MIAMI, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- A group of Cubans mostly from Miami filed criminal charges against Fidel Castro and his Cuban regime Thursday in Belgium, it was announced in Miami.
The complaint used a 1993 Belgian law that allows prosecution for human rights violations anywhere in the world.
Castro is being charged with "crimes against humanity," over four decades, including a 1996 MiG attack on two Brothers to the Rescue planes searching for refugees in rafts north of Cuban. Four Cuban Americans from Miami were killed in the attack.
Jose Basulto, founder of Brothers to the Rescue, was also on that mission but managed to hide his plane in a cloud and get away. He is one of 10 people who have signed the complaint in Belgium.
Also included in the effort are survivors of a tugboat that sank when it was rammed by Cuban gunboats in 1994. Forty-one people were killed.
The Belgium law, passed in 1993, was used earlier this year against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for a 1982 massacre at Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon when he was defense minister.
Sharon canceled a scheduled visit to Brussels earlier this year, and many said it was because of the investigation.
Belgium also was one of the countries seeking extradition of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Four Rwandans were sentenced to Belgian prisons this year after they were convicted of ethnic killings in Africa.
After an investigation, a Belgian judge could decide to issue an indictment naming Castro. That would make Castro subject to arrest anywhere in Europe under EU agreements regarding arrest reciprocity.
Larry Klayman, head of the conservative legal interest group Judicial Watch, is handling the complaint. He said the case against Castro is stronger than the one against Sharon.
"That was an isolated incident. We go back 42 years to show a pattern of behavior by Castro," he said.
Basulto said he expected others to join the effort.
"Right now there's just a few of us, but we expect many more names to be added to the complaint," he said.
The complaint names Castro and three others including his brother Raul, head of Cuba's armed forces. Maximum punishment is 30 years in prison.
