Please see for yourself. Check out the follwoing website:
www.pcpages.com/arabesque-sb/siege2a.htm

Ariel Sharon has outdone himself this time -- in Jenin.

All human beings throughout the world must stop this war criminal.

Please have your friends sign the petition against Sharon NOW, if they haven't already signed it...

Nearly 650,000 signatures have been collected.

Petition to try Sharon for war crimes picks up steam
By Tarek Sida

Special to Saudi Gazette

April 9, 2002

A petition being circulated by Belgian lawyers for an International Investigation Committee on Ariel Sharon’s crimes against humanity has picked up steam by going online. The lawyers are suing Israel’s prime minister for the 1982 massacres perpetrated in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in Beirut.

An e-mail plea sent all over the world calls on recipients to sign the petition online at:

www.petitiononline.com/warcrime

and forward it to all of one’s contacts. The lawyers need 1,000,000 signatures. So far, they have been able to gather nearly 400,000 signatures. The petition, on behalf of the people of this planet and the victims of the Sabra and Shatila massacres, is addressed to Mrs. Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. It accuses Sharon of violating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN resolutions and the Geneva Conventions.

In 1982, the Israeli Army – then under the total control of Israeli defense minister Ariel Sharon – was an occupying force in Beirut, Lebanon; and according to international law, it had the responsibility of protecting all civilians under its control. Sharon visited Beirut and “pledged total support for the Israeli allied Lebanese Christian Phalange militia; and gave them the green light to enter the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in west Beirut, which consequently resulted in the massacre, torture and rape of hundreds of unarmed civilians, mainly women and children.” According to the petition: "The Israeli Army was not only monitoring the camps and did nothing to stop the massacres, but as a matter of fact, it paved the path for Militias to enter the camps. It had direct and clear orders from the Israeli Defense Ministry not to interfere, and give a free hand and assistance to the Lebanese Christian Militia.”

Calling for justice for the victims of the Sabra and Shatila massacres, the petition declares: “Now the time has come, as all evidences and documents are gathered and ready, to set up an investigation committee in order to bring those responsible to justice regardless of their social or political status.”

Below is the text of the petiton:

A Petition for an International Committee on Ariel Sharon’s crimes against humanity

To: Mrs. Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

“History teaches that as long as the duty of justice has not been discharged, the spectre of war can re-emerge” – Judge Claude Jorda.

WE, the undersigned, as the people of this planet, call urgently on Mrs. Mary Robinson to set up a committee to investigate the involvement of Ariel Sharon in war crimes against humanity according to the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and UN General Assembly resolutions 260, 2391, 3074 and Security Council resolution 1296, on behalf of the victims of the 1982 massacre in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon. The UN’s resolutions have made it clear that the perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity and War Crimes should be prosecuted and duly punished. It is also made clear that the total protection of civilians in an occupied country is in the hands of the occupying army.

In 1982, the Israeli Army was an occupying force in Beirut (Lebanon); according to international law, they had the responsibility of protecting all civilians under their control. At that time, the Israeli Army was under the total control of the Israeli Defense Ministry, and Ariel Sharon was the Defense Minister. He visited Beirut and pledged total support for the Israeli allied Lebanese Christian Militia. Ariel Sharon himself gave the green light to Lebanese Christian Militia to enter the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in west Beirut, which consequently resulted in the massacre, torture and rape of hundreds of unarmed civilians, mainly women and children. The Israeli Army was not only monitoring the camps and did nothing to stop the massacres, but as a matter of fact, it paved the path for Militias to enter the camps. It had direct and clear orders from the Israeli Defense Ministry not to interfere, and give a free hand and assistance to the Lebanese Christian Militia.

As Judge Richard Goldstone put it: “There was a clear obligation on political and military leaders to take reasonable steps to protect civilians when they gave their orders. In a situation where civilians' lives were clearly at risk, the person giving orders was even more responsible than the ones carrying them out.”

With the outbreak of news of the massacres in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila, the Israeli public was outraged and went on demonstrations, and demanded the resignation of Ariel Sharon and an inquiry into the matter. The Israeli Knesset took action, and set up a parliamentary committee to investigate Ariel Sharon’s involvement in this inhumane act of atrocity. As a result of that inquiry, Ariel Sharon was found responsible for the actions of the Lebanese Christian Militia, and was consequently forced to resign from his post as Defense Minister. But of course, as he is an Israeli and these crimes were not committed against Israeli nationals, he was never charged and never appeared in any court of justice in Israel.

Now the time has come, as all evidences and documents are gathered and ready, to set up an investigation committee in order to bring those responsible to justice regardless of their social or political status.

May justice prevail and heal the wounds of the surviving victims.