U.S. Threatened with Iraq War Crimes Trial

Ten Iraqi civilians are planning to press war crimes charges against U.S. General Tommy Franks, the commander of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, the American newspaper the Washington Times reported.

The Iraqis, allegedly eyewitnesses and victims of U.S. atrocities, hold coalition forces responsible for numerous crimes, including failing to prevent looting, firing on an ambulance, shooting and injuring Iraqi civilians, causing the deaths of scores of people by bombing a Baghdad marketplace and killing at least ten passengers driving in a civilian bus near the town of Hillah.

According to the report, Brussels-based human rights lawyer Jan Fermon, who intends to represent the Iraqis, said the complaint against Franks and other U.S. military officials would be filed in a Belgian court in about two weeks.

"U.S. military officials had the authority but did nothing to stop these war crimes from occurring," Fermon told the newspaper. "A military commander is responsible for war crimes even if he did not commit or order them, but also if he fails to take all the necessary steps to prevent the atrocities from happening."

Poor relations

The incident could further worsen relations between Washington and Brussels, which vehemently opposed U.S.-led military action against Iraq. Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt has also annoyed U.S. officials by pushing European defense proposal seen as competing with NATO.

Belgium's 1993 law of universal jurisdiction allows its courts to prosecute people accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes regardless of where the crime occurred or whether the suspects or victims were Belgian.

Under widespread international pressure, the law was changed in April to give judges greater scope to reject complaints. Now the senior prosecutor may decide that cases should be referred to the country directly concerned if there is no tangible Belgian link, rather than being examined in a Belgian court.

United States fears abuse

The United States on Monday welcomed the recent changes to the law, but said Belgium needed to make sure its legal system was not abused.

"We believe the Belgian government needs to be diligent in taking steps to prevent abuse of the legal system for political ends," U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told journalists. "As to this specific case, we believe it does show the danger of a judicial system that's open to politically motivated charges."

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell recently warned that Belgium was putting its international reputation at stake because of the law. Powell in March was named in a lawsuit filed by the families of Iraqi victims of a U.S. attack on a shelter that killed 400 people during the 1991 Gulf War.

Former U.S. President George Bush senior, and other members of his administration, including then defense secretary and now Vice President Dick Cheney, were also held responsible in the suit.

Belgium’s law was most famously used to initiate legal action against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for his alleged role in the massacre of up to 2,000 people carried by an Israeli-backed Christian militia in 1982 in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Lebanon. Relations between Israel and Belgium have been strained since the complaint was filed.

Only one case has actually been tried under the Belgian law. Four Rwandans were found guilty of involvement in the 1994 genocide in the African country and were sentenced to up to 15 years in prison in June 2001.