Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal News Blogs -> JURIST - The Paper Chase

Legal News

: JURIST - The Paper Chase

Spain court to investigate Israeli role in 2002 Gaza bombing

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] A judge for the National Court of Spain ordered an investigation Thursday of former Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer and six soldiers under his command for alleged crimes against humanity committed in a 2002 attack in the Gaza Strip. Judge Fernando Andreu issued the order in response to a complaint brought by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in regards to the 2002 bombing of former Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh's home in Gaza City that killed 15 people, including Shehadeh and his family, and resulted in approximately 140 injuries. Andreu found universal jurisdiction for the case under Article 23.4 of the Judicial Power Organization Act, which allows Spanish courts to prosecute people outside of Spain for war crimes, even when no Spanish citizens are involved. Andreu's order was heavily criticized by Ben-Eliezer and Defense Minister Ehud Barak as well as opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced on Sunday that he would protect members of the Israeli military involved in the current Gaza conflict from foreign prosecution for war crimes. Spanish courts have attempted to the principle of universal jurisdiction to try several other international cases, including allegations of war crimes and genocide in Tibet, Guatemala, and China. In 1998, the National Court of Spain invoked universal jurisdiction to issue an arrest warrant for former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on January 29, 2009 (boomark / email).