Until the completion of an in-depth investigation, it will not be possible to determine the exact responsibilities of the protagonists of these crimes. The Kahan Commission Report concluded that Defence Minister Ariel Sharon bore personal responsibility for the Sabra and Shatila massacres. It also indicated the responsibility of Lieutenant General Rafael Eitan, Commandant Brigadier General Amos Yaron and Commandant Major General Drori, as well as that of the Phalangist leaders.
The central figure is unquestionably General Ariel Sharon, then Israeli Defence Minister, who personally directed the military operations in Lebanon and who was in Beirut at the time of the events. Mr Sharon is currently Prime Minister of Israel.
Certain information indicates that Mr Sharon, although preferring to allow his local collaborators to perform the massacre in the camps, might have planned it with a view to terrorising the entirety of the Palestinian population of the Lebanon into leaving, or retreating to the north of the country.
The constituent elements of these indications are Sharon’s public announcement that “2,000 terrorists remain in the camps” and his declaration before an assembly of Phalangists after the assassination of their leader Gemayel that they “shouldn’t cry like women,” but rather that they must “act like men,” making explicit reference to the Palestinian camps.
It is noteworthy that in the weeks leading up to the massacre, other war crimes were committed against the civilian Palestinian population of South Lebanon, notably in Tyre and Sidon.[77]
Concerning the Phalangist militia, they could be considered de facto auxiliary forces to the military power occupying South Lebanon and Beirut at the time. These militia were armed and trained by Israel. Their leaders would not have been able to take any initiative that contradicted the will of the occupying power, and the operations they carried out were devised and prepared in collaboration with the Israeli military leaders.[78]
Finally, it was the Israeli army that created the necessary environment for the crime to take place, notably by surrounding the camps with troops, providing logistical support to the militia and illuminating the camps throughout each night.
As for the main executioners, one can refer to the names cited in the Kahan reports and in the works of Kapeliouk and Schiff and Ya'ari.[79]
It is worth considering Article 4 of the law of 16 June 1993 concerning the inclusion of participatory acts to the crime in the sense of Articles 66 and 67 of the Penal Code, and failing actively to intervene to prevent or put an end to the offence in the event that it is possible to do so. This last incrimination – that of the responsibility of the superior [or command responsibility] – has its origin in the jurisprudence of the Nuremberg tribunals and was clearly marked in Articles 86 and 87 of the 1977 Geneva Protocol 1. These regulations relating to the responsibility of the superior are also present in customary law.[80],[81] Related to this point is the fact that the law of 16 June 1993 has not created a new incrimination. Article 4 of this law states and confirms a pre-existing regulation in international customary law. As such, and in light of Articles 7.2 of the ECHR and 15.2 of the 1966 International Pact on Civil and Political Rights, it can be applied to the facts of the present case.
Regarding the responsibility of the superior, it is necessary to add that it applies not only to offences committed by persons in a formally subordinate relationship, but also to all other persons – whether soldiers or not – who, at the time of the offence find themselves under the control of the superior. The tie of subordination is estimated both de jure and de facto.[82]
The plaintiffs bring a civil indictment against Ariel SHARON, Israeli Defence Minister at the time of the events and currently Prime Minister; against Amos YARON, commander of the division and Brigadier General at the time of the events and currently Secretary General of the Defence Ministry, and against all other persons, whether Lebanese or Israeli, whose responsibility will be established during the course of the investigation.
The plaintiffs claim compensation for all the crimes encompassed in the present complaint that caused them harm.
Awaiting the results of the investigation, they have provisionally estimated their damages, per plaintiff, at the sum of 
1 for moral damages and 1 for material damages.
[The Case Against The Accused]
The above text is an extract from the Complaint lodged in Belgium against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Amos Yaron and other Israelis and Lebanese responsible for the massacre. The full text of the Complaint can be found in the section of this website titled The Case Against The Accused.
[The Case Against The Accused]
Dr. Laurie King-Irani is North American Coordinator of International Campaign for Justice for the Victims of Sabra & Shatila. For media queries, write to coordinator@indictsharon.net. For website queries, write to webmaster@indictsharon.net.
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This page is part of indictsharon.net, the website of the International Campaign for Justice for the Victims of Sabra & Shatila, offering news on the case lodged in Belgium against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other Israelis and Lebanese responsible for the massacre, killing, rape and disappearance of civilians that took place in Beirut between 16 and 18 September 1982 in the camps of Sabra and Shatila and the surrounding area.
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