By Jana al-Hassan
BEIRUT: Justice Minister Shakib
Qortbawi said Wednesday that his ministry was finalizing the draft decree to
establish the Independent National Commission tasked with investigating the
fate of Lebanese missing persons.
“Hopefully, the draft will be ready
within the next few days [and I will] sign it and refer it to the Cabinet,”
Qortbawi told The Daily Star.
Qortbawi said that the INC is taking
into consideration the observations of the Shura Council, but stressed that it
will be an independent and nongovernmental body. He added that its members
would include judges as well as representatives of the Red Cross and the
families of the missing.
“They will be tasked with gathering
information about the missing Lebanese,” said Qortbawi.
Commenting on the release of
Lebanese citizen Yaacoub Shamoun, who was released three months ago after
having been imprisoned in Syria for 27 years, the minister said that the
Lebanese Judicial Committee was following up on his case.
Shamoun’s release has only recently
been made public, as he initially refused to make his situation known for fear of
being subjected to violence at the hands of pro-Syrian elements.
Qortbawi said that the committee
would want to hear from Shamoun whether he had come into contact with other
Lebanese detainees in the Syrian prisons in which he had been held.
“We will meet with Shamoun Thursday
at 10:30 a.m. at the committee’s office in Beirut to hear about his
imprisonment in Syria,” Judge George Rizk, one of the committee’s two members,
told The Daily Star.
Rizk also indicated that the
committee was seeking to determine whether any other Lebanese prisoners were
still detained in Syria.
According to Rizk, the committee had
been working on the case with its counterpart, the Syrian Judicial Committee,
until the Syrian security situation deteriorated.
“We had a few names of missing
[Lebanese] possibly detained in Syria, but the Syrian side continued to deny
that it had any information on them,” said Rizk.
Ghazi Aad, founder and director of
SOLIDE (Support of Lebanese in Detention and Exile), voiced optimism over
Qortbawi’s efforts, saying that establishing the INC is a very positive step
toward revealing the fate of the missing Lebanese.
“We have been calling for
establishing such a body for a long time, and we hope it will finally see the
light of day,” Aad told The Daily Star.
He added that Shamoun’s release
proves that reports denying the presence of Lebanese detainees in Syrian
prisons are wrong.
“I met with Shamoun and talked to
him. He mentioned five detainees we didn’t have in our 600 missing persons
list, which means there might be even more Lebanese in Syrian jails.”
Shamoun also met with Metn MP and
Kataeb party member Sami Gemayel in Bikfaya, Mount Lebanon, Wednesday
afternoon, according to the National News Agency. Gemayel praised Shamoun and
presented him with an award for his many sacrifices.
For his part, Shamoun said: “I am
happy to return to my house and to the house of the Kataeb,” and thanked those
in attendance for the appreciation and affection they showed him.
Shamoun’s release has given hope to
the relatives of hundreds of other Lebanese who were kidnapped during the
1975-90 Civil War.
The Syrian government has long denied holding
Lebanese prisoners of conscience, only to release a few every so often.http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Aug-30/186116-decree-for-missing-persons-nearly-finalized-justice-minister-says.ashx#axzz253nNLWTE
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