Congo Kinshasa
Belgium ordered to drop case against Congolese minister

afrol News, 15 February - The International Court of Justice in The Hague yesterday ruled that an arrest warrant for crimes under international law could not be issued against a minister of foreign affairs while in office. Belgium should drop its case against the Foreign Minister of Congo Kinshasa (DRC).

Yerodia Aboulaye Ndombasi, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Congo Kinshasa, was charged with initiating racial hate against the Tutsi minority - a crime against humanity as seen by the Belgian judge Damien Vandermeersch. Vandermeersch issued an international arrest warrant seeking the provisional detention of Ndombasi on 11 April 2000.

Ndombasi is accused of "giving various public speeches quoted in the media inciting ethnic hatred, speeches which led to the massacre of several hundred people, mostly of Tutsi origin." This is alleged to have occurred on 4 and 27 August 1998, when Ndombasi was Director of the Office of President Laurent Kabila. However, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs when the warrant was issued.

Congo Kinshasa brought the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in October 2000 in an attempt to block Belgium's international arrest warrant. 

The ICJ yesterday found that the international circulation by Belgium of the arrest warrant against Ndombasi failed to respect the immunity from criminal jurisdiction and the inviolability which the incumbent Minister for Foreign Affairs enjoyed under international law. 

The Court further ruled "the Kingdom of Belgium must, by means of its own choosing, cancel the arrest warrant of 11 April 2000 and so inform the authorities to whom that warrant was circulated".

The ICJ came as a negative surprise for human rights activists, feeling they were gaining momentum on the issue of not granting impunity to state leaders and officials committing crimes against humanity. Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International regretted the ICJ ruling.

- Today's ruling by the International Court of Justice that incumbent ministers of foreign affairs are immune from prosecution for crimes under international law, including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, is a major setback for the fight against impunity, Amnesty stated yesterday.

- This decision effectively shields some state officials from prosecution for atrocities, said Reed Brody of Human Rights Watch. "Government ministers who commit serious crimes are not likely to be prosecuted at home, and this ruling means they will enjoy impunity abroad as well, at least while they are in office. This decision goes against the international trend towards accountability for the worst abuses, but it should not stop Belgium from pursuing cases against perpetrators no longer covered by immunity."

Observers are still confused by the implications this ruling may have. One expects the prepared case against the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has experienced a serious blow - the Israeli government already has expressed it is "content" with the ruling.

Human Rights Watch however sees many possibilities of the Belgian courts in future, even if the ICJ's ruling is accepted. The group especially pointed to the case of Hissène Habré, former Chadian dictator hiding out in Senegal. 

A group of Habré's victims, including several Belgian citizens, are now seeking Habré's extradition to stand trial in Belgium, and the President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade, has recently agreed, after a plea by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, to hold Habré in Senegal pending an extradition request from Belgium. That case is now before Investigating Judge Daniel Fransen of the Brussels district court, who will soon visit Chad to investigate Hissène Habré's crimes.

Source: Based on ICJ, UN, Amnesty, HRW and afrol archives

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