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U.S. Reaction to Belgian Universal Jurisdiction Law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2017

Sean D. Murphy
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Type
Contemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 97 , Issue 4 , October 2003 , pp. 984 - 987
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 2003

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References

1 Loi du 16juin 1993 relative a la repression des infractions graves aux Conventions internationales de Geneve du 12 aout 1949 et aux Protocoles I et II du 8 juin 1977, MONITEUR BELGE 17751 (Aug. 5, 1993), reprinted in Eric David, La Loi Beige sur Les Crime de Guerre, 28 REV. BELGE DE DROIT INT'L 668, 680 (1995).

2 Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick Members of Armed Forces in the Field, Aug. 12,1949,6 UST 3114, 75 UNTS 31; Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea, Aug. 12, 1949, 6 UST 3217, 75 UNTS 85; Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Aug. 12,1949, 6 UST 3316, 75 UNTS 135; Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Aug. 12, 1949, 6 UST 3526, 75 UNTS 287; Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, June 8, 1977, 1125 UNTS 609; Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts, June 8, 1977, 1125 UNTS 3.

3 Loi relative a la repression des violations graves de droit international humanitaire, MONITEUR BELGE 9286 (Mar. 23, 1999). The amended law is reproduced in translation at 38 ILM 918 (1999).

4 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Dec. 9,1948, Art. 2, 78 UNTS 277, 280.

5 See UN Doc. A/CONF.183/9*, Art. 7 (July 17,1998), reprinted in 37 ILM 999,1004 (1998), available at <http:// www.un.org/icc/> [hereinafter Rome Statute].

6 See .oi relative a la repression des violations graves de droit international humanitaire, Art. 5(c). Article 27 of the Rome Statute provides that the statute “shall apply equally to all persons without any distinction based on official capacity.” Rome Statute, supra note 5, Art. 27.

7 See, e.g., M. Cherif Bassiouni, Universal Jurisdiction for International Crimes, 42 VA.J. INT'LL. 81,145-47 (2001).

8 See Redress, Universal Jurisdiction in Europe, 18-21 (1999), at <http://www.redress.org>; Lynda Hurst, Belgium Reins in War-Crime Law, TORONTO STAR, June 29, 2003, at F4.

9 SeeH.SA. v. S.A., Cour de Cassation, No. P. 02.1139.F/1 (Feb. 12, 2003); see also Marlise Simons, SharonFaces Belgian Trial After Term Ends, N.Y. TIMES, Feb. 13,2003, at Al 4. The text of the Sharon decision is available through the case locator at <http://www.cass.be/juris/jucf.htm>. For an International Court ofjustice ruling that a Congo foreign minister enjoys immunity while in office from a Belgian arrest warrant issued under the Belgian law, see Arrest Warrant of 11 April 2000 (Congo v. Belg.) (Int'l Ct. Justice Feb. 14,2002), at <http://www.icj-cij.org>.

10 U.S. Dep't of State Press Release on Interview by International Wire Services with Colin Powell, U.S. Secretary of State, Washington, D.C. (Mar. 18, 2003), at <http://www.state.gov>.

11 .See Loi modifiant la loi du 16 juin 1993 relative a la repression des violations graves du droit international humanitaire etl'article 144ter du Code judiciaire, MONITEUR BELGE 24846 (May 7,2003); see also Richard Bernstein, Belgium Rethinks Its Prosecutorial Zea/, N.Y. TIMES, Apr. 1,2003, at A8 (reporting on accelerated parliamentary action on the amendment in the aftermath of the suit against former President Bush).

12 See Loi modifiant la loi du 16 juin 1993 relative a la repression des violations graves du droit international humanitaire et l'article 144ter du Code judiciaire, Art. 5.

13 Id.

14 The text of the criminal complaint is available in French at <http://belgium.indymedia.org/uploads/plainte.pdf>.

15 Philip T. Reeker, Dep't of State Deputy Spokesman, U.S. Dep't of State Daily Press Briefing at 6 (May 14, 2003), at <http://www.state.gov>. The chairman of the (U.S.) Joint Chiefs of Staff was quoted as considering the need to relocate NATO headquarters if Belgium failed to prevent such lawsuits in the future. See David Wastell, America Threatens to Move NATO After Franks Is ‘Charged,’ SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, May 18, 2003, at 31.

16 Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, U.S. Dep't of Defense News Transcript (June 12, 2003), a(<http:// www.dod.gov>; see Vernon Loeb, Rumsfeld Says Belgian Law Could Imperil Funds for NATO, WASH. POST, June 13, 2003, at A24; see also Richard Boucher, Dep't of State Spokesman, U.S. Dep't of State Daily Press Briefing at 10-11 (June 13,2003), «(<http://www.state.gov> (noting that the “Secretary of State has raised these concerns in public and in private with the Belgians. The Secretary of Defense has raised diem in public and in private with the Belgians. The goal is to get them to change the law, and none of these other questions will arise.“).

17 See Craig S. Smith, Belgium Resists Pressure from U.S. to Repeal War Crimes Law, N.Y. TIMES, June 14, 2003, at A5 (quoting Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel).

18 See New War Crimes Suits Filed Against Bush, Blair in Belgium, DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR, June 20, 2003; Philip T. Reeker, Dep't of State Spokesman, U.S. Dep't of State Daily Press Briefing at 3-6 (June 20, 2003), at <http:// www.state.gov>.

19 ,S'«?Craig S. Smith, Belgium Plans to Amend Law on War Crimes, N.Y. TIMES, June 23, 2003, at A8; Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Press Release on the Law on Universal Jurisdiction Reviewed (June 24, 2003), at <http:// www.diplomatie.be>.

20 See Loi relative aux violations graves du droit international humanitaire, MONITEUR BELGE 40506 (Aug. 7,2003); see also Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Press Release on Conseil des Ministres: Loi de competence universelle (July 14, 2003), at <http://www.diplomatie.be/fr/press/default.asp> (“La loide 1993, modifiee en 1999 et 2003, est abrogee. Les dispositions utiles sont integrees en droit commun. L'avant projet de loi est base sur une etude comparative de la legislation en vigueur dans une serie des pays occidentaux. Cette etude a revele que la plupart de ces pays avaient instaure une competence universelle limitee, tout en conservant neanmoins les regies d'immunite du droit international et du droit coutumier ainsi qu'un point de rattachement personnel (auteur et/ou victime) ou territorial clair avec le pays.… On abouut ainsi a une legislation lineaire et transparent qui ne laisse plus de place a une appreciation politique d'opportunite des affaires … .“).

21 Loi relative aux violations graves du droit international humanitaire, Arts. 14–16.

22 Id., Art. 16. If the prosecution refuses prosecution based on considerations unrelated to the merits of the complaint, however, and the facts giving rise to the complaint occurred afterjune 30,2002, the minister ofjustice must notify the International Criminal Court.

23 Id., Art. 13.

24 Id.

25 See Glenn Frankel, Belgian War Crimes Law Undone by Its Global Reach, WASH. POST, Sept. 30, 2003, at A1.