Nearly 30 years after the end of Lebanon’s civil war, the Parliament has finally passed a law to investigate the fate of thousands of missing persons and to prosecute those responsible for their disappearance.
This law, which has now been put to the test of implementation in light of the political reality in Lebanon, has created a glimmer of hope for the missing persons’ families, some of whom have passed away, while others vowed to fight for their cause until the last day of their life.
The adoption of the law - though welcomed by the various political forces and human rights organizations - raised many doubts over its implementation in terms of accountability, the possibility of finding all the missing, and the Syrian regime’s recognition of hundreds of detainees in its prisons.
In comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, former Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar described the law as a “moral victory” to the families of the missing.
“Any law of such nature is meaningless if it is not coupled with the rule of non-passage of time on criminal acts,” he said, while praising at the same time the formation of a national body to investigate the fate of the missing.
“Based on my experience and the meetings of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri in Damascus in 2010, where we raised the case of the missing… we can be sure that the Syrian regime will repeat what it had already claimed that there are no detainees in its prisons,” Najjar said.
According to Lebanese human rights organizations and official records, 17,000 people disappeared between 1975 and 1990 in a war in which the various Lebanese parties that are currently in power have engaged.
The law will set up an official commission of inquiry to look into what happened to those who were forcibly disappeared.
It also gives the families the right to know their sons’ whereabouts or place of burial, as well as the right to exhume their bodies and identify them.
The law also stipulates that those responsible for forced disappearances can be punished by up to 15 years in jail and a fine of up to 20 million Lebanese pounds (around $13,000).
Rights organizations welcomed the adoption of the law. Rona Halabi, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said on Twitter that the law was a first step towards giving the families of the missing the right to know the fate of their loved ones.
The ICRC is ready to support the Lebanese authorities in enforcing this law, she said.
Caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil tweeted: “For the first time after the war, Lebanon enters a genuine reconciliation phase, to heal the wounds and give families the right to know.”
