Links
UK to restrict prosecution for war crimes abroad
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Thursday he would block private groups from launching war crimes prosecutions against visiting foreign dignitaries, following a controversy inflamed by an arrest warrant for former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
Brown said that Britain's principle of universal jurisdiction–a wide-ranging legal concept that allows judges to issue warrants for nearly any visitor accused of committing war crimes anywhere in the world–was being abused.
While heads of state and senior ministers enjoy immunity, pro-Palestinian groups have used the law to try to arrest former or retired Israeli officials, including Livni, who now serves as opposition leader, and retired Gen. Doron Almog, who narrowly dodged arrest at Britain's Heathrow Airport in 2005.