The Indict Sharon Campaign

Information on CAMPAIGN TO INDICT SHARON FOR WAR CRIMES:

Al-Awda-UK is supporting the Campaign to Indict and Prosecute Ariel Sharon for War Crimes and crimes against humanity spanning a half-century. These include, most notably, an attack Sharon led as an Israeli military officer on the West Bank village of Qibya in 1953, in which 69 civilians were murdered, and his role as the architect of Israel's brutal 1982 invasion of Lebanon. That invasion led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Lebanese and Palestinian civilians, massive displacement of the civilian population, and culminated in the infamous massacre of up to 3,000 civilians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut in 1982 (from Indict Sharon Now Campaign).

Following the massacres in Sabra and Shatilla during the war in Lebanon in 1982, an internal Israeli commission of inquiry forced the resignation of the then Israeli Defence Minister, Ariel Sharon. An Early Day Motion introduced in the House of Commons, and signed by 15 MPs, states that they:

'[believe] there is sufficient prima facie evidence to indicate that Ariel Sharon, now the Israeli Prime Minister, should be tried for war crimes'. The EDM calls upon the 'international community to ensure that he is duly charged at the earliest possible opportunity'.

The State of Israel has consistently failed to investigate and prosecute Ariel Sharon for war crimes and crimes against humanity. In the absence of any domestic or international initiatives to hold Ariel Sharon accountable, an international campaign to indict and prosecute Sharon has been launched.

Al-Awda-UK is also supporting the war crimes suit currently being brought in Belgium by survivors from the Sabra and Shatilla massacres (see www.mallat.com).

LEGAL ISSUES

1. For further information about the war crimes suit in Belgium, please check: www.mallat.com. The website includes the full text of the complaint in French, contact addresses and a bank account for financial support of the claim of the victims of the Sabra and Shatila massacre.
2. For a background on the case, see CAABU Campaigns Current Campaigns - War Crimes? The Complaint Against Ariel Sharon for his involvement in the massacres at Sabra and Shatila: www.caabu.org
3. Useful information for journalists, not about the case per se, but the background and why Sharon is classifiable/indictable as a war criminal. http://electronicIntifada.net/forreference/keyfigures/sharon.html
4. For more on the BBC Panorama broadcast "The Accused" see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/audiovideo/programmes/panorama/newsid _1381000/1381328.stm
5. The statement issued by Human Rights Watch can be found at: www.hrw.org/press/2001/06/isr0622.htm
6. Full text (part I and II) of lawsuit against Ariel Sharon - in French http://www.pmwatch.org/pmw/manager/features/display_message.asp?mid=451 http://www.pmwatch.org/pmw/manager/features/display_message.asp?mid=452

EARLY DAY MOTION IN HOUSE OF COMMONS:

7. CAABU Chairman, John Austin MP, sponsors Early Day Motion congratulating Panorama and calling for Ariel Sharon to be tried for war crimes.
http://www.caabu.org/campaigns/complaint-against-sharon.html http://edm.ais.co.uk/weblink/html/motion.html/ref=10 (to see text and signatories)

The Text of Early Day Motion Number 10:

That this House congratulates the BBC for Panorama's recent in-depth analysis of the massacres in Sabra and Shatilla during the war in Lebanon in 1982; notes that following the massacres an internal Israeli commission of inquiry forced the resignation of the then Israeli Defence Minister, Ariel Sharon; believes there is sufficient prima facie evidence to indicate that Ariel Sharon, now the Israeli Prime Minister, should be tried for war crimes; and calls upon the international community to ensure that he is duly charged at the earliest possible opportunity.

ARTICLES

8. For a comprehensive list - see Electronic Intifada (www.electronicintifada.com)
Turin hoteles 3 estrellas 9. For background information see: Rosemary Sayyigh - Seven Day Horror: How the Sabra/Shatila Massacre was Buried with the Victims; in: al-Majdal No. 9 (March 2001); www.badil.org/Publications/Majdal/2001/majdal9.pdf
10. Article: International humanitarian law seems to be "growing teeth." But are these real cracks that we see in Israel's long-entrenched immunity? http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2001/542/fo3.htm Al-Ahram Weekly Online, 12 - 18 July 2001, Issue No.542
11. A lawsuit sprouts in Brussels: Civil rights lawyer Michele Hirsch has been retained to defend Ariel Sharon in the lawsuit filed against him by survivors of the Sabra and Chatila massacre. If she doesn't get the judge to drop the case, it's expected to be a long, bloody battle, by Sara Leibovich-Dar (Ha'aretz, August 10, 2001). To read the article, click here

From ELECTRONIC INTIFADA (www.electronicintifada.comRome cheap hotels) RELATED LINKS:

* Press release: Case opened against a head of state for war crimes: only 225 words about this reach the US media, The Electronic Intifada, 22 June 2001. Includes press release from lead attorney in the war crimes case.
* Transcript: "The Accused", Panorama, BBC, 17 June 2001.
* "Return of the Terrorist: The Crimes of Ariel Sharon" by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St.-Clair, Counterpunch, 7 February 2001.
* "The legacy of Ariel Sharon" by Robert Fisk, The Independent, 6 February 2001.
* "Is Ariel Sharon Israel's Milosevic?" by James Ron, Los Angeles Times, 5 February 2001. * "Sharon's return puts Wreckage Street in fear" by Phil Reeves, The Independent, 21 January 2001.
* Miftah's archive of articles about Sharon
* Worldbeaters: Ariel Sharon, New Internationalist magazine, No. 334, May 2001.