The Daily Star - Lebanon failing prisoners in Syria: activists - June 27, 2011

By Dana Khraiche

The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Lebanon has not done enough to follow up on the potential release of Lebanese from Syrian prisons following the general amnesty declared by President Bashar Assad, activists said. Since May 31, Assad has issued two decrees of general amnesty, which include members of all political parties, yet no Lebanese prisoner has been released. “The Lebanese government should demand the release of people who should be on a list [provided by the Syrian government],” Ghazi Aaz, president of NGO Support of Lebanese in Detention and Exile (S.O.L.I.D.E) told The Daily Star Monday. “But they are waiting for the Syrians to decide who they would release and maintain in detention. This is a scandal,” he added. It is not known exactly how many Lebanese nationals are in Syrian prisoners, but NGO estimates put the number at around 130. Based on a judicial treaty signed between Lebanon and Syria in 1951 the two countries should inform each other when they arrest nationals of the other state, giving the name of the prisoner and the crime committed. However, according to Aaz, Lebanon does not have such a list, meaning that the country lacks official information about Lebanese prisoners in Syria. Wadih al-Asmar, secretary-general of the Lebanese Center for Human Rights accused the government of negligence in regards to Lebanese prisoners in Syria. “There is great negligence regarding this issue,” Asmar said. State prosecutor Saeed Mirza defended the government and said that Lebanon should not interfere in the legal procedures of other countries. “We should not interfere in other countries’ affairs … we are not negligent and we know our responsibilities,” Mirza told The Daily Star. “The decree that has been announced by the Syrian president should be implemented by the Syrian authorities.” On June 6, former Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar asked Mirza to look into whether Lebanese prisoners in Syria could benefit from the decree. On June 18, Nasri Khouri, the head of the Syrian-Lebanese Higher Council, said that the decree included Lebanese prisoners and that the council was working with the Syrian government to obtain a list of these prisoners. The release of Lebanese prisoners under Assad’s amnesty would also give NGOs and activists such as Aaz the opportunity to learn information about Lebanese political prisoners who are believed to be victims of enforced disappearance during the 1975-1990 Civil War. Lebanese NGOs say they have names of 545 people who went missing and are now in Syrian prisons. “Practically speaking, any Lebanese person who would be released from Syrian prison would be a good source of information,” Aaz said. “They could probably give us information regarding Lebanese prisoners there and Syria might not let that happen.” Both activists are also urging the government to investigate whether those who have been kidnapped and held in Syrian prisons are included in the general amnesty. Although NGOs have a list of names of these prisoners, there are many obstacles preventing any real initiative from the Lebanese government. “It is unsuitable for some people in the government to open an investigation that leads to identify those who had kidnapped Lebanese or the groups behind such acts,” Khoury said, adding that this was not the goal of NGOs. “Our goal is to tell the families of the kidnapped and imprisoned whether their loved ones are alive or dead and help them either receive the body or locate them,” said Khoury, appealing to Mirza to investigate this issue and find out whether abducted Lebanese were in Syria. Mirza, however, said that the issue of enforced disappearance was “completely different” to that of the general amnesty.