The number of files concerning serious violations of international humanitarian law has increased sharply over the past year. In 2025, 83 new files were opened, according to the Federal Prosecutor's Office's annual report released on Tuesday.
This is the highest number since the establishment of the Federal Prosecutor's Office. In 2024, there were 33 new files.
To cope with this increased workload, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office is requesting the establishment of a specialised unit of investigators and the creation of a position for a specialised investigating judge.
In addition, more capacity must be made available to process the files. Otherwise, there is a risk that files will remain unprocessed, which would cause Belgium to violate various international treaties.
In total, 203 files concerning genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes are currently pending. One-fifth of these relate to the genocide in Rwanda (44 files).
Additionally, there are currently thirteen files concerning Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
Another striking trend revealed in the annual report is the increase in the number of requests for recusal. Last year, sixteen such requests were recorded, all of which were rejected. This represents almost a doubling compared to 2024, when nine requests for recusal were filed.
Requests for recusal are frequently filed, particularly in Dutch-language organised crime cases. The Federal Prosecutor's Office pointed out that all requests for recusal have been rejected to date, but that this consistently leads to a postponement.
Therefore, the Federal Prosecutor's Office believes that the current procedure is "insufficiently robust to deal with abuse of the procedure."
The Office therefore advocates for modernisation "to discourage requests that are purely motivated by delaying tactics." To this end, the outlines for the draft legislation were submitted to the competent minister at the end of October.
