Belgium scraps war crimes law

Reuters | 7/30/03 | Bart Crols

[kattracks]

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair will be able to visit Brussels without fear of arrest after Belgium voted to scrap a controversial war crimes law under strong U.S. pressure.

A large majority of the lower house of parliament passed a bill late on Tuesday quashing the universal jurisdiction law, under which cases were launched against Bush, Blair and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

The law soured diplomatic relations between Brussels and Washington after complaints were filed against high-ranking U.S. officials on allegations of war crimes during the war in Iraq.

That prompted Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld last month to suspend funding of a planned new NATO headquarters building.

The senate has to approve the bill on Friday before it takes effect, but that is seen as a formality.

The 1993 law gave Belgian courts the power to try war crimes cases no matter where the alleged offences were committed and regardless of the victim's or perpetrator's nationality.

Courts have been flooded in the past two years with cases against a number of world leaders.

The decision to scotch the law followed several unsuccessful attempts to water it down.

Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx told the lower house the law had fallen victim to "abusive, even absurd use".

Onkelinx said last week that some 29 cases were being processed by investigating magistrates and most would now likely be canned by the Supreme Court of Appeals.

Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said earlier this month 10 cases involving the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, plus two related to Guatemala and Chad, all involving Belgians, would continue.

"VANGUARD ROLE"

The high-profile lawsuits against Bush, Blair, Rumsfeld and U.S. General Tommy Franks, the Iraq war commander, never got as far as an examining magistrate and will be automatically dumped.

"Today, Belgium certainly loses this vanguard role, but it remains one of the rare countries which has legislation penalising crimes against international humanitarian law," Onkelinx said.

Matters came to a head when Rumsfeld last month lambasted the law and warned that Washington would be reluctant to send officials to Brussels for NATO meetings.

U.S. officials denied reports they were contemplating moving the 19-nation alliance headquarters, but fear of the loss of jobs, money and prestige shook the Belgian establishment.

Planned new criminal law provisions will restrict the right to launch war crimes cases to Belgians or people resident in the country for at least three years at the time of the crime.

[randog]

The Belgians waffled.

[jriemer]

That's all well and good; however, President Bush and other members of the Admininstration are still being prosecuted under the law while it was still on the books. The need to address that issue as well.

[Sloth]

[CholeraJoe]

Way to go, Rummy. Money talks, especially greenbacks.

[George W. Bush]

No, the cases against American leaders were filed but had not yet reached an investigative magistrate. They just stalled until they could remove the law from the books (as far as foreign nationals are concerned).

They can't try to prosecute BushCo under the old law because it was never heard or investigated. The cases will be dropped, as the article says. They have no legal standing.

[rrrod]

ok its time to scrap belguim

[MJY1288]

Thank God that spineless worm Jimmy Carter or the "Bent One" wasn't in office, because either of them would have signed onto the ICC for sure

[ellery]

Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx told the lower house the law had fallen victim to "abusive, even absurd use".

But who could have forseen that that would happen? /sarcasm

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Money talks, especially greenbacks.

Fine. We should STILL pull NATO out of Belgium. Then pull our bases out of France and Germany. They want to push their leftist agenda and support our enemies, they can do so with their OWN resources.

[CholeraJoe]

We haven't had troops in France since the sixties. DeGaulle kicked them out. Once it's time to relocate the 1st Armored and 1st ID back from Iraq, I doubt they'll go back to Germany.

[Ayn Rand wannabe]

Mmmm....that looks good. It's still too early for lunch though, darn it.

[just mimi]

Planned new criminal law provisions will restrict the right to launch war crimes cases to Belgians or people resident in the country for at least three years at the time of the crime.

How difficult would it be to pay people to live in Belgium to be used for this purpose? The law needs to be scrapped entirely.

[eleni121]

ok its time to scrap belguim

Not a bad idea. Because of their identity crisis, Belgians seek to create a uniqueness among their Euro brethren.

They should stick to chocolates and waffles. And then they should start looking into their own bloddy past. I can't wait for some African types to start arresting Belgians for historical colonial atrocities.

[The_Victor]

Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx told the lower house the law had fallen victim to "abusive, even absurd use".

What do you think the intended use of the law was, you bonehead?

[Calvin Locke]

...the "Bent One" wasn't in office, because either of them would have signed onto the ICC for sure

IIRC, Clinton did sign it - his last day in office. Bush unsigned it.

[Gamecock]

Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx told the lower house the law had fallen victim to "abusive, even absurd use".

Stupid is as stupid does....

[Conservative til I die]

What a dumb law. What were the Belgians going to do? Storm the White House to apprehend Bush?

[Libertina]

U.S. officials denied reports they were contemplating moving the 19-nation alliance headquarters
Well for heaven sake, START contemplating it! Just because the ridiculous law was withdrawn, the people who wrote it are still slithering around. Western Europe needs a good shaking up. And I still hope Britain will extricate itself from the EU...

[SauronOfMordor]

What a dumb law. What were the Belgians going to do? Storm the White House to apprehend Bush?

More likely something more like what happened to Pinochet: some years later, after he's no longer in office, and the current office holder doesn't particularly like him, Bush would get arrested while visiting some EU country that would recognise an extradition request from Belgium