Amnesty International Report 1995 - Lebanon

Hundreds of people, including possible prisoners of conscience, were arrested on security grounds; some were released uncharged, while others were brought to trial. Allegations of torture or ill-treatment were received. Three people died in custody in suspicious circumstances. The fate of thousands of people abducted in previous years remained unknown. Four people were executed and at least two others were sentenced to death. Armed political groups committed human rights abuses. The Lebanese army strengthened its control of most of the country. However, the South Lebanon Army (SLA) militia and Israeli armed forces retained control of a "security zone" along the Lebanese/Israeli border extending northwards to the Jezzine region. Some parts of south Lebanon were controlled by Hizbullah, the main armed political group fighting the SLA and Israeli forces in Lebanon. With the agreement of the Lebanese Government, Syrian forces remained deployed throughout most of the country. In March, following investigations into the bombing of a church in February in which at least 10 people died, the government dissolved the Lebanese Forces (LF) party, a former Christian militia, and banned news broadcasts by private radio and television stations until July. Also in March the death penalty was extended to a further category of murder as well as to politically motivated killings. Hundreds of suspected political opponents, including possible prisoners of conscience, were arrested by government forces and Syrian personnel stationed in Lebanon. Fifteen people were arrested between December 1993 and February 1994 and charged with having supplied Israel and the USA with information on the Syrian army, Fatah-Revolutionary Council (FRC) and Hizbullah. All were allegedly tortured. For example, Georges Haddad's arm was broken, apparently as a result of beatings. Gabi Karam alleged that he was tortured in Syria where he was held for approximately six weeks before being returned to Lebanon. None was granted access to independent doctors. They were sentenced in July to between one month's and five years' imprisonment, apparently on the basis of statements made in incommunicado detention. In December seven of them had their sentences reduced on appeal to between nine months' and two years' imprisonment with hard labour. In March and April, following the church bombing, hundreds of LF members were arrested. Most were released without charge after a few days; some were held for up to three months. There were reports that many had been tortured or ill-treated in detention. The LF leader, Samir Gea‘gea‘, and his deputy, Fu'ad Malek, remained held. In June they were charged in connection with the church bombing together with Jirjis Khoury and five others in absentia. Also in June Samir Gea‘gea‘, Camille Karam and Rafiq Sa‘deh were charged with assassinating Dany Cham‘oun, a former militia leader, and his family in October 1990. Ten others were charged in absentia. The trials of both cases began in November before the Court of Justice and were continuing at the end of the year. There is no right of appeal against sentences of this court. All those detained were held in the Ministry of Defence, which is not a recognized place of detention. In December the lawyers in the cases walked out after the court refused to consider a petition for the transfer of the detainees to a recognized detention facility. In April, 12 members of the illegal pro-Iraqi wing of the Arab Socialist Ba‘th Party, including Hasan Ghurayeb and Ne‘meh Jamil, were reportedly detained by Lebanese security forces without arrest warrants after the assassination in Beirut of al-Shaikh Taleb al-Suhayl al-Tamimi, an exiled Iraqi opposition figure (see Iraq entry). Four Iraqi nationals, including three diplomats, and one Lebanese national were detained in connection with the killing, but had not been brought to trial by the end of the year. In September Rafiq Abi Yunes, a leader of the party, was also reported to have been arrested. The 13 men apparently did not undergo any judicial process in Lebanon, and some or all may have been taken to Syria. About 20 people said to be supporters of General ‘Aoun, a former military leader living in exile, were arrested in September in connection with the distribution of leaflets opposing the Syrian presence in Lebanon. Most were released without charge, but two men – Hikmat Dib and Aleftari Atanasio – and three women – Huda Yamin, Lina Ghurayeb and Muna Shkayban – were charged with state security offences before a military court. All five were allegedly tortured or ill-treated while held in the Ministry of Defence and may have been prisoners of conscience. Samir Nasr, a possible prisoner of conscience, was sentenced in February by a military court to two years' hard labour, reduced to one year on appeal. He had been convicted of being an accessory to dealing with the enemy in connection with alleged links between the Guardians of the Cedar, a political party, and Israel (see Amnesty International Report 1994). No investigation appeared to have been conducted into his allegations of ill-treatment. He was released in November. Other reports of torture or ill-treatment were received. Methods described included severe beatings on all parts of the body, falaqa (beatings on the soles of the feet), suspension by the arms from a pulley, and electric shocks. Joseph Faddul and his two sons, Tony and Fawzi, were arrested in March and held for about 36 hours in the Ministry of Defence, where they were reportedly kicked, beaten with rifle butts and verbally abused. Yusuf Sha‘ban, Yusuf ‘Abwani and Bassam ‘Attiyah, all members of the FRC on trial before the Court of Justice for the murder of a Jordanian diplomat in January, alleged that they had been beaten in order to extract confessions. The