At a news conference in Brussels Thursday evening, Rumsfeld threatened Belgium that it risked losing its status as host to NATO's headquarters if it did not rescind a law that permits prosecutions in Belgium for atrocities committed abroad.
That law has resulted in a landmark trial of four Rwandans for involvement in the 1994 genocide in their country and the lodging of dozens of other complaints against foreign leaders, including U.S. officials. After both Belgian politicians and human rights groups expressed concern over potential abuse of the law, however, the Belgian parliament adopted amendments in April 2003 to create °filters" that limit the ability of victims to directly file cases with no connection to Belgium and to authorize the government to refer cases to other countries.
"The Belgian law offers a court of last resort for atrocity victims, and it now provides ample protection against misdirected cases," said Reed Brody, counsel with Human Rights Watch. "Rumsfeld should have read the new law before lashing out."
Under the new amendments, the Belgian government recently referred to the United States a case against Gen. Tommy Franks, the American commander of the Iraq war.
