Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office has hired a Belgian attorney to handle the possible legal consequences of a lawsuit filed in Belgium against Sharon for involvement in the massacres in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Beirut during Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, Army Radio said Thursday, cited by Haaretz newspaper.
Israel has received reports that similar lawsuits could be filed soon against army Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz and his air force commander, Major-General Dan Halutz, for human rights violations tied to Israeli army operations in the occupied Palestinian territories in recent months, it said.
In response to the appeals of a number of present and past senior security officers, Haaretz said that the foreign ministry had 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 violations.
Sources in the ministry warned that prominent Israeli and Shin Bet security service officers, who have appeared in the press in connection with their past or present jobs, might be subject to prosecution in some European countries.
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 militiamen from entering the Palestinian refugee camps and slaughtering hundreds of residents in a revenge operation.
The lawsuit against Sharon was closely followed by complaints from Danish parliamentary and human rights groups against Carmi Gillon, the former Shin Bet chief recently appointed ambassador to Denmark.
Several high-ranking security officers, both past and present, have recently asked the ministry whether they might face difficulties traveling through Europe, Haaretz said.
According to a ministry source, "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."
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 former Chilean dictator Augustus Pinochet took place; and Britain.
Meanwhile, Israeli-Danish diplomatic relations are in a crisis a month after the appointment Gillon as ambassador to Denmark, with diplomatic sources in Copenhagen saying they want Gillon to step aside lest the crisis worsen, the paper added.
The scandal broke out a month ago, shortly after Gillon's appointment was announced, when he gave an interview in which he said Israel might have to resume using "moderate physical pressure" as a means to fight terror.
Denmark is one of the leading European countries pressing for legal action to be taken against torturers, and it is the home of the Danish Rehabilitation Center for Torture Victims, a leading international lobbying organization against torture and for the rehabilitation of torture victims.
A Danish public opinion survey published this week showed that 55 percent of Danes are against Gillon's appointment, while 75 percent regard "moderate physical pressure" as torture, according to the paper.
Israel said Wednesday that it still intended to send Gillon to Denmark, despite a warning that he could face arrest there. Justice Minister Frank Jensen hinted earlier this week that Gillon could be arrested in Denmark for violating a United Nations convention against torture. But in a statement issued Wednesday, Jensen said Gillon would not be arrested because he would enjoy diplomatic immunity as an ambassador.
However, Danish courts could yet decide that the UN Treaty against Torture overrides the Vienna Treaty, which grants diplomats immunity.
Either way, the Danish media, backed by human rights organizations there, is not giving up on the story.
Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem were quoted by Haaretz as rejecting the Danish criticism out of hand.
They said that focusing on Gillon was hypocritical.
Denmark, said sources in the foreign ministry, “never took action against two former heads of organizations that conducted torture: Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Russian President Vladimir Putin.”
Besides, said other sources in Jerusalem, "this is a matter of principle. If Gillon is ruled out it's a dangerous precedent that could prevent the appointment of anyone with a military background in the future." – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
