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June 27, 2002
PARIS -- A Belgian appeals court on Wednesday threw out a war crimes case against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel for his role in the massacre of Palestinians at the Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps in Lebanon in 1982. The decision puts world leaders beyond the reach of Belgium's controversial law of "universal jurisdiction" for human rights cases.
While upholding the law, which gives Belgium jurisdiction over war criminals regardless of where their alleged crimes occurred, the appeals court also said that suspects had to be on Belgian soil to be tried.
Passed in 1993, the Belgian law was hailed by human rights organizations as a novel weapon that would put dictators and despots everywhere on notice. Critics, including members of the Belgian government, warned that the law interfered with Belgium's foreign relations and could bring a flurry of cases filed mainly for political reasons.
Israeli officials on Wednesday praised the appeals court's decision. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said: "One nation cannot judge another nation."
The case stemmed from the massacre of Palestinian refugees at the Sabra and Chatilla camps during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, when Sharon was defense minister. The massacres were carried out by Lebanese Christian militiamen who entered the camps in an area controlled by Israeli forces.
An Israeli inquiry at the time found Sharon indirectly responsible for the killings. He resigned as defense minister in 1983.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs, among them massacre survivors, said they would appeal to the Belgian Supreme Court.
The only people convicted under the universal jurisdiction law have been four Rwandans, including two Catholic nuns, who received sentences of 12 to 20 years for their role in the 1994 genocide.