ICJ completes hearings on French prosecution of "Beach" case

The International Court of Justice has completed public hearings on a petition filed by the Republic of Congo (ROC) seeking to prevent France from conducting trials against members of its government for alleged violations of human rights, the court reported from The Hague, Netherlands, on Tuesday. The court said its decision on the matter would be delivered "in the coming weeks" on a date to be determined. In its 9 December 2002 petition, ROC stated that France had no right to exercise its authority on Congolese territory, which was an equal sovereign state. Moreover, a warrant issued instructing police to examine ROC President Denis Sassou-Nguesso as a witness violated the "criminal immunity of a foreign head of state". The ROC government has asked the court to annul all investigation and prosecution efforts France has made. The case is based on the events of May 1999, when thousands of Congolese who had fled fighting that had plagued Brazzaville since 1998 chose to return to the capital, taking advantage of a "humanitarian corridor" established by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Numerous sources present at the time determined that at least 350 individuals had "disappeared" during their return from exile. They have become known as the "Disparus du Beach" - those who disappeared from Brazzaville's port known as "le Beach" on the River Congo. Since December 2001, a case against members of the Brazzaville administration - including Sassou-Nguesso; Minister of the Interior Pierre Oba; inspector-general of the armed forces Gen Norbert Dabira; the commander of the Republican Guard, Blaise Adoua; and other individuals - has been pending before the High Court in the French town of Meaux for alleged crimes of torture, forced disappearance and crimes against humanity. The ROC government is conducting its own hearings before its Tribunal de Grande Instance in the capital, Brazzaville, under Judge Patrice Ndzouala. France, the former colonial ruler of ROC, is today its main trading partner and provider of bilateral aid. [Verbatim records of the hearings are available on the international court's website at: www.icj-cij.org]