Assembly/AU/ 14 (XI) Page 14 Complaints were also filed against certain officials of the United States including President George Bush and Colin Powell, the then U.S. Secretary of State in 2003. 61. Colin Powell, in his capacity as Secretary of State, in 2003 highlighted the problem of harassment, risk and difficulty for public officials to carry out their duties in the face of such intrusive legislation. Due to political pressure from the United States, the controversial universal jurisdiction legislation of Belgium was amended twice in 2003.xcii The amendments were done in the aftermath of the International Court of Justice decision in the Arrest Warrant case xciii and are in line with the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.xciv. 62. The first amendment to the Law came in April 2003 and limited the ability of victims to file complaints directly only where there exists a link between Belgium and the offensive act, for instance where the alleged offender is within Belgian territory, if the act occurred within Belgian territory or if the victim of the act is of Belgian nationality or has resided in Belgium for a period of at least three years. 63. In the absence of the links stated above, the amendment of April 2003 provided that cases can be brought by the State Prosecutor unless the complaint is manifestly without merit, or the complaint does not allege a violation of the Law, does not fall within the competence of the Belgian courts, or in the interests of justice and respect for the international obligations of Belgium, the case should be transferred to another court, so long as that jurisdiction upholds the right of the accused to a fair trial. Effectively, the 2003 amendment provided that jurisdiction was to be on the traditional grounds of territoriality or nationality. The amendment of the Law also provides for the power of the government to refer certain cases out of Belgium and also for Belgian courts to cooperate with the International Criminal Court. 64. Despite these amendments, some nationals of Iraq and Jordan filed a criminal complaint in Belgium against a General of the U.S. Army for alleged war crimes during the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the Coalition forces. The Belgian government referred the case to the U.S. but the U.S was dissatisfied with the Law and threatened that the continued existence of the Law had dire consequences for Belgium’s continued status as the host State of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Belgium further amended the Law in August 2003, after a criminal complaint was filed against President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom for the use of force in Iraq in 2003. 65. As the Law currently stands, complaints can only be filed based on nationality or residence of the offender or the victim. It also gives the State Prosecutor the discretion to initiate proceedings based on respect for the existing international obligations of Belgium. The Law rules out complaints being filed against State Officials, including Heads of State and Foreign Ministers, who are entitled to jurisdictional immunities; and also prohibits enforcement against persons present in Belgium at the official invitation of the Government of Belgium or in connection with an international organisation in Belgium pursuant to a headquarters agreement. xcv 66. However before the amendment of the Law, an investigating Magistrate in Belgium issued an international arrest warrant on 11 April 2000 through the Interpol against the then incumbent Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mr Yerodia Ndombasi, alleging crimes against humanity and breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and its Additional Protocols. The Congo instituted proceedings before the International Court of Justice contending that Belgium had, by issuing and circulating the arrest warrant, violated the sovereignty and sovereign equality of the Congo as well as violated the diplomatic