-Caveat Lector- : Friday, July 27, 2001 Av 7, 5761 Israel Time: 05:42 : (GMT+3) : Fears grow that Israeli officials might face avalanche of war-crimes : charges abroad : By Bradley Burston, Ha'aretz Correspondent : The Prime Minister's Office went on the offensive Thursday, hoping to : quash a bid to : bring Sharon to trial over a massacre of Palestinians by pro-Israeli : Christian : militiamen during the then-defense minister's 1982 invasion of : Lebanon. : This offensive represents a policy reversal fuelled by fears that : Ariel Sharon, the : IDF chief of staff, and other senior Israeli officials could face : arrest abroad for a : range of war crimes and torture allegations. : Advisers to the prime minister voiced apprehension that a pending : lawsuit against : Sharon in Belgium over the Beirut refugee camp atrocities could : snowball into a : attempts to bring war-crimes charges against Chief of Staff Shaul : Mofaz, Air Force : Commander Dan Halutz, and other defense force officials for their : roles in : Intifada-related IDF retaliation attacks in which civilians were : killed or wounded. : Ironically, noted one government legal authority, Israel's long-time : backing for : vigilance in pursuing Holocaust war criminals helped spur : international mechanisms : that could be used to see to it that Israeli diplomats, politicians, : generals and even : pilots could be arrested on setting foot in certain European : countries. : The mounting concern in official circles has been compounded by a : crisis in : Israeli-Danish relations over threats to seize ambassador-designate : Carmi Gillon - a : former head of the Shin Bet security service - on his arrival in : Copenhagen next : month. : Israeli trepidation has increased as some Europeans have likened : Sharon and other : Israeli officials to ousted Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic, : shipped to the United : Nations war crimes tribunal in the Hague, Netherlands, after his : April 1 arrest. : Milosevic faces allegations of crimes against humanity which are tied : to atrocities : his forces committed against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. : Citing provisions of diplomatic immunity, Danish officials have : backed away from : earlier warnings that Gillon faced arrest for his role as the head of : an organization : whose interrogators allegedly violated a UN convention against : torture. However, : reports Ha'aretz correspondent Nitzan Horowitz, "Danish courts could : yet decide that : the UN Treaty against Torture overrides the Vienna Treaty, which : grants diplomats : immunity." : Foreign Ministry Legal Counselor Alan Baker called the legal moves in : Belgium and : Denmark examples of "globalization of international criminal law." : Citing the cases of : Milosevic and extradition proceedings against former Chilean : strongman Augusto : Pinochet, Baker told Israel Radio: "There is a tendency to expand the : criminal : jurisdiction authority of nations so that they may try people who are : not their : citizens for offenses not committed within their borders, in : particular where serious : crimes are concerned, such as war crimes and atrocities." : Baker said that Israel, desiring to bring to justice fugitives guilty : of crimes during : the Holocaust, had since its founding supported the concept of : expanding such : jurisdiction. "The problem is that in the last few years, as the : result of efforts by : Arab states, politicization has been introduced into the concept. Now : there is a : tendency to exploit this positive [trend] in order to achieve : political gains of : de-legitimizing Israel and its leaders, and that is what we are : trying to deal with : now." : Ha'aretz correspondent Aluf Benn reported Thursday that in response : to the appeals of : a number of present and past senior security officers concerned over : traveling abroad, : the Foreign Ministry has begun "mapping" the criminal justice systems : of European : countries, trying to identify "problematic states" where prominent : officials in the : Israeli security services might face legal action because of : wide-ranging local : authority to prosecute suspected human-rights violators. : Benn said Sharon's office has decided to hire a Belgian attorney in : order to battle : the possible legal consequences of the lawsuit filed in Belgium : against Sharon for : alleged responsibility for the massacres in the Sabra and Chatila : camps. : Until now, the policy of the Prime Minister's Office had been to : ignore the legal : processes against Sharon. But, Benn states, Sharon aides have now : shifted to a more : active posture, with the goal of submitting a petition to dismiss the : lawsuit. : Baker said of the decision to secure Belgian legal help, "The Foreign : Ministry, along : with the State Prosecutor's Office and the Justice Ministry, are : taking these matters : very seriously." : Israel Radio reported Foreign Ministry director-general Avi Gil : saying that, "The : ministry advises all leaders in Israel not to visit nations whose : legal systems are : liable to cause them inconvenience and embarassment." : The issue first arose with a complaint to the Belgian court system : against Sharon, : whom an Israeli inquiry panel ruled bore indirect responsibility for : not having : prevented Christian Phalangist militiamen from entering the : Palestinian refugee camps : and slaughtering hundreds of residents in a revenge operation. : Prominent Israeli attorney Dov Weisglass, who represented Sharon : before the Kahan : State Commission of Inquiry as well as in a libel suit against Time : Magazine (tied to : its reporting of the then-defense minister's actions during the : Lebanon War), said : Thursday that he believed Sharon would succeed in repelling the : Belgian legal : challenge. : But Weisglass told Army Radio that the Carmi Gillon affair showed : "the extent to which : there is a powerful danger to every Israeli official who at any stage : of his life was : connected to security events here in Israel. There is no limit to : this, nor for most : offenses defined as war crimes is there a statute of limitations, so : this can relate : even to the [1948] War of Independence, or before." : The lawsuit against Sharon was closely followed by complaints from : Danish : parliamentary and human rights groups against Gillon. President Moshe : Katsav blasted : Danish officials for "mystifying" inconsistency in condemning Israeli : actions while : failing to "clearly and decisively raise its voice as it was : duty-bound to do against : the Palestinian terrorists who carry out gruesome acts in Israeli : cities against men, : women and children." : Those states considered most problematic are Belgium, where the : courts have a broad : mandate to prosecute war crimes committed outside the country's : borders; Spain, where : the legal battle for the extradition of Pinochet took place; and : Britain. : Several high-ranking security officers, both past and present, have : recently : approached the Foreign Ministry, asking whether they might face : difficulties traveling : through Europe. A ministry source told Ha'aretz that, "there may be : problems in the : future and those who are famous may be at risk. The main fear is for : officers at the : field level." Another source said that "even a commander of the air : force might be : liable, charged with sending bombers to attack targets in civilian : areas." <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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