The Belgian prosecutor's office has ruled that civil cases charging presidents Saddam Hussein of Iraq and Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast with crimes against humanity fall within the jurisdiction of the Belgian legal system, court officials said Wednesday.
The prosecutor found both cases contained sufficient evidence to start investigations, a spokesman told AFP.
Such an investigation is already underway in Brussels against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, involving the 1982 massacres of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
Last June, five Iraqi refugees living in Belgium and the Netherlands filed complaints in Brussels against the Iraqi leader, alleging crimes against ethnic Kurds in northern Iraq.
Also in June, more than 150 people filed a complaint against Gbagbo and his predecessor, military ruler General Robert Guei, alleging suppression of demonstrations in October and December of last year.
Under a 1993 Belgian law, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide can be tried in the Belgian courts, regardless of where they took place or the nationality or residence of either the victims or the accused.
In addition to the Sharon case, there are cases pending in Belgium against a number of key world political figures, including former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and three former Cambodian Khmer Rouge leaders.
In June, a Belgium court handed down long prison terms to four Rwandans living in Belgium, including two Catholic nuns, for their part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide that claimed up to 800,000 lives.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese Daily Star newspaper quoted lawyer Chibli Mallat as saying Wednesday that it was probable that the Belgian judiciary would ask Lebanon to supply it with information on the case against Sharon.
Another lawyer, Samir Jisr, in turn, promised to provide all assistance pertaining to the case, especially since Lebanon "was the first beneficiary of Sharon’s trial and it was the most affected by his aggression."
Mallat is one of three lawyers filing a lawsuit at the International Criminal Court against the Israeli premier for his 1982 role in the Sabra and Shatilla massacre.
Sharon has been accused of masterminding the atrocity when he was defense minister.
According to Mallat, such information could effectively contribute to the revelation of further facts, said the paper.
Hundreds of Palestinian men, women and children died in 1982 when the Israeli army's Christian militia allies invaded the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps, and then began systematic killings – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
