Naharnet - HRW Urges Lebanon to Resist Calls to Resume Executions - October 10, 2010

Lebanon should resist increasing calls to resume executions and instead work to abolish the punishment, Human Rights Watch said in a statement Sunday marking World Day Against The Death Penalty.Lebanon has not executed anyone since 2004 but there are growing calls from Lebanese politicians for the death penalty to be carried out against those convicted of spying for Israel and of belonging to armed jihadist groups, the rights group said. President Michel Suleiman, who must sign death warrants, said on July 1 that he will approve death penalties issued by military tribunals trying people on charges of spying and of terrorism cases. More than 100 people have been arrested on suspicion of espionage since April 2009, including telecom employees, members of the security forces and active duty troops. Many of the suspects are accused of having helped Israel identify targets during its devastating 2006 war with militants of the Shiite movement Hezbollah. Five of those tried have been sentenced to death for spying for Israel's Mossad overseas intelligence service. Lebanon and Israel remain technically in a state of war, and convicted spies face life in prison with hard labor or the death penalty if found guilty of contributing to Lebanese loss of life. Human Rights Watch in its statement also stressed that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has called for the speedy application of death sentences against anyone convicted of collaborating with Israel. "The death penalty is making a comeback just when Lebanon was on the verge of discussing banning the practice," said Nadim Houry, HRW director in Lebanon. "If executions resume in Lebanon, there is a very real possibility that the state will execute innocent people," Houry said.(AFP)