Exiles Seek Castro's Indictment in Belgium

BRUSSELS, Oct. 3 -- Cuban exiles plan to file suit against Fidel Castro under Belgium's far-reaching war crimes law, accusing the Cuban president of human rights abuses committed during his 42 years in power, their lawyer said today.

Larry Klayman, representing 10 Cuban plaintiffs, said he and four clients would file a complaint in Brussels criminal court Thursday. Castro "is charged with murder, torture and violation of human rights," Klayman said.

The case is being brought under a controversial law that asserts that Belgian courts have universal jurisdiction to prosecute foreigners for alleged human rights abuses and war crimes committed abroad.

The law is at the center of an attempt to try Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, over a 1982 massacre of Palestinians in Israeli-occupied Lebanon. Sharon was defense minister when the massacre occurred. An appeals court is debating whether Sharon can be prosecuted in Belgium.

Klayman said the primary plaintiff in the Castro lawsuit was Jose Basulto, who heads the Miami-based Cuban-American group Brothers to the Rescue. Four members of the group were killed in 1996 after two planes they were piloting were shot down over the Florida Straits. The incident further aggravated relations between the United States and Cuba.

One Cuban has been convicted in a U.S. court in connection with the shootdown. He was found guilty of conspiracy to murder. In August, 105,000 people petitioned the United States to indict Castro and his brother Raul Castro on murder charges.

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