimes and crimes against
humanity. For the moment, Sharon would have been able to avail of
his parliamentary immunity, but this would not apply to his
generals, above all to Amos Yaron, the present Israeli Defence
ministry coordinator and the then commander of Israeli troops in
Beirut.
"The course of justice has been brutally interrupted," says Kibli
Mallat, one of the lawyers representing the 23 parents of the
victims and the survivors who brought the charges against Sharon.
"However, our efforts to challenge Sharon's war crimes impunity
will continue in Belgium and elsewhere. This decision of the
court represents a mere setback for both international
humanitarian legislation itself, and for victims all over the
world seeking justice in the presence of mass massacres."
It is a step that should be taken not only for respect of all
those killed in the summer of 1982, but also because the
incrimination of Sharon would make a considerable contribution
toward deterring the spread of Israeli war crimes, such as those
committed in the West Bank city of Jenin only last April.
The international community can no longer close its eyes to
Israel state terrorism which, most likely, eliminated Elie
Hobelka, the Sabra and Chatila henchman, who was ready to testify
against Sharon. In fact, had Hobelka entered Belgium, the Court
of Appeal, in the presence of one of the accused on Belgian soil
could not have disclaimed a connection between the case in
question and Belgium. Therefore, in the case of the Israeli
premier, at least for the moment, crime seems to be paying.
"They came from the mountains in thirty huge trucks", recalls
Hasan, one of the survivors, in Amnoun Kabliyouk's book 'Sabra
and Chatila: The Investigation of a Massacre'. "At first they
started killing people with knives so that they wouldn't make any
noise. Then they put snipers in the Chatila camp to kill anybody
who crossed the streets. Next, armed men began going into the
houses murdering men, women and children. At the end they blew up
the houses with people in them, burying bodies under piles of
rubble."
The Israeli parlament was forced to investigate Sharon's
involvement into the atrocity and although he was found
responsible for the actions of the Lebanese Falangists and was
forced to resign from his post, he was never charged and never
appeared in a court of justice. The Israeli Supreme Court
instead, found Sharon guilty of lying to his then Premier Begin
about the war in Lebanon and was declared unfit to command the
army.
>>>>>> Sharon off the hook for war crimes
Only a few hours after G.W. Bush's recent speech effectively
sanctioning the reoccupation of the Territories, the Belgian
Court of Appeal called a halt to the trial against Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon, a "man of peace" in Bush's own words.
Sharon is accused of war crimes for his responsibilities in the
Sabra and Chatila massacre (16-18 September 1982) in which scores
of Palestinian refugees were slaughtered (800 according to the
Israelis, 4,000 for the Palestinians), carried out by the Israeli
proxi militia of the Christian Falangists.
It took the Belgian court a full eight months to discover and
come up legal cavil (the non-presence of the accused in Belgium)
capable of preventing the Israeli prime minister's indictment. In
1982, Ariel Sharon was Minister for Defence, the true architect
of the invasion of Lebanon (30,000 deaths) and the person
ultimatly responsible for the dispatch of the Falangist militia
(Israel's ally) into Sabra and Chatila, to "cleanse them of
terrorists".
The decision of the Belgian court is a heavy blow for the law,
passed in 1993 and amended in 1999, governing universal
jurisdiction in matters of war crimes and crimes against
humanity. For the moment, Sharon would have been able to avail of
his parliamentary immunity, but this would not apply to his
generals, above all to Amos Yaron, the present Israeli Defence
ministry coordinator and the then commander of Israeli troops in
Beirut.
"The course of justice has been brutally interrupted," says Kibli
Mallat, one of the lawyers representing the 23 parents of the
victims and the survivors who brought the charges against Sharon.
"However, our efforts to challenge Sharon's war crimes impunity
will continue in Belgium and elsewhere. This decision of the
court represents a mere setback for both international
humanitarian legislation itself, and for victims all over the
world seeking justice in the presence of mass massacres."
It is a step that should be taken not only for respect of all
those killed in the summer of 1982, but also because the
incrimination of Sharon would make a considerable contribution
toward deterring the spread of Israeli war crimes, such as those
committed in the West Bank city of Jenin only last April.
The international community can no longer close its eyes to
Israel state terrorism which, most likely, eliminated Elie
Hobelka, the Sabra and Chatila henchman, who was ready to testify
against Sharon. In fact, had Hobelka entered Belgium, the Court
of Appeal, in the presence of one of the accused on Belgian soil
could not have disclaimed a connection between the case in
question and Belgium. Therefore, in the case of the Israeli
premier, at least for the moment, crime seems to be paying.
"They came from the mountains in thirty huge trucks", recalls
Hasan, one of the survivors, in Amnoun Kabliyouk's book 'Sabra
and Chatila: The Investigation of a Massacre'. "At first they
started killing people with knives so that they wouldn't make any
noise. Then they put snipers in the Chatila camp to kill anybody
who crossed the streets. Next, armed men began going into the
houses murdering men, women and children. At the end they blew up
the houses with people in them, burying bodies under piles of
rubble."
The Israeli parlament was forced to investigate Sharon's
involvement into the atrocity and although he was found
responsible for the actions of the Lebanese Falangists and was
forced to resign from his post, he was never charged and never
appeared in a court of justice. The Israeli Supreme Court
instead, found Sharon guilty of lying to his then Premier Begin
about the war in Lebanon and was declared unfit to command the
army.