The Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH) is a local non-profit, non-partisan Lebanese human rights organization in Beirut that was established by the Franco-Lebanese Movement SOLIDA (Support for Lebanese Detained Arbitrarily) in 2006. SOLIDA has been active since 1996 in the struggle against arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and the impunity of those perpetrating gross human violations.

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April 6, 2012

Daily Star - Baragwanath: STL cannot end impunity alone, April 06, 2012


BEIRUT: One day after Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea reported that he had been the target of an assassination attempt, Special Tribunal for Lebanon President David Baragwanath said that the court alone could not end political violence in the country.
“It would be highly presumptuous to suggest that the mere creation and operation of the STL can wave a magic wand and alter the conditions that gave rise to the series of assassinations,” Baragwanath told The Daily Star Thursday. “
The 14 attacks between Oct. 1, 2004, and Dec. 12, 2005, – which were the last of phase of the 86 assassinations that had occurred without coming to trial – that was the situation which the then-government of Lebanon could not countenance.”
Supporters of the court, which was established to investigate and try those responsible for the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri as well as related attacks, champion the body as a means to end impunity and the cycle of violence. After six years of relative calm, Geagea’s report Wednesday that he had escaped an attempt on his life sent shockwaves through country, fueling fears of a return of assassinations.
Though Baragwanath, who is a judge in the court’s Appeals Chamber, said the court could not single-handedly end impunity, he warned that those who commit violence would be brought to justice.
“We cannot create a cosmic shift, but to say that we cannot do everything is not to say that we can do nothing,” he said. “I devoutly hope ... that the message gets through to killers or prospective killers that it’s just not worth it. They’re going to get chased with all the effort that can be marshaled ... within the rule of law.”
Baragwanath also defended the U.N-backed court, which has indicted four members of Hezbollah for the 2005 attack, from the accusations of political bias that have plagued it even before it began operating.
“There’s been a lot of misapprehension about things. Suggestions, for example, that the STL is biased in some fashion. Some were even saying that former President [Antonio] Cassese was a puppet of a foreign government,” he said. “That’s as good as the assertion that President Cassese resigned his office of the president because he was having a fight with someone.”
Cassese resigned from his position for health reasons last October and died soon after. Some local newspapers had reported that his resignation was an indication of infighting at the court. Baragwanath was subsequently elected the tribunal’s president.
In response to a question on whether members of the court have contacted Hezbollah, Baragwanath said the court operates without political interest.
“I would cheerfully meet any member of Hezbollah or any other party. I don’t mean to single Hezbollah out; I’m speaking of all political parties. My position is that good people, whether they are in Hezbollah or any other party ... are entitled to the same protection as everyone,” he said.
Baragwanath, who was on his second visit to Lebanon, met earlier in the week with President Michel Sleiman, Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Public Prosecutor Saeed Mirza, as well as members of the Beirut Bar Association and representatives from over a dozen non-governmental organizations.
While most members of the current March 8 Cabinet oppose the tribunal, the judge said he trusts the government to fulfill its obligations toward the court. “I have implicit confidence in the government of Lebanon and in the prime minister in particular to discharge Lebanon’s obligations. We saw what happened last year and I’m admiring of that,” he said.Last November, the Cabinet was paralyzed by a dispute over paying its share of funding for the court, which is 49 percent of the body’s budget, amounting to $32 million. Mikati broke the stalemate by ordering the payment from the budget of the prime ministers’ office through the Higher Relief Committee, narrowly averting the collapse of his government.
Baragwanath said he met with Lebanese leaders to brief them on the progress of the STL, including the landmark decision in February to move to in absentia proceedings against the accused.
Defense counsel assigned to the four men have since begun conducting their own investigations, as well as preparing to challenge the court’s jurisdiction.
Some tribunal detractors, such as Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, maintain that its creation was unconstitutional as the agreement between Lebanon and the U.N. was not signed by the Lebanese president or ratified by Parliament.
Though Baragwanath could not comment on possible arguments against the jurisdiction of the court, which was established by the U.N. Security Council under Chapter 7 and is the first international tribunal to deal with the crime of terrorism, he said that two outcomes of such a challenge are possible.
“There are two logical options. One is we have no jurisdiction. In that event, the sooner the work of the tribunal is brought to an end, the better,” he said. “If on the other hand, we do have jurisdiction, that fact equally needs to be made clear at the first opportunity.”



By Willow Osgood

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