Another positive development has been the strong and immediate public reaction in various countries in opposition to recent attempts to restrict the 1993 Statute Law too narrowly. We are pleased with the joint initiative of victims of crimes committed in Rwanda, Guatemala, and Chad, with whom we met in Brussels yesterday and who have mobilised NGOs throughout the world in support of an effective protection of the Belgium's Universal Jurisdiction law.

We particularly welcome the thorough study issued by Amnesty International yesterday, entitled "Belgian court has jurisdiction in the Sharon case to investigate Sabra and Shatila killings." We formally deposited this study at the court hearing this morning.

Mrs. Samiha Hijazi, one of the 28 original plaintiffs on whose behalf we lodged the complaint on 18 June 2001, came from Sabra and Shatila to attend the hearing in Brussels. Mrs. Samiha Hijazi lost her 10-year-old son and her newlywed 17-year old daughter in the massacre.

We are confident that the decision of the court, announced for 26 June 2002, will finally open the road to justice to the victims of one of the greatest unpunished crimes of the 20th century.

Luc Walleyn, Michaël Verhaeghe, and Chibli Mallat

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Please see http://www.indictsharon.net for more details.

For more information please visit http://www.amnesty.org