April 26, 2010 - Daily Star - STL releases first annual report on trial progress

BEIRUT: President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) Antonio Cassese issued Friday the first annual report of the tribunal’s work after being referred by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to the Security Council. The report, which was obtained by pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat, will be considered as one of the UN’s official documents. It covers the period between March 1, 2009, and February 28, 2010, and labeled the first year of STL’s work as a period of “vital importance.” Also, the report covered the “tribunal’s achievements” and the challenges it faced due to extreme complication of the mission of dealing with terrorism on the international judicial level and because of the newness of this task. According to the report, STL’s 2010 budget increased to $55.4 million compared to $51.4 million in 2009. Cassese stressed that “despite the challenges that the tribunal will face, it intends to achieve justice free from any political or ideological chains, and based on complete mutual respect for the rights of the prosecuted as well as the victims.” “Accordingly, continuous efforts should be pursued to secure funding and judicial help from countries and international organizations,” he added. “In addition to all difficulties that international forensic tribunals usually suffer from, STL which is an international forensic tribunal dealing with terrorism cases, faces other problems pertaining to the investigation and collecting evidence,” said Cassese. “That’s why the tribunal should persist in overcoming those complications and challenges that constitute an undividable part of investigations in terrorist crimes and chasing the perpetrators,” he noted. In addition, the tribunal should tackle another major challenge for it is the first international judicial committee that decides on the responsibility of terrorism as a crime in itself, Cassese added.
According to the STL official, “the tribunal aims at improving the culture of accountability among the Lebanese.” Cassese emphasized that the STL aimed at reconciling Lebanese, a step enhanced by the quick revealing of truth. The STL was created by the UN Security Council in May 2007 to try suspects involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and other related crimes. – The Daily Star