Court allows French prosecution of "Beach" case to continue

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has rejected a petition filed by the Republic of Congo 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. In its order, the court found, by 14 votes to one, "that the circumstances, as they now present themselves to [it], are not such as to require the exercise of its power under Article 41 of the Statute to indicate provisional measures". The ruling meant that France could continue hearings in the case filed against the inspector-general of Congo's armed forces, Gen Norbert Dabira, before the High Court in the French town of Meaux for alleged crimes of torture, forced disappearance and crimes against humanity. However, the ICJ, the principal judicial organ of the UN, reserved the right to intervene at a later date if it deemed such action to be necessary. As for prosecution of other members of the Brazzaville administration - including President Denis Sassou-Nguesso; Minister of the Interior Pierre Oba, and Presidential Guard Commander Blaise Adoua - the court noted that no action had yet been taken against them that warranted its intervention. In its 9 December 2002 petition, Brazzaville stated that France had no right to exercise its authority on Congolese territory, an equal sovereign state. The court has not yet ruled on this matter, the deliberation of which "could take up to one or two years", according to an ICJ spokesperson. 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. The Congolese 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 the Congo, is today its main trading partner and provider of bilateral aid. [For the complete court order, as well as individual justices' opinions on the matter, go to: www.icj-cij.org]