Free Republic

BRUSSELS (AFP) - The Belgian lawyer who angered Washington by launching a war crimes case against the former US military commander in Iraq, Tommy Franks, said he was appealing against the government's decision not to pursue his suit in Belgium. Lawyer Jan Fermon said he would ask the Brussels appeals court to revive his case against General Franks at a hearing scheduled for September 9, arguing that new legislation outlawing such prosecutions should be ruled illegal. "Once a country accords certain rights on the basis of an international convention, it can't go back on that," Fermon said. Fermon's original lawsuit,...

The Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel has fiercely criticized the case brought against the commander of US forces in Iraq, General Tommy Franks. The lawsuit was filed by the Belgian lawyer Jan Fermon on behalf of nineteen Iraqis. They say General Franks' troops are guilty of at least twenty separate instances of war crimes. The Belgian minister says the Iraqis are misusing Belgium's universal competence law, which makes it possible to bring charges of human rights violations in Belgium, regardless of where the alleged crimes took place. A federal prosecutor will decide whether or not the case is referred to...