court refused to consider this evidence on the basis that such complaints could not be raised after charges had been brought. The court ordered an investigation, but it was not known to have been carried out. Yusuf Sha‘ban was sentenced to life imprisonment and the two others to 10 years' imprisonment. Complaints about torture were ignored by officials or inadequately investigated. For instance, the Lebanese authorities did not respond to ‘Ubad Zwayn's allegations of torture in 1993 by Syrian personnel stationed in Lebanon (see Amnesty International Report 1994). In April the Minister of Justice denied that Georges Haddad and others had been tortured, but gave no details of any investigation. At least three people died in custody in suspicious circumstances. In March Tareq al-Hassaniyah died in Beit al-Din Prison, reportedly from injuries sustained when his head was beaten against a wall. Up to seven members of the security forces were reportedly arrested in connection with his death. In April Fawzi al-Rasi, an LF member, died while under interrogation in the Ministry of Defence. Official sources said that an autopsy showed that he had suffered a heart attack. However, Fawzi al-Rasi's relatives were reportedly not allowed to see the body before burial. In July Mufid Sukkar died while held by the anti-drugs unit. A government investigation into his death was initiated. No information was published on the investigation into the killing of nine people during an apparently peaceful demonstration in September 1993 (see Amnesty International Report 1994). In April judicial executions resumed for the first time in 11 years. Bassam Saleh al-Muslah was hanged after conviction for rape and murder (see Amnesty International Report 1994). Two Syrian soldiers, ‘Abd al-Karim Hujayj and Muhammad Za‘tar, were hanged for murder a week later. In May Shaker al-Buraydi was executed by firing-squad for killing three policemen. At least three others were believed to be held on death row at the end of the year. More than 200 prisoners continued to be held at any one time by the SLA in the Khiam detention centre in the "security zone". They were held outside any legal framework and without access to their families or the International Committee of the Red Cross. Some or all may have been hostages. Most were suspected members of armed groups opposed to the Israeli presence in Lebanon. Many were believed to have been tortured during interrogation. At least two people reportedly died shortly after release from Khiam. Poor conditions and medical care may have contributed to their deaths. Armed political groups committed human rights abuses. Hizbullah was reported to have detained possible prisoners of conscience. For example, Ghassan Sheet, a lawyer from south Lebanon, was reportedly held for 65 days in a detention centre in Bir al-‘Abed, apparently because he had tried to visit a client also detained by Hizbullah. Dozens of people were killed, apparently for political reasons, although those responsible were often unknown. At least some may have been victims of deliberate and arbitrary killings by armed groups. In March SLA forces reportedly shot dead a member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine after he had surrendered during a confrontation. In April, three men were killed by unknown assailants in separate incidents: Husayn Abu Zayd, a leading member of Fatah, the main faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization; Ne‘meh Haydar, an official of the armed political group Amal; and Isma'il Julaylati, reportedly affiliated to the political group Islamic Tawhid. In December, three people, including two members of Hizbullah, were killed in an explosion in Beirut. Security forces later arrested three people in connection with the bombing, which the security forces claimed had been masterminded by Israeli intelligence forces (see Israel and the Occupied Territories entry). In February Husayn ‘Awadah, aged 16, was killed in Ba‘albek, apparently by Hizbullah members with the acquiescence of local Lebanese security officials. He had apparently been "tried" at the request of his family by religious leaders under Shari‘a (Islamic law) who found him to be responsible for the murder of a woman and her two sons. In response to a letter detailing Amnesty International's concerns about this killing, Hizbullah told Amnesty International that it had had no connection with the killing of Husayn ‘Awadah. The fate of thousands of people, including Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian and other nationals taken prisoner by armed groups since 1975 remained unclear. Amnesty International called on the Lebanese Government to release any prisoners of conscience and to investigate allegations of torture, deaths in custody and the killing of Husayn ‘Awadah. The organization was concerned about possible arbitrary arrests and the fairness of trial proceedings. It expressed deep regret at the resumption of executions and the expansion of the death penalty and urged the commutation of all death sentences. In February officials said the section covering Lebanon in Amnesty International Report 1993 was "largely inaccurate" and denied that ‘Adel Hawila had been tortured. In April the Minister of Justice, replying to Amnesty International's concerns about Georges Haddad and others, said that Amnesty International "had been misled by an inexact and tendentious presentation of the facts". Amnesty International delegates sought access to the country in May but had not been granted visas by the end of the year. In an oral statement to the UN Commission on Human Rights in February, Amnesty International called for the release of Lebanese and other detainees held in Khiam and in Israel, as well as Israeli soldiers and SLA members missing in Lebanon, if they were being held as hostages.