Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 14:07:15 -0500
Subject: Sharon Trial




                                                    Al-Ahram Weekly Online
                                                    28 June - 4 July 2001
                                                    Issue No.540




               Justice at last?

               Will Ariel Sharon stand trial for his notorious role in the
Sabra
               and Shatila massacre? As Rasha Saad reports, it now seems
               more possible than ever


               The ghosts of Sabra and Shatila may haunt Israeli
               Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the rest of his
               life. During three terrible days in September 1982,
               thousands of unarmed Palestinians, including
               women, children and babies, were killed,
               tortured, raped or vanished in the refugee camps
               of Sabra and Shatila. It was Sharon, then Israeli
               defence minister, who allowed a Lebanese
               Christian militia allied to Israel, the Phalange, to
               enter the camps and brutally murder the refugees.
               Now, 19 years later, a court of law may at last
               charge Sharon for his bloody crimes.

               On 18 June, three lawyers filed a complaint
               against the Israeli prime minister on behalf of 28
               survivors of the massacre in a Belgian court. The
               charges include war crimes, crimes against
               humanity and genocide.

               The petitioners have filed their complaint under a
               1993 law (modified in 1999), which allows war
               criminals to be tried in Belgium whatever their
               nationality and wherever those crimes took place.
               Heads of state may also be charged. According to the law, a
complaint is filed for a
               fact and not against a person, so "the magistrates are now
generally investigating the
               massacre and the responsibilities of everyone," Michael
Verhaeghe, a Belgian and
               one of the three lawyers filing the complaint told Al-Ahram
Weekly. He added that
               Sharon was "on top" of the list of those investigated.

               On Monday, the magistrate confirmed to Verhaeghe that there
is a good chance the
               case will be accepted. This paves the way for Sharon to be
charged in Brussels.

               Sharon has been accused before. In 1983, Israel's Kahan
Commission found Sharon
               indirectly to blame for the massacre. Public horror forced
him to resign from his post
               as defence minister.

               But Soad Sorour, a survivor of the massacre, stood in front
of a Belgian magistrate
               this week, and on behalf of the other witnesses asked for
more than Kahan's "moral"
               justice. Sorour, who was 16 when the massacre happened, is
vowing to bring legal
               justice to the victims and to prove that Sharon, by not
intervening to stop the
               massacre, is directly to blame. "I hope Sharon is tried and
hanged for what he did...
               He presents himself as a man of peace, but everyone knows
what he did," she said.
               Militiamen raped Sorour repeatedly during the massacre,
before shooting her in the
               back. The bullet is still stuck in her spine. All 28
witnesses in the trial lost close
               family members. Sometimes mother, father, brother and sister
were slaughtered.

               Lawyers presenting the case are hopeful, especially after
the conviction of two
               Rwandan nuns earlier this month for complicity in genocide.
That was the first
               successful prosecution under the 1993 Belgian law.

               Verhaeghe said that there is much evidence pointing to
Sharon's personal
               responsibility. He met Phalange leaders beforehand and, as
Israel's defence minister,
               let them enter the Sabra and Shatila camps. He well knew
their enmity towards the
               Palestinians, and their bloodthirsty methods. Verhaeghe
added that every report
               confirms that the invading Israeli Defence Forces watched
the massacre but did
               nothing. Verhaeghe concluded that "they [Sharon and his
forces] were not playing
               the violin: but they wrote the opera and conducted the
orchestra."

               But the case may run less smoothly than hoped. Brussels
faces growing calls from
               the rest of Europe to abandon the 1993 law. Belgian
officials are concerned too; they
               fear the law will unleash a flood of cases and eventually
embarrass the government.
               "We are aware of this problem. [But] if the Belgian
parliament cancels this law it will
               be an injustice," said Chiblli Mallat, a Lebanese lawyer who
is one of the three
               lawyers presenting the case. Mallat is relying on speed. He
hopes the case will end
               "before the parliament takes serious steps to abandon the law."

               The three lawyers have been preparing the case for more than
six months. But the
               filing of the complaint coincided with the 17 June showing
of a BBC documentary
               The Accused which considers Sharon's role in the Sabra and
Shatila massacre.

               "This is a mere coincidence but a fortunate one. I think it
is in both sides' interests,
               especially after the campaign launched by Israel against the
documentary," Mallat
               told the Weekly.

               The documentary shows horrific scenes from the refugee camp,
filmed a day after
               the Lebanese militia left. It also features witnesses,
including Sorour. After
               interviewing law experts, and Israeli and US officials who
were in office during the
               massacre, the programme concludes that there are sufficient
grounds for indicting
               Sharon for war crimes. Israel's press, by contrast,
campaigned against the
               documentary and Israeli officials accused the BBC of
anti-Semitism.

               Sharon is under attack from other sides, too. US-based Human
Rights Watch
               (HRW) has urged a criminal investigation into Sharon's role
in the massacre. "There
               is abundant evidence that war crimes and crimes against
humanity were committed
               on a wide scale in the Sabra and Shatila massacre, but to
date, not a single individual
               has been brought to justice," said Hani Megally, executive
director of HRW's
               Middle East and North Africa division. The group's call came
as Sharon began his
               visit to Washington on Tuesday. In a statement, HRW asked US
President George
               Bush to discuss the matter with Sharon during their
meetings. The group also said
               that the US has an interest in the case because Israel's
occupation of west Beirut
               came after written US assurances that Palestinians remaining
there would be safe.

               HRW concluded that Israel's Kahan Commission report "cannot
substitute for
               proceedings in a criminal court in Israel or elsewhere that
will bring to justice those
               responsible for the killing of hundreds of innocent civilians."

               "It is a very positive sign. The report comes from one of
the biggest human rights
               groups, speaking in the US, where there is a black-out on
news about the complaint
               we have filed," commented Verhaeghe. He added, "The call by
Human Rights
               Watch clearly [says] that political analysis of the Sabra
and Shatila massacre is not
               enough. Justice can only be served with a proper and
independent criminal
               investigation."

               For Mallat, that all these disparate efforts to bring Sharon
to justice have coincided
               shows "a tremendous universal feeling that the massacre of
Sabra and Shatila is a
               shocking crime whose perpetrators are left unpunished." It
has taken 19 years.






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