The General Directorate
of General Security hit back anew on Friday at those who criticized the
deportation of 14 Syrians to their strife-torn country, reiterating that those
deported were convicted of crimes committed in Lebanon.
“Any decision taken by
the General Directorate of General Security stems from the laws and regulations
that govern its work and is under the authority of the Lebanese judiciary,” the
directorate said in a statement.
It stressed that it is
“in constant coordination and communication with the international humanitarian
organizations and the international Red Cross concerning the affairs of the
foreign and Arab expatriates,” adding that “these organizations are being
informed on a regular basis of the General Security’s measures and procedures.”
“The persons deported
received judicial verdicts for crimes they committed on Lebanese territory,
which the Syrian state has nothing to do with,” the directorate said, adding
that “these verdicts were related to theft, forgery and rape attempts, not to
anything else.”
“The General Directorate
of General Security is not concerned with the remarks about the political and
factional issues and other statements that are aimed at distorting the facts,”
the directorate added.
It noted that it
“refrained from deporting a Syrian held in Lebanon on charges of slaughtering
10 Syrians in his country because, during interrogation, he said he was a
member of the opposition, prompting the directorate to freeze his deportation
given that the element of politics entered his judicial case, despite the
horridness of the crimes he had committed.”
The directorate also
noted that it had refrained from deporting Syrians held in connection with the
seized arms ship Lutfallah II, and other arms smugglers, after they said during
interrogation that they belong to the Syrian opposition.
“This proves that the
deportation measures taken by the directorate have nothing to do with politics
or the factional or political affiliation of the person facing deportation,” it
said.
The directorate called
on everyone not to deal with laws and regulations with a political approach and
not to turn them into a subject of controversy, stressing that its decisions
are always in line with the applicable Lebanese laws.
Progressive Socialist
Party leader MP Walid Jumblat accused on Thursday General Security chief Maj.
Gen. Abbas Ibrahim of utterly following the Syrian regime’s orders by deporting
the 14 Syrians.
The cabinet should “take
all the disciplinary measures against the Maj. Gen. and to sack him if
necessary to halt this ongoing charade,” Jumblat said.
The Druze leader lashed
out at Ibrahim, saying that the fate of these 14 men will be “their murder and
liquidation before proving them guilty.”
“The accusations are
fabricated and match with the Syrian regime’s traditional methods in
eliminating anyone who opposes it,” Jumblat said.
He stressed his
rejection of handing over any Syrian national who had fled into Lebanon for
safe haven under any excuse and for any reason.
Former premier Fouad
Saniora, head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc, on Friday called on EU and
U.N. officials to condemn the Lebanese government “in the strongest terms” over
the deportation, voicing concerns that the step might be repeated in the future
and stressing that the government will be held accountable.
Following separate talks
with EU Ambassador Angelina Eichhorst and U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon
Derek Plumbly, Saniora said: “Amid these circumstances, the timing of the
operation is very suspicious, and this could be a precedent made by the
Lebanese government following a request or pressures from the Syrian government
to hand over these people, and thus it might be the first move and other people
might be handed over.”
The General Security
deported 14 Syrians on Wednesday, drawing criticism from human rights
activists.
A Human Rights Watch
representative in Beirut said some of the deportees had expressed fears of
persecution on their return.
"Fourteen men were
deported to Syria today, despite the fact that four of them had asked not to be
deported for fear of persecution if handed over to the Syrian
authorities," the HRW representative told Agence France Presse.
One of them might be a
political activist, the representative said, noting that the detainee had
contacted HRW prior to being handed over to Syrian authorities at the border
and expressed fear about what might happen to him.
But a General Security
official told AFP that those deported were wanted for common law not political
offences.
"These people were
handed over to the Syrian authorities because they had problems with the
judiciary and had committed crimes, and as far as we know they were not
political activists," the official said.
"If they were, we
would not have deported them."
HRW said those who had
requested not to be deported should have been given leave to stay -- regardless
of whether they were politically active or not.
"We think that if
someone has indicated a fear of persecution, they should not be deported,"
a HRW researcher said.
Human rights watchdogs
accuse the Syrian authorities of resorting to torture and other ill-treatment
against detainees.
In July, HRW charged that
Syria was holding tens of thousands of detainees in a "torture
archipelago" in which they were subjected to beatings, electric shocks and
other abuse.http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/48825
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