A Belgian appeals court has thrown out a lawsuit accusing Ariel Sharon of crimes against humanity, on a technicality. I know at least one family member whose job will become a lot easier:-)

As the article underscores, neither the Lebanese who filed the lawsuit nor the Israeli government have ever seen this as a legal proceeding, but as a political means to an end. For Belgium, the law was intended to be among the most progressive in the world in terms of prosecuting violations of human rights, but it turned into a nightmare when complaints brought by citizens affected bilateral relations between Belgium and the states whose heads were indicted. The law in effect allowed individuals to form Belgian foreign policy. Also, it promoted tit-for-tat retributions–in addition to Sharon, Arafat was indicted as well, and so was Saddam Hussein, I believe.

But now the law has been defanged. And a good thing too, because one embarrassing aspect of this law is that it is meant to have universal jurisdiction–nobody in the world is immune. Nobody, that is, except for Belgian members of parliament, who are immune to Belgian laws.