Posted on 06/23/2003 1:44:31 PM PDT by RepublicFree
Belgian minister sued under own human rights law
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters06-20-071728.asp?reg=EUROPE#body
Belgian minister sued under own human rights law
By Bart Crols
BRUSSELS, June 20 — Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel became the latest public figure to fall foul of his country's controversial human rights law on Friday when an opposition party said it was filing a suit against him.
Belgium has been sharply criticised, especially by the United States, for a law empowering its courts to try foreigners for war and human rights crimes, no matter where committed.
The list of statesmen targeted by suits under the law includes U.S. President George W. Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and Cuban President Fidel Castro.
U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has lambasted the law and Belgium, which hosts NATO's headquarters, has already altered it to allow a suit to be sent to a defendant's country if that country is democratic, with a legal system that can handle it properly.
But a U.S. diplomat said unless the law was watered down further Secretary of State Colin Powell and Rumsfeld would almost certainly stay away from NATO's end-of-year ministerial meetings in Brussels.
''What they haven't done so far is modify the law to stop people with a grudge from bringing frivolous, politically motivated cases,'' the diplomat said.
Michel, Belgium's outspoken foreign minister who sharply criticised the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, stands accused by a small opposition party for approving arms shipments to Nepal.
Bart De Wever, a party official for the Flemish nationalist party NVA, told VRT radio the suit targeted ''Louis Michel's own hypocrisy as his policy decisions run counter to human rights.''
Michel last year approved the sale of 5,500 machineguns to conflict-torn Nepal. The deal was criticised because Belgian law bans arms exports to countries engaged in civil war.
Michel said Belgium was a laughing stock because of the law.
''This is so mad, ridiculous, irrational and malign,'' he told reporters at a summit of European Union leaders in Greece. ''Belgium is being ridiculed on the international stage and people who are following this type of strategy...don't give a damn about the national interests of our country,'' he added.
BELGIUM SEEKING WAY OUT
After modifying the law to discourage so-called ''propaganda'' cases, Belgium has already sent lawsuits to Washington against high-ranking officials including Bush and his father, former president George Bush, Powell and Rumsfeld.
A senior official at Belgium's port of Antwerp said on Friday the port authority feared losing traffic because of the law after a U.S. transport company started to boycott it.
Michel said the law needed further changes. ''We have to correct the more embarrassing parts,'' he said, adding that provisions might be needed to provide foreign dignitaries with ''absolute immunity'' from possible arrest when visiting Belgium.
A spokesman said Michel was due to discuss the furore on Sunday evening with George Robertson, secretary-general of NATO.
''The Belgians are trying to find a way out,'' said one diplomat at NATO, where Rumsfeld last week vowed to withhold U.S. spending on the alliance's new Brussels headquarters until the matter was resolved.
''They are trying not to ditch the law entirely -- it would be humiliating and they may not get it through parliament anyway -- so they want to know how far they have to go to cool things.''
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
But seriously, what power would the Belgian government have over another country? What would this lawsuit do other than provide grounds for a media circus? As long as the people being sued have no funds in Belgium, they don't have to pay.
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