Daily Star staff
Friday, March 11, 2011
BEIRUT: Investigations into the reported kidnapping of four Syrian nationals in Lebanon are being conducted in a responsible manner and positive results might be reached soon, judicial and security sources told The Daily Star Thursday.
Judicial sources said that concerned security bodies were carrying out intensified investigations over the matter under the supervision of Judge Sami Sader, the government’s deputy commissioner at the Military Tribunal.
The efforts are aimed at determining the exact circumstances behind the incident, as well as where it took place, in a bid to unveil the fate of the Syrians and take suitable measures against the perpetrators after identifying them.
The same sources said a number of individuals, along with members from the families of the captives, were being investigated.
The sources were optimistic over progress in probes and the possibility of reaching a positive result soon. Syrian national, Jassem Merhi Jassem, alongside at least six other Syrian nationals, was detained last month by security forces for handing out leaflets condemning the Syrian regime.
Plain-clothed police allegedly made their way to his home that evening and confiscated his computer but security personnel released all of the Syrians the next day.
However, Jassem never returned home and disappeared along with his two brothers, who had gone to collect him. Jassem’s wife, Thakila, later claims she received phone calls informing her that Jassem had been taken to Syria and was “willingly” accompanied back to Damascus by his brothers. Another brother, Ahmad Jassem, originally detained on Feb. 23, is now also missing, but it is still unclear whether he has purposefully gone into hiding after being summoned again by Military Intelligence for additional questioning.
A security source told The Daily Star “security bodies are dealing in a responsible manner with information related to the kidnapping of Syrian citizens, and it is pursuing the case under the supervision of the Military Judiciary.”
The source said that reports saying that an Internal Security Forces officer was involved in the abduction were being investigated, saying that if they were confirmed, “disciplinary measures will be taken after judicial probes finish and responsibilities in the matter are determined.”
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch said that an independent inquiry must be launched into the disappearance of the three Syrian brothers.
The results of the investigation must be made public, it said, calling on Military Intelligence to explain the reasons behind the detentions.
The call comes a day after caretaker Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud announced the case had been officially opened by the judiciary, following the conclusion of the ISF’s investigation.
“We fear that Lebanon may be back to doing Syria’s dirty job of shutting up its critics,” said HRW Lebanon director Nadim Houry. “Lebanon’s judiciary should open an independent inquiry into why the Syrian men were detained in the first place and the murky events surrounding the disappearance of Jassem … and his two brothers.”
“Given Lebanon’s painful history of people being detained and illegally transferred to Syria, the disappearance of the three Jassem brothers should concern the highest levels of the Lebanese state,” Houry said. “Only a credible and transparent investigation will put to rest fears that Lebanon’s security services may have acted outside the law.”
Minyeh MP Ahmad Fatfat Tuesday pledged to uncover the truth behind the missing Syrians. “We urge Lebanese to stand alert against attempts by those wearing black shirts to set the clock back,” he said in reference to the almost 30-year Syrian occupation of Lebanon which ended with the “Cedar Revolution” in 2005.
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