War crimes case loses key witness 

Lema Mousilli

A grave assassination happened recently in the Middle East and authorities are scrambling to determine the perpetrator. Unfortunately, this isn't
your classic Sherlock Holmes case where Holmes must use his intense analytical and methodical techniques in order to crack the mystery.

The key witness for the prosecution in a war crimes indictment against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, was murdered in Lebanon.

Now, who would ever want to do such a thing? Especially when the key witness, former Lebanese Phalangist militia leader and government
minister Elie Hobeika, had promised to give evidence against Sharon in a Belgian court, which may try the Israeli leader for the murder of up to
2,000 unarmed Palestinian civilians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps?

Ariel Sharon, Israel's defense minister at the time, is the man who issued the order to massacre the refugees. The carnage unfolded over three
days, under the watchful eyes of the Israeli forces who had occupied Beirut and surrounded the camps. Hundreds of the victims were stabbed to
death.

Survivors of the massacre report that hundreds of women were gang-raped and then left for dead. More than 400 of the victims were buried at the
camps' entrances, while hundreds of others were secretly buried during the massacre.

Now, several years later, Sharon faces the grim prospect of setting international precedent by becoming the first serving prime minister to stand
trial for crimes against humanity.

The Sabra-Shatila slaughter, which has haunted Sharon's political career for the past 19 years, re-emerged as a key factor because some of its
victims have brought legal cases against him in Brussels. Twenty-eight Palestinian survivors of the Sabra-Shatila massacre filed a lawsuit a few
months ago in a Belgian court against Sharon and other Israelis and Lebanese considered responsible for the killings in 1982.

The plaintiffs took advantage of a 1993 Belgian law that gives local courts jurisdiction over violations of the Geneva War Crimes Convention,
allowing claimants to seek cases against foreigners suspected of crimes against humanity, no matter where on earth they occurred.

A 1999 amendment to the law removed the immunity from prosecution usually reserved for serving heads of state. If found guilty, Sharon faces life
imprisonment and may have to pay compensation to the survivors of the Sabra and Shatila massacre.

In response to public outrage and grief in Israel, in 1983 the Israeli government formed the Kahan Commission of Inquiry to investigate what
occurred in the Sabra-Shatila camps. The Kahan Commission concluded that the Israeli forces present around the camps knew of the atrocities
that were being committed but did not act to prevent them.

The commission also found that Sharon was unsuitable for the position of Defense Minister and therefore recommended his resignation.

The key witness who was murdered, Elie Hobeika, was head of intelligence for the Lebanese Christian militia. It is widely believed he was tasked
with sending his militiamen into the camps to carry out the massacre, under order of the Israelis.

Hobeika came forward recently to claim innocence in the massacre and express his willingness to travel to Belgium and testify in court against
Sharon. He claimed to have convincing evidence that would clear his name and critical information that would tell a very different story than the
one the Kahan Commission reported.

Elie Hobeika, however, will certainly not present the evidence he (and obviously those who murdered him) deemed highly crucial. The
elimination of the key witness who offered to assist with the Belgian inquiry is an obvious attempt to undermine efforts to bring a war criminal to
justice.

Mousilli, a senior English and
political science major, can be reached at lema@mousilli.com.