December 15, 2001	Saturday	Ramazan 29, 1422

BEIRUT: A Belgian court recently heard argument over whether it was competent to judge Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for crimes against humanity for his role in the 1982 massacre of Palestinians and Lebanese in the Sabra and Shatila camp in Lebanon. A decision on whether the landmark case can proceed is expected early next year.

But the lawyers for the Palestinian and Lebanese plaintiffs have won the support of Belgian Attorney-General Pierre Moriet, who argued that the court was competent to judge the case and that the investigation into Sharon’s responsibility for the 1982 massacre should continue.

“The attorney-general confirmed all our positions regarding the competence of the Belgium court. He rejected all the arguments of Sharon’s lawyers “Chiblu Mallat, one of the lawyers” representing the plaintiffs.

The suit against Sharon was filed in June under a 1993 Belgian law which allows war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide to be tried in Belgian court, regardless of whether they took place on nationality of residence of the victims or the accused.

Investigating Magistrate Patrick Collignon launched an inquiry into Sharon’s role in Sabra and Shatila after deciding that the case merited investigation.

But Sharon’s lawyer Michele Hirsh challenged the jurisdiction of the Belgian court to try the Israeli premier. The challenge led to a suspension of the investigation.

The legal teams will convene again on Dec 26, followed by a third hearing on Jan 23. A denial decision on whether the case is admissible is expected to be made shortly afterwards.

Claudia Cordone of Amnesty International said that the human rights watchdog was confident that the case would be declared admissible by the Belgian court. “Many of Sharon’s arguments do not stand up”, he said.

Sharon’s legal team claims that the Israeli premier is immune from prosecution due to his position. The lawyers also argue that the 1982 Kahan Commission which investigated the slaughter in Sabra and Shatila exonerated Sharon of legal responsibility.

But the prosecution team argues that, under the 1993 Belgian law, serving heads of state are not protected from legal proceedings in cases of crime against humanity. Furthermore, although the Kahan report concluded that Sharon bore “personal responsibility” for the massacre, the commission had no criminal writ allowing the then defence minister to avoid prosecution. “The Kahan commission provides enough basis for legal proceedings” “Cordone said. “If there is a legal basis then, from our point of view, it should proceed.”

Israeli officials have dismissed the case as politically inspired and without legal merit. “What is happening here is part of the Intifada of the Palestine struggle against Israel”, one member of an Israeli delegation dispatched to Brussels told Israel’s Haaretz daily. “In Israel they carry out terrorist attacks and here they are making manipulative use of Belgian law in order to attack Israel.”

The Belgian investigation into Sharon has caused considerable anger among the Israeli premier’s supporters.

On Sept 16 and 18, 1982, the Israeli Defence Minister Ariel Sharon encircled the Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut, Sabra and Shatila and sealed them, and sent in his closest allies amongst the Lebanese militias to “cleanse” the area of the “2000 terrorists” which he insisted had remained there.

All massive killings remain stuck in the memory of horror and guilt.

In international law, command responsibility — also known as indirect responsibility — is more severe than the direct responsibility of those who actually do the killing”, says Chibli Mallat, one of three lawyers representing the plaintiffs.

“They were interrogated then put on trucks and a lot of them did not come back. The sports stadium in Beirut is probably one of the places that carries one of the largest elements of horror. The Israelis were in force there, interrogations took place there and people were trucked away from there never to appear again.”

“But one thing is certain, Israel was in full control from the border to Beirut”, Mallat added. “Sharon’s allies will fight tooth and nail to stop this case from getting to trial because they know that once it comes to trial, Ariel Sharon has no chance of escaping justice.”