Report: Tommy Franks could face war crimes charges

Iraqi civilians are preparing to take Allied commander Gen Tommy Franks to court in Belgium, accusing him and other US military officials of war crimes in Iraq, it was reported today.

The complaint will say coalition forces are responsible for the indiscriminate killing of Iraqi civilians, the bombing of a Baghdad market, the shooting of an ambulance and the failure to stop hospitals being looted, said Jan Fermon, a Brussels-based lawyer.

He is representing about 10 Iraqis who say they were victims of or eyewitnesses to atrocities committed during Operation Iraqi Freedom, The Washington Times said.

Fermon said the complaint will ask an investigative magistrate to look into whether indictments should be issued against Gen Franks. If an indictment is filed against the general and other US officials, they could be convicted and sentenced by a Belgian court.

“Belgium could issue international arrest warrants, but I don’t think we will get to that point,” he told the newspaper.

If arrest warrants were issued, American officials could be arrested upon entering Belgium.

The Bush administration has reacted angrily to the complaint.

A senior US official warned that “there will be diplomatic consequences for Belgium” if the complaint is taken up by a court there and Belgian authorities issue indictments against Gen Franks and other US officials.

“The complaint will be filed stating that unknown American personnel are directly responsible for committing war crimes in Iraq,” Fermon said.

“On some of these questions there is an issue of command responsibility for atrocities committed on the ground, and that responsibility ends with Gen Franks and those who are under him in the US military line of command,” he said.

The administration official said the complaint highlights US concerns that laws regarding war crimes and institutions such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) can be used to initiate politically motivated prosecutions against American officials.

“This is obviously not a political case with the ICC, but it is typical of what we can expect in the future,” he said.

Fermon said that because under international law President George Bush and US Secretary of State Colin Powell cannot be prosecuted for war crimes while they are in office, the complaint will target Gen Franks and other US military officials.

“US military officials had the authority but did nothing to stop these war crimes from occurring,” he said. “A military commander is responsible for war crimes even if he did not commit or order them, but also if he fails to take all the necessary steps to prevent the atrocities from happening.”

Fermon said the complaint against US officials is based on a 1993 Belgian law that gives a Belgian court authority to judge war crimes committed by non-citizens anywhere in the world.