[Peace-discuss] and du use is included

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

Iraqis to File U.S. War Crimes Complaint
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 
Filed at 1:50 a.m. ET

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- 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.

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.

Belgium introduced laws in the early 1990s to authorize its courts to try 
genocide and other war crimes wherever they occurred. The law was first used 
to target suspects in Rwanda's 1994 genocide who fled to Belgium, the former 
colonial ruler of the central African nation.

Since then, complaints have been brought against a string of world leaders 
including Fidel Castro, Yasser Arafat and Saddam Hussein, although none has 
gone to trial.

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.

Among claims Fermon made against Franks were a failure of U.S. troops to 
prevent the looting of hospitals after the Saddam's fall and the alleged U.S. 
bombing of a crowded market in Baghdad, which Iraqi officials claimed killed 
more than 60 people.

A Belgian prosecutor will have to study the allegations before deciding 
whether a case should be opened.

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.