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Europe
Goofy Belgian leftie lawyer Iraqis to File U.S. War Crimes Complaint
2003-05-14
Followup, severely EFL.
Lawyers representing a group of Iraqis aim to file a war crimes complaint Wednesday in a Brussels court against U.S. Gen. Tommy Franks, the commander of American forces in Iraq. The planned complaint has already sparked outrage in Washington, but legal experts said it is likely to be rejected following recent changes to Belgium's war crimes law to prevent such charges against Americans. ``This could be just a spectacular way of catching attention in the media,'' said Prof. Jan Wouters, director of the Institute for International Law at the University of Leuven.
Oh, do you think?
The complaint against Franks was to be filed by attorney Jan Fermon, who is running for parliament Sunday in Belgium's national elections, representing the small, far-left Resist group. Fermon said the complaint would also include charges against other U.S. military personnel, whom he did not identify. Two other leftist candidates, Dr. Geert Van Moorter and Dr. Colette Moulaert, found the 16 wounded or bereaved Iraqis in whose name the complaint was lodged while working for a medical aid group in Baghdad during the war.
Chased down their ambulances, did she? Wotta goil!
The Belgian government rushed changes to the law through parliament last month after complaints lodged against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, former President Bush and current U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell soured relations with Washington and Jerusalem. Under the new amendments, Belgian courts should refer foreigners facing war crimes charges to their own countries if they are democracies with a record of fairness in justice. Despite that, Fermon said he was optimistic that his claim would be accepted. ``We have a very specific case, with specific evidence,'' he said in a recent interview.
"Mr. Franks failed to distribute the ice cream ration to the children, and he ordered the bombing of the factory that made the feed for the baby ducks!"
Fermon's announcement last month that he planned to file the complaint provoked concern from the U.S. government. ``The Belgian government needs to be diligent in taking steps to prevent abuse of the legal system for political ends,'' said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.
Wonder if we can file a claim in the Belgian courts about the genocide in the Congo -- that's certainly the fault of the Belgians.
Posted by:Steve White

#15  CC, the Dutch seem to enjoy good beer, weed, prostitution and a comfortable, fun yet industrious lifestyle. Philisophical ideology takes a back seat to Realpolitik and a liberal yet dynamic economy. I think that's the big difference.
Posted by: Scooter McGruder   2003-05-14 16:20:21  

#14  Excellent and informative posts by Chuck and Steve. Heretofore my knowledge of Belgium was based on several afternoons sitting in the Grand Plaza in Brussells and sucking down too many Duvals (I think that was the name of the beer).

One thing that I haven't seen any explanation why - of the BENELUX triumvirate - Netherlands hasn't joined her sisters in the rush to cozy up to the French. Anybody want to weigh in?
Posted by: ColoradoConservative   2003-05-14 13:23:50  

#13  Thirty-three Belgian nationals, of Moroccan Origin, will run for parliamentary seats in the Belgian legislative elections, May 18. The majority of candidates are university professors, lawyers and activists. Political parties bet on the Moroccan-born Belgians especially in French-speaking regions like Walloon and Brussels.
Twelve candidates were born in Morocco, whereas the rest are born in Belgium or in other countries. The age of candidates, mostly from the second generation of immigrants, ranges between 23 and 58 years. A significant number of Moroccan-born women was enrolled for these elections.
Uh huh, explains a lot, doesn't it?
Posted by: Steve   2003-05-14 11:34:17  

#12  Jan Fermon is/was a Cuban Commie, need we say more about his motivations? If this a**hole is elected to their Parlament we should leave NATO. Come to think of it, that aint a bad idea on it's own.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge   2003-05-14 11:15:13  

#11  Belgium is a country divided between the Flemish and the Waloons. The Phlegms are Dutch that are too good for the Netherlands and would rather be German and the Loons are French wannabes. About 38,000 Belgians served in Hitler's Waffen SS. Based upon population records, that aproximates two percent of the adult male population of military age.

Now, the Belgians have decided that their own national courts have the authority to try "international criminals" for crimes committed in other countries. They would like to try Arial Sharon, for example.

I wonder how many Belgians they're going to try for their criminal colonial acts in the Congo before, during and after its independance. No country in Africa was so ill used by its colonial masters nor so ill prepared for independance. I'll bet that there are dozens of Belgians still alive with responsibility for those acts. Direct responsibility, as in actually doing the shooting or torture or beatings. Unlike Sharon, whose responsibility is, at best, imputed for acts that another nation's armed militia performed in the heart of a civil war.
Posted by: Chuck   2003-05-14 09:23:49  

#10  I think you are overreacting here. This "Loi de Compétence Universelle" was clearly never meant to prosecute Americans but cruel dictators or violators of human rights in dictatorial countries. Remember the Pinochet affair?
Its interesting that files have been claimed against Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro and several African dictators as well. Oh, Arafat, too.
The Belgian foreign minister sees the complaint against Franks as an "abuse of this law" and so the lawsuit will either be thrown out or sent to the U.S. (to be thrown out there of course).
Posted by: True German Ally   2003-05-14 09:22:07  

#9  ``This could be just a spectacular way of catching attention in the media,'' Then how about a public survey of sites in Poland for NATO II Headquarters and Dutch ports for all trans-Atlantic cargo shipments from this day on.
Posted by: Don   2003-05-14 08:51:09  

#8  "Bez" rhymes with "Fez". You'll sound like a southerner saying it, but they'll get the message...
Posted by: Ptah   2003-05-14 07:32:44  

#7  Bez moan dare-e-air.
Posted by: Ptah   2003-05-14 07:30:23  

#6  Thanks Ptah. Now, how do I pronounce it?
Posted by: Mike N.   2003-05-14 06:55:57  

#5  Baise mon derriere
Posted by: Ptah   2003-05-14 03:30:30  

#4  How do you say "kiss my ass" in Belgian?
Posted by: mojo   2003-05-14 02:38:30  

#3  Jan Fermon is/was a Cuban Commie, need we say more about his motivations? If this a**hole is elected to their Parlament we should leave NATO. Come to think of it, that aint a bad idea on it's own.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge   5/14/2003 11:15:13 AM  

#2  ``This could be just a spectacular way of catching attention in the media,'' Then how about a public survey of sites in Poland for NATO II Headquarters and Dutch ports for all trans-Atlantic cargo shipments from this day on.
Posted by: Don   5/14/2003 8:51:09 AM  

#1  How do you say "kiss my ass" in Belgian?
Posted by: mojo   5/14/2003 2:38:30 AM  

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