BEIRUT: Politicians, family members, friends and activists Friday turned out to bid farewell to Ghazi Aad, founder of the Support of Lebanese in Detention and Exile (SOLIDE).
Aad's body arrived in Beirut's Downtown area to say a last goodbye to a protest camp erected by the families of Lebanese who went missing during the 1975-90 Civil War.
The families had ended their more than 10-year protest in Dec. 2015, but kept their protest tent as “a symbol for their struggle.”
MPs Hikmat Dib and Ghassan Moukheiber were among the mourners.
Mourners said they hoped their efforts would continue, promising that Aad's path will not be lost with his departure.
Aad was hospitalized in late October and was in a coma until his death Wednesday morning at the age of 59, his brother Jihad said on Facebook.
He was laid to rest in his hometown in the Metn district.
Caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil participated in the funeral as a representative of President Michel Aoun. He awarded Aad the Order of Merit medalion.
Established in 1989, SOLIDE was among the first organizations to shed light on the forced disappearance of Lebanese and their detention in secret Syrian prisons during the country's Civil War.
Thousands of people went missing during the 1975-1990 Civil War, some of whom were believed to be imprisoned in Syria.
Others are likely buried in mass graves throughout Lebanon, following massacres committed by some of the parties that hold political power today.
A commission to investigate the fate of the missing, formed by the government of former Prime Minister Salim al-Hoss, issued its final report in July 2000.
It said that none of the disappeared or missing had been found alive in Lebanon, and added that several mass graves were found in different parts of the country.
In June of this year, the Lebanese Red Cross launched a project that would identify bodies found in mass graves through DNA matching with family members. Before the project even began, hundreds of families had signed up to help identify missing loved ones.
Aad's body arrived in Beirut's Downtown area to say a last goodbye to a protest camp erected by the families of Lebanese who went missing during the 1975-90 Civil War.
The families had ended their more than 10-year protest in Dec. 2015, but kept their protest tent as “a symbol for their struggle.”
MPs Hikmat Dib and Ghassan Moukheiber were among the mourners.
Mourners said they hoped their efforts would continue, promising that Aad's path will not be lost with his departure.
Aad was hospitalized in late October and was in a coma until his death Wednesday morning at the age of 59, his brother Jihad said on Facebook.
He was laid to rest in his hometown in the Metn district.
Caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil participated in the funeral as a representative of President Michel Aoun. He awarded Aad the Order of Merit medalion.
Established in 1989, SOLIDE was among the first organizations to shed light on the forced disappearance of Lebanese and their detention in secret Syrian prisons during the country's Civil War.
Thousands of people went missing during the 1975-1990 Civil War, some of whom were believed to be imprisoned in Syria.
Others are likely buried in mass graves throughout Lebanon, following massacres committed by some of the parties that hold political power today.
A commission to investigate the fate of the missing, formed by the government of former Prime Minister Salim al-Hoss, issued its final report in July 2000.
It said that none of the disappeared or missing had been found alive in Lebanon, and added that several mass graves were found in different parts of the country.
In June of this year, the Lebanese Red Cross launched a project that would identify bodies found in mass graves through DNA matching with family members. Before the project even began, hundreds of families had signed up to help identify missing loved ones.
Source & Link : The Daily Star
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